Members from the horse racing industry along with a Peterborough group No Casino In The City united for a rally at Kawartha Downs on Thursday afternoon to lobby to keep racing and the slots in Cavan-Monaghan and out of Peterborough.
According to a report on thepeterboroughexaminer.com, approximately 75 people participated in the rally.
“Our message to City Council is listen to the people, don’t make decisions on your own and don’t let OLG push you around,” protester Roy Brady was quoted as saying in the article.
Peterborough City Council had decided at a March 5 Planning Committee that it would back three locations for casino expansion in the area, and Cavan Monaghan Township, which is home to Kawartha Downs, was not one of them.
Kawartha Downs announced on Monday that it will no longer host harness racing after March 30, rejecting a deal from the OMAFRA horse racing panel for transitional funding.
With operations of the OLG Slots at Kawartha Downs set to continue beyond March 30, residents at the rally stated in a CHEX TV video report that it makes the most sense to build a casino at the current host facility and doing so offers the most hope for the local horse racing industry.
Following the early March committee in which the casino issue proved to be a hot topic, Peterborough City Council will be meeting on Monday, March 18 at 6:30 p.m. at Thomas A. Stewart Secondary School seeking further input from residents prior to making its decision.
I hope reps from OHHA etc
I hope reps from OHHA etc will be there and have a lot to say and questions to ask e.g.how much is OLG spending on TV ads? What funds are they using? etc. How much has Peterborough gotten from bingo hall so far. How much did they get from slots in a yr. What did they do with that money? etc.
It was a good turnout today.
It was a good turnout today. We even managed to get a few people to turn around and not go in to play the slots.