"Can anyone imagine a city that trades [the Pattison International], plus the Queen’s Plate and Maple Leaf Trot and North America Cup and many more sporting fixtures, for a handful of bingos and a casino?"
In the Sunday edition of the Toronto Star, award-winning writer Dave Perkins makes an excellent case for how the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. could increase profits and modernize gaming without decimating the province's horse racing industry. Combine racetrack telethreatres with sportsbooks and give horse racing a percentage of the revenue.
"There’s an easy way to we expand gambling as Ontario sees fit and still maintain racing’s future, along with its 55,000 jobs," proposed Perkins in the Star article. "Open a sports book in each racetrack and casino, allow single-game sports betting — its arrival is inevitable — and then get out of the way of the tourists. You won’t be able to find a hotel room on March Madness or NFL weekends."
Such a proposal, according to Perkins, would compliment the modernization strategy of the OLG without destroying the racing industry.
"Those who run gambling in the province — they always want to dump the ‘bl’ and call it gaming — seem hell-bent on destroying horse racing while expanding bingos and dropping a big new casino in downtown Toronto. That’s a terrible trade for our town."
Perkins also points out the seemingly nonsensical decision to bristle at a partnership with the racing industry that allots 20 per cent of the slots-at-racetrack program revenues in exchange for a deal with bingo operators that provides OLG with a smaller take, allowing the "bingo industry" to pocket 47 per cent of revenues.
"So they will pull the plug on $1.1 billion in annual revenues from racing commencing April 1 and hope to make it up with a casino and with licensed bingos, many of them owned by our old pal Larry Tanenbaum. Mind you, bingo proprietors retain 47 per cent of the profits. Naturally, because 20 per cent of one is too much but 47 per cent of the other is just right, we now see misdirection advertisements about how good bingo is — for charities. Yes, once again, they’re doing it for the kids."
Maybe it's for the future of those kids now enjoying the Liberal-mandated full-day kindergarten that a casino is being forced onto Toronto, despite how a $3-billion complex such as the one described by Oxford Properties would impact the local businesses and take money spent now on Ontario businesses and shuttle it stateside.
"Toronto citizens have spoken up and many said they weren’t interested in a casino, but you can hear the bulldozer starting up in the background," continued Perkins. "The province reserves the right to override municipal concerns and place the casino wherever it wants — or, more precisely, wherever the incoming American owners want it. They’ll say they listened to the community, that the pros outweigh the cons and this is where it will go."
The province's major opposition parties -- the New Democratic Party and the Progressive Conservatives -- have spoken out, calling for referendums to become mandatory before casino expansion is given the green light in municipalities. Motions and bills have been presented and proposed.
The Ontario Liberal Party -- via the OLG, which it governs -- has made it quite clear that it does not support the idea of municipalities conducting referendums to truly find out if residents actually want full-blown casino expansion in their own backyards.
One thing Mr. Perkins is
One thing Mr. Perkins is overlooking is the current provincial monopoly the OLG has on sports betting with Pro-Line lottery.
The OLG can't allow sports books because that would mean they would have to lower their profit margin by offering true sports book odds on their Pro-Line Sports lottery.
It has been well-documented that OLG Pro-Line odds for selecting sporting events are some of the worst in the world.
They couldn't offer fair sports book odds at the OLG site sports books and then offer worse odds on their Pro-Line lottery product.
They would rather continue to rip off the public with their Pro-Line lottery product which I'm sure they will offer with their Internet Gaming product scheduled for introduction in the summer of 2013.
The OLG is as corrupt as the Liberal government.
Unless the horse racing industry stands up now and stops this casino modernization plan through attention-grabbing protests, the industry is finished in Ontario.
Don't fool yourself, McGuinty's resignation proroguing stunt is part of the plan to buy time for the OLG so the casino modernization plan can progress to the point of no return.
OMG! now the Liberals have
OMG! now the Liberals have prorogued the current session in the provincial legislature. And Dalton is stepping DOWN!!!!! Getting out while he can. So what's next? Wish the other parties would do the same. We must step up our fight and must lobby all of the candidates for his job.
Bravo Dave Perkins. Actually,
Bravo Dave Perkins. Actually, he floated this idea a couple of years ago. It makes so much sense, there is little chance of fruition. Could you imagine the buzz during March Madness, Any NFL Sunday, but especially Superbowl, and, it might spice up the Grey Cup, too. This action is younger demographic and it might spill over to the respective racetracks.
Maybe Larry T will read Dave's column and come up with another great idea to run by his buddy Paul G.
