A rally at Robertson's Training Centre in Azilda, Greater Sudbury was the scene of a rarity on Monday, August 27. The rarity wasn't the fact that there was a demonstration against the Ontario Liberal Government's decimation of the province's horse-racing industry. The rarity was that a Sudbury PC candidate and NDP Nickel Belt MPP displayed that are exactly on the same page in opposition of the provincial Liberals regarding their highly-controversial gaming decision.

As reported by The Sudbury Star, Paula Peroni, the potential PC candidate for Sudbury, organized a rally at Robertson's Training Centre in Azilda on Monday. While there, she took the opportunity to directly cite NDP Nickel Belt MPP France Gélinas' support for the Ontario horse-racing industry. Gélinas was absent due to MPPs having been called back to the Queen's Park Legislature early to vote on a bill pertaining to Ontario teachers.

The Sudbury Star article states that Peroni quoted Gélinas as saying in a letter that the Nickel Belt MPP believes the racetrack decision is a political one, not a financial one.

"Political decisions can be changed if enough people send a message to politicians," Gélinas said in the message read by Peroni.

The report goes on to explain that even though Peroni organized Monday's demonstration, she didn't quite grasp the enormity of the Liberals' move to scrap the slots-at-racetracks program and send the Ontario industry into a death spiral.

"I really got an education in how dramatic" the impact will be on people's lives, Peroni was cited as saying in the article.

The report has also cited Cheryl Danyluk, past president of the Northern Horsemen's Association, as saying that she sees horse racing coming to an end in Sudbury in November.

Another report on the Monday demonstration by The Sudbury Star offers comments by on the situation by horsemen Chris Polifroni, Murray McConnell, Mike Noble and Wayne MacLean.

In addition to the two stories by The Sudbury Star, there is also an in-depth report on the situation by northernlife.ca.

(With files from The Sudbury Star)