Wellington County has produced a documentary outlining the impact the provincial government’s decision to halt funding to the equine industry will have.
County communications manager Andrea Ravensdale said the county documentary, produced for $4,410, is “not political. It shares real stories from hard working people in the racing industry and our local economies that will be affected by this decision,”
It features interviews with drivers, veterinarians, breeders, trainers, local business owners and Warden Chris White.
Ravensdale produced the five-minute documentary together with local 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.
The county will host a private screening of the video on July 31.
“We will be posting the film on YouTube after the premiere,” Ravensdale said. “A copy of the DVD will also be sent to every member of Provincial Parliament along with a report outlining the potential impacts of ending the “Slots at Racetrack Program.”
The provincial government announced its intention to end that program in its latest budget. The program has provided millions of dollars to the industry, derived from casino profits.
The county hosted a public meeting for those involved in the equine industry directly and indirectly on May 29 in Aboyne. About 200 people attended the meeting.
Veterinarian and researcher Dr. Bob Wright told the crowd 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.”
