I have a friend at one of the OLG sites who said that they are laying off (firing)unionized employees at the current casino sites with unionized employees.

The OLG is trying to send a message to the current non-unionized employees at their sites that if they attempt to unionize prior to their casino modernization master plan being completed, we will fire you!

The Ontario Lottery Corporation is acting on behalf of their fearless leaders Dalton McGodfrey. They are currently running their casino and slot properties just like the Liberal government is running the province....as a corrupt dictatorship.

This is also all part of the overall plan to destroy collective bargaining.

Ontario better wake up and take back their province because every day that goes by is one day closer to our Americanization.
Your children's future is in jeopardy. What are you going to do about it?

Now is the time all track owners should form an association and tell the OLG to extend SARP or no slots on their property,we have nothing to lose, the tracks would lose only rental space fees being offer by OLG. OLG stands to lose billions and their jobs. So who is really in the drivers seat here ?

Obviously Shawn Murphy isn't a Breeder or has much ,if any ,serious money invested in the racing/breeding industry!! .Perhaps Shaun knew of the Govt's One year outclause to allow them to cancel SARP[am I the only one who didn't know ?] and he brilliantly avoided investing in Farms,trucks,trailers,broodmares,yearlings,Stallion shares,exercisers,farm tracks,groomers,etc etc...but hey Shawn thanks for telling me there will still be racing,I feel much better!!

Jim,

You are absolutely right, I am sure there is a deal to keep WEG going (ever wonder why COSA was created).
The big guys are more than happy to race at the small tracks and take money but what happens when a small guy goes there.
Unless this hits the papers or news chanels this will go nowhere and it will be the end of horse racing at the grass roots level.
Great analogy Greg, the rich survive the rest succumb to a slow painful death.

Greg Parke

I have just read the Annual Financial Report of the OLG. By their own admission in the report, the so called "resort casinos" (Caesars and Niagara casinos) suffered a decrease in revenue of $45.8 million while OLG casinos and slots increased by almost $29 million. The question that comes to my mind is why does the OLG want to end the slots when they account for 31% of the total revenues of the corporation while the resort casinos are suffering a significant decrease. It is quite obvious that Mcguinty and Duncan did not pass Accounting 101 nor did they pass Business Economics. Now they want to build these so called mega casinos to lose more money..... Makes no sense.
There are some other issues that I have as well. Namely, why two head offices, one in Sault Ste. Marie and the other in Toronto. Secondly, why did the OLG, a Crown corporation, lend Caesars, a private company, almost $226 million (pg 52 of the report) on an UNSECURED loan basis with $125 million still owing? Clearly the auditor general needs to investigate the business practices of the OLG. There are many other issues as well. This report makes for some very interesting reading and all you business gurus out there should obtain one from their website. Godfrey and co. have a lot of explaing to do!!

Racing will not collapse. There will still be racing at many of the tracks that are currently racing, people will still be employed, breeders will still breed, bettors will still be betting.The stronger sites will survive, the weaker ones will not. This is no different than any other business model.What they are doing now is right sizing, its a reaction to supply and demand. People will have to find work if there employers downsize, again this is no different than any other business. When at a majority of the smaller tracks the purses for the night are larger than the total handle there is something wrong with the model. If you had a business and your expenses were higher than your revenues it wouldnt take long to figure out your business model has some flaws. The changes are going to hurt, the landscape will dramatically change but we will all be fine in the long run. Purses at WEG will be reduced by more than half, some top trainers will move to the States, drivers will follow and smaller tracks will close their doors. Times change, options for entertainment change, better options are out there for bettors, the racing game will adapt.
I totally agree with making a statement, if you want to make people aware of the cause, line the highways with trailers, make some noise,the fight has not been as strong as it should have been.

recbecca,,wish i was wrong but,

the silence that is deafening is coming from the top guys in the Ontario game because theyve been told to lay low til the small guys are forced out..

associations and WEG are alive and will continue forward,though obviously purses will be be under much discussion in months ahead.

if you want to lay a trip on anyone..TIME TO CALL ON THE BIG NAMES HERE AND ASSOCIATIONS and find out whats really going on.....

OLG, Godfrey, Tannenbaum, Libs are dividing and conquering all of you.....

their hopes, by dragging feet (see mr mcmeekin) the small will give up or collapse,,leaving the top names to be rewarded with a new version of 'the show' ,,, not as lucrative but still worth a full time commitment

ITS TIME THE BIGGEST NAMES IN THE ONTARIO GAME COME CLEAN WITH ALL OF THE REST OF THE PROVINCE....

jctoronto

I cannot believe that the Federal Government has not stepped in yet to over-rule these unbelievable tactics and decisions made by the Provincial Government and the OLG.

Rebecca Hamilton is 100% on the money. This is exactly what needs to be done. The message has to be sent to the PUBLIC...only horsepeople read the Standardbred News This should have been done 6 months ago. The PUBLIC needs to be aware. This needs to happen today!!!

If this continues, it will be the demise of the Liberal Government, just as it was in New Brunswick when they tried to go ahead with the SALE of N. B Power without any consulation or public imput..BUT unfortunately time is running out in Ontario and if something is NOT done very very soon it WILL be TOO late.
Far too many questions have not been answered and yet they continue on their quest to ruin the Ontario Race industry and many lives.
Put an injuction on this and halt it immediately so at least we can get some answers if there is any.!!!
This MUST STOP now!!!!

