mr. Duncan, as the old saying goes it is better for people to think you are a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt. you just confirmed our suspicion

Mr. Duncan....A Great man once said " Sooner or Later everyone is promoted to their height of "INCOMPETENCE"..It certainly looks like this promotion worked!!!!

What a timely and informative interview in TROT this month on the Chinese Connection. Congratulations to Kimberly Fisher! It needs to be sent to Mr. McGuinty and Mr. Duncan as a memo. At a time when one of the most powerful (if not THE most powerful) countries in the world is getting into horse racing and betting billions of dollars a year just to start, the Liberals, in their infinite wisdom, are destroying that same industry here in Ontario---the mecca of standardbred racing and breeding. Admired by many countries as "the place to be" with our exceptional race venues and breeding farms, lush pastures, abundant hay and grain, state-of-the-art veterinary hospitals, schools, etc., we have everything that others want. The Chinese will be looking at Ontario as a model (if we still exist) in the very near future. They will want to buy our breeding and racing stock. They could and should be able to bet on our product. If the Chinese and other countries think this is a viable business (and they obviously do), why is it not, according to McGuinty, Duncan, Godfrey and Drummond, in Ontario? How can they be so damned deaf, dumb and blind to what is about to become, with this Chinese boom, a succussful and lucrative industry everywhere but here? We will be left in the dust.
Oh, but I have forgotten----Mr. Duncan says that we don't need foreign investors that are connected to horse racing. Does any have a hammer?

Dear Mr Duncan you appear to have real problems with analogies so I thought I might help. Mr Thomson is describing you as Bernie Madoff not because he believes you stole his money and are living a lavish lifestyle but instead with one stroke of a pen you made his investments in Ontario basically worthless. By not having a clear cut plan in place and creating extreme levels of uncertainty every one is unsure whether they should pay for their foals or breed back to one Mr Thomsons stallions. These programs that your government promoted to American investors as choices over other jurisdictions such as mare residency programs and the Ontario Sires Stakes programs gave Mr Thomson the illusion that investing in Ontario was inherently as good as states such as New York or PA. Mr Madoffs investors were given the same rosy forecasts of performance which is why they chose Bernies web of deception over more legitimate investments. Mr Duncan I am sure you have justified to yourself that you are better than Bernie but to anyone who has invested in the racing industry in the last 3 years you look like Bernie, you smell like Bernie and most importantly just like Bernie you have made millions of dollars vanish due to a false pretense that your government promoted that investing in Ontario horse racing would be good for your financial health.

Perhaps Mr. Thomson should take his story to the Wall Street Journal... let the American investors know how THIS Ontario government feels about Americans investing in Ontario!

It is a sorry state when American investors know more about about business and how it works than our own minister of finance. He should not resign, he should be publicly fired.

Besides being profoundly clueless, this is clearly a vindictive and malevolent man. Only in the bizarro world of Dwight Duncan does "putting the children first" mean putting thousands of their parents out of work.

How does he keep his job?

Did anyone get the NDP take on this?

So Mr.Duncan (and presumably Mr. McGuinty) are offended by the amount of money flowing into the USA via the likes of that dreadful Mr. Thompson! Yet, they are courting MGM, Harrahs, Caesars and this new American company, PokerTek Inc. Is he thinking that they are going to drop their bags of money at the door of the legislature instead of taking them home (wherever that may be given that there is some international ownership behind these companies)? What about all of the other international investors that are currently in the province? ie(http://www.northernontariobusiness.com/Industry-News/mining/Inco-under-…) I'm pretty sure they are taking a whacking load of money out of Ontario as well. What about foreign ownership of farmland of which we have have seen plenty? Why does the Ontario government have a website dedicated to attracting international investors? http://www.sse.gov.on.ca/medt/investinontario/en/Pages/_about_us.aspx
Mr. Duncan may have fooled the people of Ontario with his ridiculous statements regarding health and education taking priority over horse racing but anyone I talk to these days is definitely not falling for it anymore. They are seeing him for the deceptive, misinformed, misguided man that he is. Unfortunately, he is our Minister of Finance in a time when our government can least afford to have such an inept and incompetent person in this position--or any position in the legislature for that matter.

