Leslie “Ticked Off” With Duncan’s Remarks

Published: February 14, 2012 07:48 pm EST

“Horse racing in a lot of these small communities, such as Dresden, Windsor, London, Fort Erie and Ajax, will be finished,” said OHRIA’s president Sue Leslie following Monday’s alarming announcement by Ontario Finance Minister Dwight Duncan that radical changes could be made to the province’s horse racing industry

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“And then how will those townships around these tracks survive if all those workers are gone? Who will be in their restaurants, at the gas stations, in their Wal-Marts?” added Leslie in a report in Tuesday’s Toronto Star. “We are confused. Why would a successful revenue-sharing program such as this be a place for cost-cutting? It has made very large amounts of money for the government.”

Duncan labeled the racing industry’s annual share of slot revenue as a “subsidy” on Monday when he addressed the Economic Club of Canada, and that added more fuel to the fire.

“This really ticks us off,” said Leslie. “It is not a subsidy. This revenue-sharing program has had good results for all three parties. It is a self-sustaining, labour-intensive industry that employs 60,000 people in jobs such as feed mills, veterinarians, tack shops, blacksmiths and farmers all over.”

For each dollar wagered on the slots, the government receives 75 per cent, with 10 per cent going to the horse industry for wages, employment and horses, and 10 per cent to the racetrack for refurbishments and renovations. Five per cent goes to the municipality.

“Over the last decade, annual expenditures by the horse racing industry has increased by 67 per cent, to $2 billion dollars in 2010 from $1.2 billion in 2000,” said Leslie. “Approximately 80 per cent of this expenditure occurs in Ontario’s rural agriculture communities where it provides much-needed economic growth.”

“The horse racing industry has reinvested and reinvigorated the Ontario economy,” she said. “Whatever is taken away from it, will be taken away from employment. Our industry must let them know that they would be doing the wrong thing.”

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