It has now been six months (half a YEAR) since the blow was delivered to the horse-racing industry. There have been consultations, a couple of small demonstrations at Queens Park and elsewhere. There has been a lot of rhetoric from both sides, suggestions about how to keep the industry alive, denials from the government, abundant accusations, offers of support from a Senator, other current and past politicians, business persons and others that seem to have fallen by the wayside, painful stories about the losses that have already occured in the breeding sector as well as track closures and their employees already out of work. Woodbine wil likely shut down at the end of this year for at least three months (Merry Christmas/Happy New Year). Horse sales have been cancelled. Farms have laid off employees. Everyone's assets have been greatly devalued - can I sell you a racehorse?

I have said this before and now I am going to say it again...

......an ultimatum (is) required from OHRIA and ALL other organizations and racing representatives right NOW, to the current government as well as to the Conservatives AND the NDP. All out WAR from ALL parties who are surely losing their livelihoods is required to carry our message to the general electorate. We can all concur that canceling SARP is a bad/stupid/incomprehensible move on the part of the Fiberals and their colleagues, but if we cannot get that same message to the urban masses who still have no clue what this boondoggle is all about, then all of the hoping and praying will not stop the inevitable demise of the racing industry in Ontario. Every horse trailer should have a sign on it saying that Dalton and Dwight (Dumb and Dumber) have condemned the magnificent animals on board to death. Then those trailers should be lined up for miles on all major arteries serving the GTA, London, Ottawa, Barrie, Hamilton/Flamboro/Waterdown (McMeekin's backyard), Windsor, etc.. So what if the public gets inconvenienced for a few hours. The trailer safari then needs to head to Queens Park along the Gardiner Expressway, the Don Valley expressway and down Yonge Street for a MASSIVE demonstration (not hundreds but THOUSANDS). Everyone dependent on the racing industry (meaning every horseperson, vet, blacksmith, feed supplier, Dodge/Ford/Chevy truck dealer, trailer manufacturer, track owner, tack supplier et al) needs to anti-up and pay for PAC ads on every TV station (they only need to be 15 second spots to get our message out). We need to flood every media outlet with the message that there are no answers from the government that explain why they are going ahead with a plan that cancels the most profitable product that OLG currently has and they have nothing in place to generate the $$$ currently coming from SARP. When the government loses the revenue stream coming from SARP currently used to support healthcare and education, will Ontarians be prepared for the inevitable cuts to healthcare and education that most surely will follow the shortfall in the revenue stream? There will be no mega casino complex built and up and running in time to contribute what will be lost from the tracks after March 2013, so where will the revenue for the government come from to replace that lost from SARP? It is time that EVERYONE wake up and smell the coffee! We must stop dreaming and DO what must be done to save ourselves.

Just the 17 tracks themselves without counting the OLG staff would be over 5000 jobs. Restaurant staff maintenance security...If 300 a track that would be 5100 jobs 17 x 300 = 5100

How is it that the a Government, New York brings in measures to protect the animal and across the border a government makes a decision that will impact the lives of over 13,000 horses. What does that say for our society in Ontario !

History has shown that you can not reason with
a dictator.

Has Mr. Godfrey explained how he plans to replace 1.1 billion per year in slot income March 31st 2013 ? If you or anyone you know pays taxes in Ontario you should be VERY afraid of this cretin.

This message is for our ASSOCIATIONS... are we gonna wait till its over to do something big to make them move? It's more than time... please, lets call a meeting and do some planning HURRY UP!

Greg Price is right! Legal action in form of a class action law suit is the only alternative. The doctors did it and only then did the gov't sit up and pay attention and started the process of negotiation. These guys are acting like renegades who think that they can do whatever they please without any consequences. In the meantime, livelihoods are at stake. My question is when are the opposition parties going to step up to the plate and put the Liberals on notice that their actions are totally unacceptable. Where are Horwath and Hudak and where is the accountability???.... We need to get rid of this rats nest..... TIME FOR A ELECTION!!!

38 layoffs in Sudbury with another 100 to go. Now 33 at Woodbine. That's 171 and that does not include anyone from the racing industry. There were also layoffs at Windsor. Does anyone remember how many. We need to keep track of this.

In past years, OLG has been able to quietly cut the jobs of non-unionized staff. They have been doing it for years by "Terminated Without Cause" firings. These firings were done out of the public eye. However, now that many employees are unionized, the OLG needs to explain some things, and follow the rules of the collective agreement.

The ruthless tactics of the OLG, along with them having no regard for their loyal employees, is certainly nothing new. Only something very radical, which could draw massive public attention, is going to awaken the public.

Greg

You are bang on.

These OLG scumbags have made backdoor deals with their Liberals scumbags and are making a mockery of our Democratic rights as citizens of Ontario.

Its damn well time that the people of this Province, as well as this industry do something about it. The time to peaceful negotiations is over, the gloves must come off.

This is becoming a WILD WILD WEST MOVIE......... Where two outlaws, Dwight Duncan, and God awful Paul Godfrey. Just go around shooting from the hip..... at innocent people...... hard working people.....people the work 10 times harder then these two men couldn't ever dream of ....... Yet they go around like bully's. There are forsure many hiddin agenda's that we will never know about..... I think Ive been pushed around enough where action should be taken against these people. Protests. There are over running us like Alexander the Great. Just going town to town taking from all of us. Im calling upon are leaders in harness racing to help us be heard.... cause they are not listening at this time...... SOMETHING RADICAL NEEDS TO BE DONE. LETS MAKE SOME NOISE IN THE NEAR FUTURE. SHOWING EDICATE IS NOT HELPING....