During an Ontario Harness Horse Association rally outside of Windsor Raceway on Thursday, March 22, the track's president, Pat Soulliere, accused the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. and Ontario Finance Minister Dwight Duncan as grossly under-emphasizing the impact the closure of the track's slots area will have on the local area

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Pointing out what is has become glaringly obvious, Soulliere stated that the Windsor community simply "cannot afford more loss of jobs."

Hundreds of people showed up to protest the Ontario Liberal Government's decision to close the track's slots parlour and throw a knockout punch to the area's vast racing industry.

"This Liberal Minority Government needs to compromise before their policies begin to destroy real lives and real families as a result of their rash decision to eliminate the slots-at-racetracks program," Soulliere said. "The OLG and the Finance Minister are not being truthful when they minimize the impacts of their decision to immediately close the slots-at-racetracks program at Windsor Raceway.

"In addition to the 217 OLG jobs lost as a result of the decision to close the slots, this decision will also mean the immediate loss of a further 73 non-OLG jobs exclusively tied to the Food and Beverage and Maintenance (Departments) at the slots facility. This decision has an immediate and direct impact on nearly 300 people and their families."

Soulliere stated that officials at Windsor Raceway have evaluated the effects the elimination of the slots-at-racetracks program will have on the track and local racing community, and it has all been very negative.

"Without some compromise by the OLG and this government, come May 1 it will become necessary for Windsor Raceway to get much smaller and adjust our racing program. More seriously, Windsor Raceway does not believe any of the 1,580 full-time-equivalent jobs in our community tied to the raceway and our horse-racing program can be saved if this government does not soften its position. This community cannot afford more loss of jobs."

OHHA President Brian Tropea told the CBC that Windsor's local racing community and his organization will continue to fight until they reconsider their stance on the mutually-beneficial slots-at-racetracks program and border raceways. "I'm just telling the government they've misjudged the fight in this dog and we're taking the fight to the streets and we're not going to give up on it," he said. "We're going to keep fighting until they reverse this decision."

The Ontario Harness Horse Association has encouraged everybody affected by the OLG and Ontario Liberal Government's decision to cut provincial horse racing out of the slots-at-racetracks program to join in on a Queen's Park rally scheduled for Monday, March 26. For complete information, click here.

For Trot Insider's complete coverage regarding the fallout and uproar in response to the OLG and Ontario Liberals' treatment of the provincial horse-racing industry, click here.