Just got caught up on the PokerTek Inc.situation. So kind of Liberals and OLG to farm that out to an American firm, at a cost of BILLIONS, of course. Down the road this brilliance will be analized and they will decide that that was NOT such a good move, as with E HEALTTH, ORNGE Air Ambulance that has milked the province of BILLIONS, and THE LONG GUN REGISTRY that cost us all BILLIONS, which it seems McGuinty does NOT intend scrapping. Oh and I almost forgot, the new contract for the fighter jets, which admittedly is FEDERAL but we will be paying for in some way or another...These guys blame US for causing problems...I don't think so.

Mr Thomson for Premier

There are several points that need to be made to Mr. Duncan
Joe Thomson has chosen to invest in this province and he has invested heavily...he could invest elsewhere. He has purchased quality stallions and chosen to stand them in this province. An entire breeding operation along with staff exist because of that investment so this has generated employment in our province. The semen boxes, syringes, breeding shed supplies, Fed Ex, Air Canada cargo services are all purchased in this province. He had one of the largest brood mare bands in North America and by breeding to some of his stallions, Ontario receives significant economic spin off. He also has placed many of his horses with Ontario trainers...again stimulating employment and economic spin off as feed, bedding, training are all occurring in this province. Attracting foreign investment that results in jobs, reinvestment in terms of economic expenditures back into the province, payment of taxes should be a good thing. It this is NOT a good thing, then you probably don't want any foreign company to have a business in this province.

When statements are made about money leaving the province...these need to be taken in context. A U.S. or foreign owner..may base his operations in Ontario...creating jobs, economic spin off. On the other hand, there may be U.S. or foreign owners that drive in race and leave shortly thereafter. In both cases, government could argue that money is leaving the province but in one situation...the province has benefited greatly. We also have to consider that many Ontario trainers race in the U.S. and come back here with American money. There is more money that owners/trainers from ONtario have earned in the U.S. than the other way around. Its part of being a global economy.

Mr. Duncan, if there are specific issues of concern...these can be looked at and dealt with but you need to be willing to sit down with the industry and negotiate with us. The industry is willing! An entire industry that has taken decades to build is on the verge of collapse. The magnitude and extent of this potential collapse is going to be enormous. If this situation isn't dealt with not only will it mean catastrophe for the industry but political suicide for the Liberal party because it will be accountable for another 60,000 unemployed, tens of thousands of unwanted horses, the loss of $2B in expenditures in this province. People won't forget the terror or trauma. Rural Ontario is getting slammed and as a government, you have a responsibility to all of the people across this great province. The public more than ever needs good news stories, confidence that we have jobs, confidence in spending. You still have the opportunity to do the right thing but time is of the essence! This needs to get sorted out soon as the breeding industry is on the verge of collapse and the rest would soon follow. We don't have much time (a few months) to salvage the value of yearlings in time for the fall sales. If that doesn't happen..the headlines will be ugly as we know the situation that took place when the Quebec industry tanked. It was awful with unwanted horses, there will be mass unemployment, foreclosures. None of us want to see that happen.

Mr. Duncan there are none so blind as those that will not see. Better to remain silent and thought the fool than to speak and remove all doubt! Enough said!!

I believe that Duncan & McGuinty use the word "subsidy" purposely to give the unknowing Ontarians the impression that the slots @racetracks are supported by tax payer dollars.
We must keep reminding Ontarians that that is NOT the case

talk,talk,talk..... Is anybody going to sue the liberal goverment? Or, will they continue to talk.talk, and talk etc.......

Anyone that knows Joe will tell you he is and always will be for improving the horse industry. What is happening in Canada & the US is that the standardbred industry has out lasted our usefullness to the government. They came to us for help and support when they needed a way to generate revenue and we jumped in with both feet to get that job done at very little cost to them. Now that it is up and working and generating Billions of dollars as our government leaders always do they have no need for us so lets change the rules and forget the horse industry. Maybe when it comes time for these politicians to need our votes we should figure out that its time for us to forget them.

A wise man I knew once uttered a phrase that would describe Mr Duncan to a "T" - "Educated beyond his intelligence".

