On Friday, February 24, Western Fair District President and CEO Hugh Mitchell issued an open letter to the Ontario horse-racing industry in which he called for all of the province's racing factions to get behind the Ontario Horse Racing Industry Association's efforts to save the provincial industry
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For up-to-date information regarding the fallout from the Drummond Report, click here.
The contents of Mitchell's letter appear below.
This is the time for the Ontario horse racing industry to rally around the only organization that represents all stakeholders in Ontario.
The Ontario Horse Racing Industry Association was formed more than 15 years ago after much government consultation and was an integral reason we were awarded slots at racetracks in the beginning.
OHRIA represents every segment of the industry and has the resources and the resolve to take our position to the government in light of the findings coming out of the Drummond Report. I urge each and every person who derives his or her living from horse racing to follow OHRIA’s lead in this matter. Through OHRIA, let us take a business-like approach to working with government on a mutually beneficial business solution for the industry.
OHRIA is instructing all industry participants to write their local MPP, Minister Dwight Duncan and/or Premier Dalton McGuinty to express support of the horse racing industry and outline how changes to the Slots at Racetracks Program would negatively impact you and your community. The contact information, in addition to all of the necessary facts and figures you may want to include in your letter or email, are all on the OHRIA website (ohria.com).
The partnership between our industry and the government has been very beneficial to both with billions of dollars being generated for the government since it was introduced. We need to be open minded and work with the government to enhance gaming revenues in the province. We already have a business model in place that works well with the current 80 per cent split to the government and 20 per cent split to the horse people and tracks.
The horse racing community is made up of some of the most hard working and passionate people I have ever known. If we all work together on providing a unified front on this important industry matter you may be surprised with what we can achieve. Innovation, adaptability and discipline are industry traits that are pivotal to our success going forward. And although our future may seem unclear at this juncture, what we do know for sure is that it won’t be business as usual.