Ontario Ombudsman Andre Marin is conducting an initial assessment of complaints he has received in the past few days regarding the Ontario Liberal Government’s treatment of the Ontario horse racing industry, according to a report in the Windsor Star.
The Ombudsman tweeted he had received 30 complaints regarding the government's decision to cancel the OLG Slots At Racetracks program on Tuesday. That number soared to more than 150 by Wednesday morning.
Reviewing the 150+ complaints on #OntarioHorseRacing
— Ontario Ombudsman (@Ont_Ombudsman) July 11, 2012
“It’s not an investigation at this point. It’s an assessment of the complaints and the issue,” Linda Williamson, director of communications for the Ombudsman’s office, was quoted as saying in the Windsor Star.
According to the article, Williamson said she was aware the influx of complaints is a result of horse racing groups encouraging members to express their concerns and frustrations regarding the issue.
“The first thing we do is determine if this is an issue the Ombudsman can assist with,” said Williamson. “The Ombudsman doesn’t simply get involved because people happen to disagree with a policy decision. What we’ll look at here is whether there’s a broad, systemic issue.”
However, Williamson noted that the Ombudsman can only make recommendations in a public report and cannot force a government agency to adapt those recommendations.
“It’s up to the government to decide if they will respond to what he’s said publicly,” she said.
Many in the horse racing industry wonder whether the decision to end the slots-at-racetracks partnership was appropriate or done properly. If you have concerns regarding how the OLG or Government of Ontario has handled gaming modernization or the cancellation of the Slots at Racetracks Program, please consider filing a complaint with the Ontario Ombudsmen. The Ombudsmen does an excellent job of research and reporting on the concerns of everyday Ontarians.
Fill out the online complaint form, by clicking on the following link: Ontario Ombudsman.
His Director of
His Director of Communications states he has not found the time to review complaints. Really? A staff of 90 people and your sole job is to look into complaints. In 2010-2011 they handled 14,000 plus complaints and bragged that most were resolved in 3 weeks. They can't even find the time to REVIEW our complaints in 3 weeks.
In addition I find it extremely ironic that the first three tracks that slots were removed are border tracks. Perhaps when the ombudsman or his substantional staff could explain this to us. By the way, did we vote for you? That's right, No, and don't expect one from me. Sorry, you & yours don't need to run.
I am sure that there are some
I am sure that there are some people connected with this, that are not sleeping well knowing that the Ombudsman has now gone on record and announced that they're office has received 150 complaints regarding this. You can bet that after reviewing the information they have been receiving, that a full investigation will be forthcoming.
Gary Blackburn
The OBUNDSMAN did point out
The OBUNDSMAN did point out the OLG management in the case of winning tickets cashed by retailers.However some cases took years to resolve and the ones who cashed the lottery tickets were never punished.....THE RACING INDUSTRY HAS ONLY TILL 31 MARCH 2013.......In labour relations an out clause, must have been included in the agreement ,most of us thought it would end in 2016? Horses and horse racing have been here in Ontario since time began...Just wait for the Battle of WATERLOO ! Will it be the last one for us? In my opinion it won't ?..TOM volunteer ( war of 2012).