With all due respect to Mr. Duncan,
The people of Ontario who are directly or indirectly involved in the "slots at tracks" program, also have family members who go to school and go to hospitals. And we are aware that we aren't taking from the schools and hospitals, but rather contributing to the costs associated with them, through the generated revenues at the various racetracks, not to mention the tax dollars that we all contribute to the Ontario economy. It is highly offensive for you to simply turn a blind eye to something that is clearly a profitable venture.
Secondly, how dare Mr. Duncan criticize Mr. Thomson for investing in this province's economy and achieving success. Isn't that the purpose of every business venture, to be successful ?
Clearly the Liberal government has had something up their sleeve for quite a while. That seems to have a lot to do with why the new track in Belleville hasn't got off the ground yet.
Here is a suggestion to the Liberal government of Ontario ! How about you try using some honesty and integrity before you run the economy into the ground !

I am so sick and tired of Duncan's idiotic claims. Truly this man is an embarrassment to Ontario. Every chance he gets he tries to distort the truth and propagate the myth that tax dollars are being diverted away from Ontario schools and hospitals due to the slots at racetracks program. He will never acknowledge that without the approval of racetracks and the horse racing industry 15+ billion dollars from slots would never have been realized for the province to help support education, healthcare etc.
Mr. Thomson's comments were excellent. Mr. Duncan's response was outrageous and pathetic!!

What an "Intelligent" response from our Finance Minister. It just shows that you don't need much of an education to hold his position. I just wonder what position he will hold with Ceasars or MGM when his political career is done next year

Congrats Joe finally someone who said something they felt they needed to respond to. Now that we have him out in the press hopefully he will be willing to spar and expose himself as an incompetant bully who has decided that racing and its constituents deserve a good lesson for voting for those Progressive Conservatives. In the coming months Mr Duncan and Mr Godfrey will show that they will have no problem making certain Americans very wealthy just not you Mr Thomson because you picked the wrong industry to invest in. The obvious winners will be American casino operators and prominant Liberal supporters who own bingo halls. I strongly believe that if we can continue to engage the press into analyzing how this process plays out the Liberals and the OLG will be exposed as a corrupt entity that takes patronage to a new level.

When does the all the outlandish comments from Dwighty and the boys end ...I guess when they are voted out ....
"Horse racing took money that should go to Ontario schools and hospitals"
Are these the hospitals where the Liberals have just cut Doctors fees in half.
Only time before the Doctors head south.
The schools ....thats a good one ..... in Spanky's riding the catholic school board has just laid off 110 teachers and staff.
All while the opposition abstains from voting on the budget ........

What the hell is wrong with Duncan, isn't it a good thing to have investments in ontario? he says this is why they decided to end the slots program, because people like Mr Thomson are investing millions in an industry that supports 60,000 ontario jobs? And what about the "subsidy" they are providing to the U.S. casino owners? Wouldn't that money be better used on hospitals and schools?This just keeps getting more absurd every day.

Thank you Joe, it's nice to hear a voice of reason.
I would like to thank you for your investment in horse racing and more specifically your investment in Ontario. It is plain to see that Mr. Duncan cannot see the forest for the trees. Everytime he speaks it becomes more apparent how little he knows. It's not just the little he knows about horse racing, but his ignorance about business that appalls me the most. Apparently this job was appointed - qualifications not required. My assumption is that Mr Duncan has never held a job in the private sector handling billions of dollars, but somehow he now handles billions for the province of ontario. Great gig if you can get.

michael smith
How can a high government official make a fool of himself every time he opens his mouth?
Politicians are always crowing about being "world class". If you want to be world class you have to invite the rest of the world in and prove you are just as good as they are.Ontario
racing does this season after season. In Kentucky the state just realized a one day parimutuel tax of over one million dollars - and no one was whining about the winning owner
being a Canadian.That's how the big boys play. Does Mr. Duncan actually believe that Mr. Reddam should return the money so that no one's feelings are hurt? Should San Pail's connections apologise for taking all that money out of the States? The Liberals have become a total embarrassment to the province and its citizens.

rhonda stewart : Sounds like the Honourable Finance Minister is feeling the pressure. That was a very unusual response. The Horsepeople however need to find a way to seize the moment and reach "front page" status. Various other groups in Ontario have easily won the day in the past against this gov't. Otherwise horseracing is toast. That would be a shame for those of us who remember the call of ' here comes Dream Maker coming out of the East End parking lot!!! ' to win the Canadian Pacing Derby at Greenwood. It would be a shame for all 60,000. Ideally our Thoroughbred partners could threaten to cancel next year's Queens Plate. The resultant bad publicity would really be difficult for a gov't already under pressure. The Industry needs to hit the 'front pages' and figure out a way to stay there.