Contact the Federal
Contact the Federal Government (Prime Minister) concerning the state of the Ontario Horse Racing Industry:
http://www.pm.gc.ca/eng/contact.asp?featureId=10
Dave Perkins has always had a
Dave Perkins has always had a handle on horseracing and should be a must read on any article he writes by anyone who cares! My heart truly goes out to not only the breeders who suffered worse this weekend than any of us thought possible, but those industry workers whose future is even more tragic and at risk. Unless there is a complete turnaround these hardworking tax paying individuals are closer to WELFARE than ever. As a horse owner I would rather pay them through training bills than welfare payments! The American casino owners and other wealthy businesses have bought literally every politician in the U.S. and have found a willing group here who are either naive or so greedy they*ll sell out the rest of us to the highest bidder. If the opposition parties have any scruples at all, put forward a non confidence motion NOW! It*s never too late to do the right thing!
As you state Dave, the
As you state Dave, the Provincial Government reserves the right to over-ride Municipal concerns, so to the Federal Government has the right to over-ride the decision of this Provincial Government, which is decimating our industry, and daily sending hundreds of horses to the killing plant in Montreal. Our Federal MPs have the legal wherewithall to do this, and we should call upon them to exercise this right. We know there is no honesty or integrity among the three blind mice pulling the strings in this province (McGuinty, Duncan and Godfrey), or should I say fronting those financial supporters who are actually working these puppets. Ontario has gone from the Province of Opportunity and Have - to the Province of Unemployment, Despair and HAVE NOT under the "careful guidance/(mis)direction" of this hypocritical Premier and Finance Minister. Although we should not give them all the credit, our Agriculture Minister, Mr. McMeekin has been conspicuous by his absence throughout this whole mess. Maybe he has not finely tuned his fabrication skills as well as Mr. McGuinty and Mr. Duncan, so they keep him in obscurity so that he can not open his mouth before engaging his brain in case he "slips up" and puts McGuinty and Duncan in the hot seat again, a place I might add, which they both seem to be quite comfortable with, since they do not believe they have to answer to anyone about their decisions anyway!
It seems our Opposition parties can't seem to get it right either. First Horwath smiles in front of the cameras at every opportunity and says she firmly supports the horse racing industry, then at the very first opportunity to actually back up her words, decides to sit on the fence, where she feels the safest! Hudak and the PCs state they are fighting for the Horse Racing in this province, and do not support this Liberal decision to end the SAR program, but we need to get these two leaders together. (and in the case of Horwath - my leader would definitely not waste my vote by sitting on the fence and abstaining from voting on a very critical issue in this Province). THIS IS A MINORITY GOVERNMENT, MARCHING FORWARD RUTHLESSLY, CARELESSLY NOT LISTENING TO ANYONE WHO DISAGREES WITH THEIR DECISIONS.!!! WHY ARE THEY STILL IN POWER???? The answer is simple, I believe, this province is so #@!%ed up, that I don't believe either Hudak or Horwath really want the job of trying to fix it, or why aren't they getting together and putting an end to this rape of Ontario by the Liberal Party! I ask, where is the "middle-class businessman/woman", who can step in and take the bull by the horns and turn this Province around and run it as it should be run, like a business. Not as it is currently being run by McGuinty, like he and Duncan have a license to print money with no regard for the future of our children and grandchildren, only regarding their free ride, lucrative salaries, expense accounts, and pensions. I say the message we need to get to both Hudak and Horwath, if you do not have the intestinal fortitude to step up to the plate and work together to get this province back on track, then have the decency to step aside and allow someone who will, to take your place!
Does anyone really believe
Does anyone really believe the Liberals will go for an idea that makes so much sense. Just look at their track record. When have they ever made any sense.
Can't wait untill they are out of office.
Great idea but if successful
Great idea but if successful like SARP what would stop the Government from calling it a subsidy years down the road and taking it back. I see no difference between sports betting and slots. We all know we can't trust politicians after this fiasco.
The SARP program is the only
The SARP program is the only program that makes any sense, has been amazingly successful, and should be looked up with ideas to expand it.. Good article, the only way to change the situation is to get rid of Dalton McGinty and the Liberal party of Ontario. The damage they have done is becoming more and more evident every day. Just thinking out loud. Bruce T. Winning
Way to Go Dave. Thank
Way to Go Dave. Thank goodness someone with some common sense is listening and reporting the truth.
The other media's seem to have been silenced and controlled by the management. Comments on SAR's and the competition that horse racing is getting from Tannenbaum and Godfrey is pretty quiet in the other papers. Could it be that way because of the Chairman of Post Media?? LOL