On Monday, in front of a backdrop which inexplicably proclaimed 'JOBS' and 'GROWTH,' Ontario Finance Minster Dwight Duncan and Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. Chair Paul Godfrey underwhelmingly announced that their organizations will essentially be putting 60,000 Ontarians out of work while killing a multi-billion-dollar industry which is a top revenue generator for the province
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A wealth of MPPs, mayors, respected columnists and a wide assortment of others have come out publicly in hope that the Ontario Liberal Government will come to its senses and not scrap the current slots-at-racetracks program. The program funnels the provincial government $1.1-billion in direct annual revenue; leads to $261-million in annual tax revenue from the horse-racing industry, and is the launching point for an industry which has a $2-billion annual economic impact on the province of Ontario.
The most recent individual to come out and publicly question the direction of the Ontario Liberal Government is well-known former Toronto television personality Jojo Chintoh, the longtime Toronto crime-beat journalist who recently retired from keeping his eye on the grittier side of the Mega City.
Chintoh has been keeping himself busy, and he has also keeping close tabs on the Liberals' blindsiding of the provincial horse-racing industry. Chintoh, a longtime hobby horseman, has been tinkering with his four-year-old Duke Of York mare, Luchando, as of late.
In an article by the Hamilton Spectator, Chintoh expressed his disbelief regarding the Liberals' reckless actions against the horse-racing industry, and publicly said what has been echoing in shed rows for weeks now.
“I really don’t think these guys (the Ontario Liberal Government) understand what they’re doing,” he was quoted as saying. “You’re going to put people out of work, on the unemployment line. You’re going to pay for them one way or another. Why would you want to kill an industry that employs so many people?”
The report also states that members of the Ontario Harness Horse Association will be heading to Queen's Park on Wednesday, March 21 to speak with as many MPPs as possible regarding what will essentially be a death knell to the provincial horse-racing industry.
The article has also quoted former Flamboro Downs owner Charles Juravinski, who also conveyed that he cannot believe the Ontario Liberal Government is planning on getting out of the slots-at-racetracks agreement.
“The industry would be decimated,” Juravinski was quoted as saying. “I have a hard time believing the province will do that … It seems so short-sighted. They’ll put thousands of people out of work.”
(With files from the Hamilton Spectator)
For Trot Insider's complete coverage regarding the fallout and uproar in response to the Ontario Liberals' Drummond Report, click here.