Where does Dwight Duncan get off stating that Mr. Thomson benefits from Ontario taxpayers. This is just another "smoke screen" and out and out distortion of the true facts. Mr. Thomson is an independent businessman who is not afraid to invest his money in the race horse industry in Ontario and in doing so provides jobs and opportunities which stimulates the Ontario economy..... something that Dwight Duncan knows nothing about. Mr. Duncan obviously does not understand business and HE is entrusted to run the finances of Ontario??? God help us!!! The sooner we get him and this gov't out of power... the sooner this Province will return to some form of sanity. Let's hope that the next gov't will exercise some good business sense and return Ontario to the level of prosperity that it once had.

It really wasn't fair to compare Minister Duncan to Bernie Madoff. After all Mr. Madoff had the skill and intelligence to fool the smartest and richest people in the world for years and Mr. Duncan ain't fooling anybody.

SHAME, SHAME ON YOU MR. DUNCAN. Thank God I don't have to hang my head in shame for having voting for this Arrogant Government!

At the very least, YOU OWE MR. THOMSON AN APOLOGY! Mr. McGuinty should also apologize to Mr. Thomson, for allowing such a small-minded arrogant man to insult him. But, I doubt very much if either one of you would have enough integrity to do so. You are both too stubborn to admit this is the biggest blunder this Government has made to date, at least of the decisions we have been made aware of. But then according to The Uxbridge Cosmos, this under-handed dealing and fraud has been going on since 2007, without the knowledge of the people of Ontario.

No wonder this province is in trouble, and with McGuinty and Duncan at the helm, things are not about to improve any in the forseeable future.

i truly beleive the liberal goverment is closing the slots at racetracks program to reduce competition with casinos in the vicinities like the new centre island casino in toronto.
slots at racetracks require the government to give a portion to the horsemen be it small. the casinos at centre island and one to be built in downtown ottawa would compete with the nearby racetracks and there slots. as far as taking money that goes to hospitals and schools then where does the profits that these racetrack casinos go, why would they be building a casino on centre island close to the ontario parlimentary buildings if its taking from schools and hospitals. eliminate every casino if there taking from money that is suppose to go to educating our kids and looking after our sick.
i know one thing there are about 8 eligible voters in our house and its good bye liberals in the next election and as for myself i will never vote in another election if they take away my livelihood. goodbye liberals, farmers feed cities remember that mr duncan.
yours truly Bill Peacock.

Wealthy horseman is an oxymoron, Dwight Duncan is a ...

I don't think Mr. Thomson should mentally dual with someone whom is unarmed.

JOE THOMSON for PREMIER! One can dream, can't they?

Thank you again Mr. Thomson for your reply to our finance minister. Your reply was far more controlled than mine might have been. His interpretation of the slots at racetrack revenue sharing agreement never fails to cause my blood pressure to rise. Clearly this government has an agenda that in no way, shape or form includes horse racing. The industry appears to be an impediment to them and as such must be disposed of. I refuse to give up easily and encourage all industry participants to continue lobbying MPPs and spreading our message through social media, news story comments, etc. to the general public. I have grave concerns that the government's handling of this issue may very well become a habit. The province's doctors are having a similar frustrating experience. This is my message now to friends and family - today the government is attacking the racing industry - tomorrow it will be something that affects them personally.

Incredible

Such a response from our so called political leaders is downright embarrassing.
Did he skip class when he went for his MBA?

Hopefully, no business with interest to invest in Ontario read this reply. I would think twice before investing in a province while people with such lack of fiscal insight are at the helm.

Dear Mr Duncan who got you in this dilemma? A bit of soul searching might be in order.
It took you nine years and an outside consultant to tell you that spending more money then you have will create a deficit???? """"" Incredible """""""

It's sort of funny reading Duncan's response to mr Thompson comments.

