National Post Questions Liberal Strategy

Ont-sbred-racing(Photo-Courtesy-National-Post).jpg

"So how is this (the slots-at-racetracks program) a carbuncle draining revenue from the government? It sounds, in fact, a lot like the deal Ontario has with the liquor business, which sends it a 'dividend'

— which last year totalled $1.55-billion — in return for which it gets to keep a monopoly on booze sales. Is the LCBO’s share of the take a 'subsidy?' Do you hear Dwight Duncan threatening to remove it?"

The above quote is an excerpt from a column by Kelly McParland in today's edition of the National Post.

McParland's piece is just the latest in a score of editorials and MPP comments against the Drummond Report's recommendation to alter the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp.'s highly successful Slots-at-Racetracks Program.

In his piece, McParland also highlights the fact that the alteration to the program came merely as a recommendation by Drummond, yet the McGuinty Government has opted to take the recommendation and run, so to speak. The Ontario Liberals are now saying that they want to renege on the slots-at-racetracks contracts and scrap the agreement all together. The provincial Liberals are trying to pit the Ontario horse-racing industry against home health care, and have even invested in a radio campaign to pursue their angle

The Ontario Government rakes in over $1-billion per year in revenue via the slots-at-racetracks agreement. The Ontario horse-racing industry, an overly-positive economic stimulator for the province, has structured itself around the agreement and would be decimated if unwarranted, hasty changes were made to it. Besides the capital that slot machines directly funnel to the provincial government, Ontario's horse-racing industry sends $261-million in direct taxes to the provincial government each year; is responsible for roughly 60,000 full and part-time jobs in the province; has a total expenditure of $2-billion, and pays $1.5-billion in wages and salaries each year in Ontario.

The Liberals' radio spots have even tried to paint Ontario Racetrack owners as receiving a 'secret subsidy.'

"A secret subsidy for a few wealthy racetrack owners?" McParland wrote. "So secret it was included in detail in Mr. Duncan’s budget last year, with the benefits to communities, hospitals and sports facilities spelled out in detail. No mention of any fatcat track owners, though."

McParland concluded his piece by stating, "If there’s a hidden evil to this program I can’t find it. Out of 362 Drummond proposals, the only one the McGuinty government can bring itself to accept is the one that endangers thousands of jobs in rural Ontario, and threatens one of the province’s biggest rural industries. Is there a reason, other than the fact rural Ontario doesn’t generally vote Liberal?"

To read McParland's piece in its entirety, click here.

(With files from the National Post; photo courtesy the National Post)

Comments

The President and CEO of Ontario Lottery and Gaming is Paul Godfrey.

This is the same Paul Godfrey who is President and CEO of PostMedia (owners of the National Post and a number of other large dailies). Mr. Godfrey has also been very involved with the Ontario PC Party (as well as the Blue Jays and a former life as Metro Toronto chair).

Lets hope he reads the opinion pieces in his own National publication.

Don Patrick

Can someone clear up a point for me. Is the contract betwween OLG and the Horseman up for a renewal of some sort, or is the Liberal government just looking to re-neg on the current deal?
Seems likely that the Liberals just want to have horsemen receive less than they are currently receiving.

Thankyou for supporting our Racing Industry. We all work many long hours 7 days a week, 365 days a year for our horses sakes and the income they give back to us to live on. Our small Stable is a Father, Mother and Daughter operation,covering a 2nd,3rd and a 4th Generation of our families to breed and race Standardbreds. I keep thinking this a bad dream when I wake up each day now; it seems so unreal. But you know what, I know whole bunch of those "RURAL" folks who feel the same way I do and trust me, we have no intention of giving up our livelihoods or our horses. Thankyou again.

Just returned from rally in ottawa, and its great to see people are hearing the truth about this. Last night i looked over olg fincial report for 2009 2010 and to my shock found that 3820 people that work at the slots at racetracks made 176 million in salaries while the horsemen received 164 million in purse. In total workers at the slots and casinos received 937 million in salaries The People NEED THE TRUTH .

From MPP London West Chris Bentley's own webpage:

“The ongoing partnership between the City of London and OLG Slots at Western Fair District continues to strengthen and enhance our community,” says MPP Chris Bentley. “Through the sharing of gaming revenue, we are able to directly invest in important local initiatives and priorities that benefit us all.”

http://www.chrisbentley.onmpp.ca/pressreleases.aspx?id=147

Doesn't sound like a subsidy to me.

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