Refocus people!
We are coming up on 4 years since slots ended - the industry is half what it was in 2012. The Liberal decision makers are gone. (Mcginty, Duncan, McMeekin) The new-age framers of the industry (Snobelen, Buchanan, and the OLG) continue to scratch their heads for a solution, and "frustration" is the word of the day.
The solutions offered up are unreasonable, from marching on Queens Park to keeping only those tracks alive that are within a 100 mile radius of the GTA.
Time to think outside the box and add a fresh piece of Juicy Fruit to the wad of stale gum in our mouths.
Bring the Ministry of Agriculture into the conversation! The late Eugene Whelan (Fed Min of Ag) told me agriculture helped build Northlands and save the Calgary Stampede.
Horseman in Ontario are, farmers, rural, self employed, and represent non automotive, industrial or tech jobs.
When a farmer in Ont has a bad year, there is help
The Ministry of Agriculture was invisible in 2012 - it' time to push them to step up to the plate!

Hmmm. Here's a crazy idea. Tonight is a gathering of many prominent members of the harness racing industry (the O'Brien Awards). Trainers with large stables, owners with large investment, and breeders who have a strong influence. Why not incorporate the two events. Pre-emp the awards with the meeting. Then celebrate after. If anyone has a vested interest it's tonight's participants.

Anthony your frustration is understandable but misdirected as we are being setup to fail. Scheduling was a big factor in the lack of attendance as well as people's lack of belief in the government. We have had thousands of people at Queens Park with support from many MPP's from both opposition parties in attendance and both parties made motions on the floor to help the industry only to fall upon deaf ears. What makes us think now that the liberals now have a majority they have changed their minds ? Mr Snoblen said the government was not interested in a single voice from the horsemen for a reason, they don't care, they are only trying to save face with these lip service meetings. Did any new information come out of these meetings, did anyone feel better when they left that when they came ? I think the number one goal of horsemen at this point should be to somehow have one voice as the governments divide and conquer strategy is working beautifully. Number two is to get track owners who truly want to grow the industry and not depend on OLG to help us, the competition. It seems to me at this point our best hope lies with the next elected provincial government to help what is left of the the industry at the time. Sorry to be so pessimistic but thank you so much for your passion and dedication to the horsemen.

Well I would not say that the sentiment of this blog is wrong...because in spirit it is correct. As an Owner Trainer Driver Breeder in Ontario... who works a full time job as well to help keep this business alive....a middle of the day weekday meeting isn`t really all that convenient..... I was discussing this fact with a friend of mine who is in exactly same situation. We have to take a day off work to go train somewhere because there is nowhere open to train on weekends. I don`t know how many days most people get off work before they get fired but I already use all my holidays just for the horses....also the fact that the meeting was at Mohawk... here again how far from the tracks and people most affected. Hopefully some future meetings will be scheduled at times and locations a little more inclusive to some of us smaller but no less passionate about the business horsemen.

So, now that the meetings have been held and we slide into the typical negativity of lack of attendance. Seriously? Why not take the information from the people that did attend and do something with it. Make it worth everybody's while to attend these meetings, not rant and rave about who did and who didn't attend. The attendance and participation on these issues and meetings would improve if the majority felt something was actually coming out of them. Perhaps Snobelen needs to do the job he was elected to do and the job he gets paid to do and show up where the horse people are not the other way around. Has anybody (yourself included Anthony) taken the initiative to brief horse people as to the actions that will result from these successful meetings???? What actions are required from Snobelen and by what date are they expected to be completed by??? Are the minutes posted any where for review?? Sorry but your frustration are not the actions of someone I would want leading us Anthony, your actions in my opinion are those of a typical politician. A politician that requires people jumping up and down and storming parliament demanding answers before they will actually get their job done. We are doing our job, are they doing theirs?? As an industry we have representatives that should be diligent in gaining the opinion of the horsepeople and presenting the opinions at these meetings. Sorry Anthony but solidarity is important but so is action on these issues. I am yet to see Snobelen making his way through a busy paddock or at a major training center, doing his job. He should be doing his part to spread the word and gain information.

Kudos to you Anthony for dedicating your latest blog to highlight this issue. I agree with you in the fact that it would have been better to see more people out to the meetings. As one that tries to see the positive side though...it was reassuring that the horsemen and women in attendance at both meetings were engaged and put forth many good comments and questions. We are all passionate about our industry and we need to put that passion towards working with all our partners and improving our future.

Robin, you asked what else we could have done? perhaps one of the answers was could we have asked ourselves from an attendance perspective if we were set up to fail. As per my earlier comment when the news of these meetings was first posted on Standardbred Canada, how as an owner who really cares about this Industry but has a full time job show their support when both meetings were scheduled for the middle of the afternoon during the week. I need my day job in order to support the horses that I race because they don't support themselves. I attended the rallies at Queen's Park only because I could take my lunch hour and via a short subway ride be on the ground at Queen's Park. I appreciate that the timing of these meetings was likely better for participants who are responsible for the care and racing of the horses but it might have left out at least some of the most important part of the puzzle - those of us who contribute the capital to put the horses in the barn and on the track in the first place. I guess I sound like I am trying to divide us into groups which is what Michael in his comments was trying to ensure did not happen. That is not my intention. However, it is frustrating to want to help those who really need the Industry (trainers, grooms, etc)and not be able to.