It's obvious that mr Duncan does not want to see foreign companies or indiduals profiting from slots at racetracks in any way as evidence by his response to mr Thompson and his comment on Wednesday a queens park

"Hon. Dwight Duncan: I’d just remind the member opposite that in the last week of racing at Windsor Raceway, more than half of the horses were American; 106 horses were scheduled to race and 54 were owned by Americans. That money went to the United States."

The question that should be asked is Who will run these new casinos and how much money will then be going across the border?

Will anyone call out mr Duncan on this or will we just stand here and once again take it on the chin?

Ya Dwight,

Because When Joe and hundreds of other US owners send/bring their horses up here to race they eat fresh air (horse and man). They don't stay at the Mohawk INN, or get feed from Sharpe's or fuel up at the Petro Can or... Oh ya, they bring their own vet from NY state or Jersey. Oh ya, when they need a set of new bandages and a burr headpole, they bring their entire tack room with them so they don't have to visit Tackmaster or Greenhawk for those supplies. Oh ya, I forgot, they bring their own portable stall and a canvas tent and bunk the horse up in the nearest Walmart parking lot under 15 bags of shavings of course, which they've jammed into the horse trailer for the ride too. Oh ya and when they finish 6th or back they loose about $1000. Sounds like a good gig, no.

An elected official completely clueless as to how things work. Doesn't even know how finances work (his job), b/c they had to hire a retired bank CEO to do that for him.

Re Joe Thomsons letter.It now appears that the word subsidy has been replaced with"taxpayers money" At no time has the taxpayer been taxed by the gov't but this a share of the profits of the racetrack slots partnership programme.This money comes from the people in work who wish to gamble on the slots with money that has already been taxed. Mc Guinty assumes that everyone connected with harness racing is well off and worth millions.I've stood watching racing at the backstretch at Flamboro, listening to small kids saying" come on Rusty, just get a cheque" #200 making the difference of whether the feed can be paid for this week.You need training to be a lawyer or a teacher or a thousand other jobs, including being a standardbred trainer, but no training to be a politician, yet they can hold the key to who works and who doesn't.This has nothing to do with providing money for hospitals and schools but is all to do with the Gov't finding a way to finish the jobs of thousands of hardworking but seemingly "wealthy" horse people.This Gov't would argue black is white and night is day !!!

PokerTek is an American company Mr Duncan. And you are having them install their tables at OUR Racetracks - with their clear emphasis on satisfying investors into their North Carolina-based company ... listed on the Stock Market.

The World (and the World Economy) continues to sink - led by monsters like Mcguinty and Duncan. What a travesty, all the way around. People in power are like pigs at the trough.

What a professional response from our Minister of Finance. This should be reassuring to all out of country Investors considering doing business in Qntario.
I have known Joe Thomson for many years. He is a gentleman and very accomplished business person. He did not deserve this sarcastic response.

Can anyone beleive this guy holds such an important position as finance minister? Wow are we in trouble. Only in Duncans' Ontario would significant investment,with little or no return or guarantee, be unwelcome. Would Duncan's same principals apply to the billions in direct subsidies to "green energy". Just keep saying health care and education-those eternal black holes- and you can get away with any idiotic plan. Duncan, with every ridiculous comment spoken, makes you question not only his intellect but sanity. Keep trying to defend the indefenceable Dwight. Can it get anymore bizzare?

Mr Duncan! Are you serious? You have just told a large investor in the Ontario economy that he has been stealing money from us? Isn't investment approached with the idea of making a profit? Is there something wrong with that? There are very few Joe Thomsons willing to put that kind of money into this province, and you are so, so, close to making sure there are less of them. If you had even the faintest idea how much Mr Thomson, other Americans and Europeans, have put into the horse industry, you would be bending over backward trying to encourage them to stay. Insulting major investors, not matter their country of origin, or the business they chose to be in is so small minded and short-sighted, that it is beyond belief.

I challenge you to sit down with Mr Thomson and find out just how much he has spent in feed, bedding, wages, leases, equipment, advertising, charity donations, vet bills, farriers, etc. over the years. After you have apologized, maybe you could ask him for some business advice, I'm sure he would be glad to give you a few pointers.

