'We need answers'

More questions than answers have arisen since it was learned the province intends to move ahead with plans to eliminate the Slots at Tracks program.

Horsepeople in the city took their fight to the streets of downtown Sudbury March 16 in an effort to further their message to save the horse-racing industry.

Paul MacLean, a director with the Northern Horsemen Association, and a contingent of about 100 supporters rallied outside of Sudbury MPP Rick Bartolucci's office. They brought their horses along to help prove their point, and to demonstrate that thousands of horses in the province face the slaughterhouse.

There are about 29,318 horses bred for racing in the province, according to statistics from the Northern Horsemen Association. Standardbred horses, like those raced at Sudbury Downs, total 16,910. Thoroughbred horses total 10,406, while quarter horses total 2,002.

Putting that into context, each horse eats one bale of hay per day, which adds up to 10,701,070 bales per year. At $3 per bale, there is $32,103,210 that goes to Ontario farmers, according to the Association.

Further to that, each horse has four legs and is shod once per month. Adding up the numbers, it comes to 1,407,264 horseshoes per year.

It's a simple illustration to demonstrate the economic benefit and spin-off to Ontario agriculture that the horse-racing industry generates, according to MacLean.

“We're not getting any answers from the government, and we need answers as to why this is happening,” MacLean said. “It's very frustrating, and this is in no way good for the Ontario economy.”

The horse-racing industry generates $1.5 billion in wages and salaries, money that puts food on the tables of Ontario families, MacLean said. That's why he finds it difficult to fathom the government's decision to focus on land-based gaming with plans to build casinos “that are just going to lose money. The province even pawned off a casino in Windsor to a casino in Las Vegas because it was losing money.”

People have hundreds of thousands of dollars invested in their horses, he added.

“My wife and I grossed $1.2 million alone at Sudbury Downs over the past three years, but the majority of that money was invested back into our business. To be told that within 24 hours that our investment will be worth nothing by next year, it raises a lot of questions, and it's not just us, but 60,000 other people also have questions.”

Next week, a larger rally is planned in the city, he said. The Northern Horsemen Association will also take its protest to Queen's Park, similar to the protest that was held following the release of the Don Drummond report where the Ontario Lottery Gaming Corporation's recommendation to eliminate the Slots at Tracks program was made.

In the meantime, MacLean said horsepeople across the entire province are hopeful the provincial budget, which will be tabled March 27 at p.m., gets turned down.

He said there is still a misconception in the public that the government subsidizes the horse-racing industry. The money paid to racetracks, horsemen and municipalities is a cost-sharing partnership, and “we're not taking any money out of the pocket of the taxpayer, and that's the misconception that is going around right now.”

Posted by Arron Pickard