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Councillor jockeying for more gambling revenues

Ward 3 Coun. Claude Berthiaume wants the city to push for a bigger piece of the gaming revenue pie from the province, and use the extra money to keep horse racing alive in Chelmsford. As reported in Northern Life on Oct.
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In an effort to save Sudbury's horse-racing industry, Ward 3 Coun. Claude Berthiaume wants the city to push for a bigger piece of the gaming revenue pie from the province. File photo.
Ward 3 Coun. Claude Berthiaume wants the city to push for a bigger piece of the gaming revenue pie from the province, and use the extra money to keep horse racing alive in Chelmsford.

As reported in Northern Life on Oct. 19, effective March 31, 2013, the city will receive 5.25 per cent of the first $65 million in gambling revenue, three per cent of the next $145 million, and 0.5 per cent of any revenue above that. The Downs and the horsemen will get no gambling revenue.

However, the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. hopes to reach a deal with the MacIsaac family, owners of the racetrack, to rent the slots facility until a casino is built within the next few years.

Left out of the equation are the horsemen, who relied on a previous deal with the province in which they received a portion of gaming revenue. Without that revenue, Sudbury Downs will no longer function as a racetrack.

At the Nov. 20 meeting of city council, Berthiaume urged city staff to try and raise the city’s share of revenue by six per cent, with the difference being transferred to the horsemen to allow them to keep racing horses.

Considering the OLG allows bingos to keep a much larger share of their revenue, he said it’s not an unreasonable request.

“I think we should renegotiate this,” he said. “We should ask for the extra six per cent so we can continue to have horseracing in the Sudbury area.”

But CAO Doug Nadorozny said the OLG has made it clear that support for horseracing is a matter for the province, not them.

“This is a provincial policy decision that has been made and inflicted on OLG,” he said.

The revenue sharing agreement councillors were passing Nov. 20 will ensure that gambling revenue continues to flow to Greater Sudbury. In theory, he said, without a deal in place, the city could lose that money.

“We really have no way to discuss the issue of the horsemen with the OLG,” said Nadorozny. “They don’t want to hear it.”

He also said the comparison with bingo operators isn’t the same, because bingos are run by private companies. They receive a share of revenue similar to what casino operators will likely receive once that process is complete.

“I can’t understand why they want to kill the horse-racing industry,” Berthiaume responded. “But we should be asking for more than 5.25 per cent. We should ask for at least 10 per cent.”

Ward 1 Coun. Joe Cimino speculated that, with a provincial election slated for next year, it might be a good time to try and push for renewed support for horseracing.

A recent gambling revenue cheque for Sudbury — sent Oct. 19 – totalled $672,000 on slots revenue of about $13.5 million.

To date, the city has received $28.1 million since program began in November 1999. In the spring, the province announced it was ending that program, which saw 10 per cent of slots revenue at the Downs go to support horseracing.

Instead, the OLG is heading up a process in which 29 casinos will be built across Ontario, including Sudbury.

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Darren MacDonald

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