An unfortunate lesson we are learning; voting in flavours of the month into power and giving them free reign. "A program funded by Ontario tax-payers..." he says.

Correct me if I'm wrong but the only way the program is funded by tax payers is by gambling and that's a choice. Not 1 penny is taken from an Ontarians pay check to fund this program.

I'm embarrassed to say that when I lived in Ontario, I considered myself a Liberal.

It's very clear a due diligence process was completely bypassed following the Drummond Report, keeping the blinkers on so to speak, while scrapping the Slots at Racetracks program instead of REVIEWING it as suggested in the report.

A due diligence review by intelligent people would have clearly indicated that, even in the Drummond Report, when speaking of the Slots at Racetracks program and using the moniker "subsidy" is erroneous.

"...ending a program that took money that should go to Ontario schools and hospitals and gave it to, among others, wealthy people like Mr. Thomson..." please someone remove this man from a position of power, it's embarrassing!

Once again Mr Duncan speaks without knowing what he is speaking about. I'll try to do the same, but with the knowledge that I know something about the costs of running a farm, investments in livestock and the time, blood, sweat, tears and the huge amount of money it takes to break even, let alone garnish a profit in the horse business. Mr Duncan says that Joe Thomson has "profited handsomely from the program funded by Ontario taxpayers". Without being privy to Mr Thomson's balance sheet, but knowing something about the expenses and investment involved in running a large breeding farm, I would be willing to bet every last farthing in my retirement fund that when the totals are added up, that Winbak Ontario has yet to make its first dollar of profit. I couldn't guarantee that, but I wouldn't take a FREE BET to the contrary. But the every wise, omniscient Mr Duncan knows - all one needs to do is ask him. One thing I do know for sure is that Joe Thomson has provided salaries, investments in the local economy and has continued a tradition of breeding quality horses that allow Ontario breds to be ranked among the best in the world.

Not being a businessman, Dwight Duncan doesn't realise that money spent on gambling is what is called discretionary spending; people don't have to pull slot machines or buy lottery tickets,by cancelling the slots at racetracks program. The OLG lost what is called a captive market - I will wager any sum the OLG puts up, that the revenues from gambling will fall this year. As for Duncan's wealthy American comments, as an overpaid politican he is well qualified to speak on the subject.

Congratulations to Mr. Thomson on speaking out on the hypocrisy of this government. I have had the pleasure of working for Mr. Thomson and know the amount of money he has invested in his business because of his love for the game. Speaking from experience, I can assure you that Joe has lost more to promote this sport and industry than any of the organizations that are supposed to, only because he enjoys harness racing.

Mr Duncan is quick to complain about the dollars that are taken over the border by "Americans", spitting it out like a bad word, but ignores the millions that Americans have invested in horse racing in one form or another in this province. Mr Thomson is a much better businessman than anyone in the Liberal government, and he recognized the investment opportunities existing in Ontario. Apparently, the Liberals don't want American money, and in fact, have even been passing out brochures to gamblers in Windsor to encourage them to take their money to Ohio! Guess Ontario is not open for business.

Thanks to Mr Thomson, and all the other Americans who, through buying, breeding and boarding have helped make this the best program in the world. We hope that there is something left of it.

Thank you, Mr. Thomson, for speaking out about the craziness going on here in Ontario. We need more people like you who have so much invested to speak up on behalf of all of us here in the horse racing industry. I hope your message can also get out into the mainstream media!

In the 2011-2012 Global Competitiveness Report from the World Economic Forum in Geneva Switzerland 2011, The most problematic factor for doing business in Canada is "INEFFICIENT GOVERNMENT BUREAUCRACY".
http://reports.weforum.org/global-competitiveness-2011-2012/

What great quotes mentioned by Mr. Joe Thomson in that article!

In a little over than a decade, the slots and the sires stakes have made the Ontario standardbred the best in the world.

He quotes: “Good Lord, when Ontario’s No. 1 and the politicians don’t understand that what they created has been very successful, that’s sad.”

I agree 100%, it's asinine to sabotage an institution that is copied and mimicked globally. We hear it every day, if it isn't broken, don't fix it.

About time a big investor in our province speak out!! very good article hope for some more poeple like MR Thomson come out!!!!