A Wellington County video showing the impact the province’s decision to end the Slots at Racetracks program will have on the local economy received solid applause at a private screening here. About 120 people, mostly from the horse racing industry, attended the showing on July 31.
The provincial government announced its intention to end the program in its latest budget. The program has provided millions of dollars to the industry, derived from casino profits.
“I have a sense there’s going to be some kind of movement,” Warden Chris White told those attending the screening of the five-minute, county-produced video and brochure costing about $5,000.
“We have to educate the fellas at Queen’s Park that what they are doing, they shouldn’t be doing.”
The issue has raised considerable opposition since the county hosted a meeting in May at Aboyne to hear concerns from those connected to the industry. The documentary was the next step by the county to lobby the government to abandon the plan.
White said county representatives will be lobbying their municipal counterparts and government ministers at the upcoming Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) convention later this month. The video will also be handed out to all MPPs.
The video also emphasized the slot money was “not a subsidy,” according to White. It featured concerns from drivers, trainers, horse owners, track officials and related businesses such as garages and restaurants.
It’s estimated the industry spends about $33 million in the county annually.
County communications manager Andrea Ravensdale produced the video along with videographer Steve Bergwerf, who shot the Green Legacy documentary film created in 2010. The original music in the film is by a local band called Atlas.
Standardbred driver Anthony MacDonald said the government decision to end the program is a “blow” to the industry. The 35-year-old has grown up racing horses and is now rated one of the top drivers in the industry.
According to him, closure of tracks will impact those employed in the industry. He believes those who become unemployed will not be able to find work in the United States. Jobs might be open to top Ontario talent, but the majority looking for work south of the border won’t find it.
“They (Americans) won’t tolerate it,” he said of jobs being sought by unemployed Ontario equine workers. “It’s a gated community. The biggest problem is we shouldn’t have to.
“There’s a lot of people in this industry who don’t have the same opportunities I do,” he said of the potential for finding work in the U.S. based on his ranking. “When this (program end) happens there’s a lot of people in this industry who will be on welfare (because) you can’t get unemployment insurance because they’re self employed.”
The same applies, according to the driver, to horse owners trying to sell their horses. With the threat of tracks closing and funding halted he believes that market will dry up.
“The fact the government went forward with their plan so ill equipped that’s the final straw,” said MacDonald, who trains his horses at the Campbellville training centre. “I’m going to fight for what is right.”
At the Aboyne meeting, veterinarian and researcher Dr. Bob Wright said there are 80,000 people involved in the equine industry, and there are 30,000 horses connected to the horse racing industry in the province. There are over 21,000 standardbreds, 8,000 thoroughbreds and 1,000 quarter horses.
He said Grand River Raceway, through the Grand River Agricultural Society that owns it, donates $80,000 to $100,000 a year to various projects in the community, from supporting local parks to offering scholarships to students getting involved in agriculture.
It supports Equine Guelph, the University of Guelph research group of the equine industry. Equine Guelph is also doing international research into human genome and the possibility of horse research being able to help humans.
Locally, Wright said, the raceway spends $33 million every year, on “just the horsemen.”
The raceway has also hired 43 people for the operation, and area farmers grow 3,200 acres of hay for the horses there each year. Wright said some people have already predicted 40 percent losses due to the provincial government suddenly killing its slots for raceways agreement that saw the industry receive 10 percent of the slots profits.
Grand River Raceway’s general manager Ted Clarke said the track has supplied $50 million in racing purses since the track opened in 2004.
Since the announcement, “The decline has already begun,” he said. He said the figures “couldn’t be clearer and Ontario will lose $1.6 billion if the industry dies.”
White urged those attending the screening to pressure their MPPs in a bid to save the program.
The video can now be viewed on the county website www.wellington.ca or at http://www.wellington.ca/en/discover/RestoretheProgramme.asp