Nail 1 foot to the ground, and try walking forward, and you will find yourself going round in circles!

It sickened me yesterday watching Dwight Duncan as the interim head of the new Gordie Howe bridge lead cyclist groups to believe that there could be a bike lane, crossing the border, when he knows it is ILLEGAL!

Similarly, the industry has been led along by government reps who are merely stalling till the industry loses enough players to become manageable. Remember, when the lucrative slots came in, and costs escalated, the budget for the ORC jumped from $2.3 million to $13m. Slot revenue is gone, but costs remain high.

There are already more members of the OLG on the sunshine list than drivers in Ontario.

WEG won't rock any boats as they have their own agenda, while the remaining tracks, with no clout will fight for the bones - bones with very little meat on them.

The rest of the world is oblivious to the plight of the horseman.

A new tact is in order, and here it is: let the OLG continue to struggle with the burden of what to do with racing, and look to come in the back door with "a" minister of agriculture, which, after all, is what really we are all about!

O

If the meetings were called on a race day just before the races, the attendance would have been significantly higher. Why do you think they were scheduled at those times and locations?

I’m sure that I speak for all of us who were at the meeting at Mohawk on Wednesday, that we all feel the same, Anthony. Thank you so very much for speaking on our behalf. It was very disappointing to be in attendance where a small group tried so hard to get the message across to the government that we are very concerned about our industry and we don’t want it to die a slow death. But a small group speaking on behalf of 50,000 plus people in the Standardbred business in Ontario doesn’t do much to convince that we are serious and we plan to fight to preserve our livelihood.
But it isn’t productive to sit back and pat ourselves on the back for just being at the meeting. Today, we are thinking of what else we might have done to encourage others to come and not necessarily make their voices heard but just be there in support. We each could have called, convinced, cajoled another five or ten people in the business to come. We could have offered others a ride; we could have hired a bus to bring all those in our area who might not have otherwise traveled the 75 miles to Mohawk. We could have initiated a telephone chain to call all the standardbred breeders, owners, trainers, drivers, grooms, veterinarians, blacksmiths, feed companies, transportation vendors (truck & horse trailers) etc. in our area to remind them how crucial this meeting really was and to convince them that their attendance was of the utmost importance. But we didn’t. And now we wish we would have! We are sincerely hoping that we get another opportunity to meet with Mr. Snobelen and to show him and the Ontario Government that we are concerned but tenacious in our resolve to keep the business we love from deteriorating even further. Perhaps we have to borrow a page from the American Political playbook and get our ground game going! Imagine the room full of people we could have had if all of us had tried just a little bit harder.

So right on the money Anthony. I have always been amazed how well our industry helps out those in need, if someone gets hurt or sick. The fire... look how people stepped up in the industry. When it comes to fighting for horseracing it is like everyone sits back and does nothing. I did not attend the meeting but I can actually say I knew nothing of it... I did know of the London meeting. Having said that I think it is the 1st time I have not attended something that is to help with my industry. I do not know what the answer is to get everyone on the same page. My guess is when there is no longer horse racing people will wish if only we could have done something. Ronda Markle

I agree that more horse people should be present at those meetings, but to be fair, I don't believe those same people think that their voices are being heard and the voices are so different from one horsepeople to another.

If you think about the Industry and how it should be structured going forward, most of the horse people have different views based on their needs and not what is best for the Industry. The second we post or talk about making changes, some others complain about the change.

Not all horse people should be going to those meeting and show the powers above HOW DIVIDED WE ARE. I would recommend that a meeting take place and some representatives from each side of our business should be represented. (breeders/owners/trainers/vets etc...) We should elect one or two people from each part of the industry and form a committee.

Once that committee is formed, agree on a structure/plan of action, we believe is best for OUR INDUSTRY, (not one trainer cause they live closer to any tracks, not a trainer that trains on a small track that should be closed cause they want to keep there horses running even if the purses are 10 times higher than the betting intake)

This same committee should then be mandated to meet with ORA and report the progress to its members using this website. A lot of progress have been made since the abolition of the SARP program, but sometimes we kill ourselves being divided for our own purpose and gain. We need to do what's best for our sport, before it is decided by government people that know little about it. For that we need to be strong and united!!!

I couldn't agree more with this statement from Anthony Mcdonald, Just like around election time, people complain and criticize government but are too lazy to get up from the couch, lay down the converter and actually make your way out of the door to initiate change.

With a recent inquiry at the Meadowlands about alleged positive tests from 2 prominent trainers and the outcome of past violations of this drug by these 2 trainers the racing business needs more support than ever.

People initiate change, and if you cant get away from that Big Mac or tv to actually make a change in the industry we are all in jeopardy.

Well said Anthony we need to show up and show we care. London turn out was a bit better but I thought there should have been at least double the attendance. We need to help ourselves here fellow horse people.. No matter what your personal opinions are for our future We need a voice!

150 people cared at western fair/ however no information sheets were given out and the fact that the new ORA might have a representative from the standardbreds group speaks loudly about the consolidation of track operations and a rubber stamping from the liberals!