On February 11, 2010, the director of the Ontario Racing Commission issued a notice of decision and Ruling SB 038/2010 wherein he denied a request from the Ontario Harness Horse Association to transfer $40,000 from the Georgian Downs purse account to

Great Canadian Gaming Corporation to pay for track maintenance for January and February 2010.

On February 26, 2010, OHHA filed a notice of appeal and on March 3, 2010, Georgian Downs filed its notice of appeal.

On April 13, 2010, a panel of the ORC, comprised of chair Rod Seiling, vice chair James Donnelly and commissioner Brenda Walker was convened to hear the appeal.
Maureen Harquail appeared as counsel for the administration. Andrew Staniusz appeared as counsel for OHHA and Chris Roberts appeared on behalf of Georgian Downs.

Upon considering the evidence of Wendy Hoogeveen, Steven Lehman, Michael Sinclair and Don Amos, reviewing the exhibits filed and upon hearing the closing submissions, the panel denied the appeal and upheld the director’s decision.

The panel’s reasons for decision can be read by clicking here.

(ORC)