How would you like to bet on a horse race that’s already been run?
That’s one option recommended Tuesday by a panel of three former cabinet ministers to keep Ontario’s horse racing industry alive, along with a racing lottery and cutting the number of races in half to keep purses at a competitive level.
Agriculture Minister Ted McMeekin said ideas in the 21-page final report map out a “new path forward” that the minority Liberal government is willing to discuss with the horse racing industry.
Tracks and breeders have warned the industry’s future — along with the lives of thousands of horses — is in doubt after the cash-strapped province announced last spring it will scrap a $345 million annual program that gives racetracks a portion of the money collected from slot machines on their premises.
Amid a political furor in rural Ontario, McMeekin requested the report months ago and the government, fighting to eliminate a $14.4 billion deficit, earmarked $50 million in “transition” assistance for the industry.
But the new report, revised after panel members said $50 million would not be enough, makes no mention of that figure, insisting it is not in the “public interest” to discuss “sensitive financial information concerning the amount of public support required for race tracks.”
Written by former cabinet ministers John Wilkinson, John Snobelen and Elmer Buchanan, from all three major political parties, the report calls for revenue sources from “new gaming products” such as “historical horse racing,” in which bettors would place wagers through electronic terminals on the outcome of past races not identified to the players.
That idea raised the eyebrows of Progressive Conservative economic development critic Monte McNaughton, MPP for Lambton—Kent—Middlesex.
“Someone knows the results,” he said, adding a 50 per cent cut in racing days would result in thousands of lost jobs and put many of Ontario’s tracks out of business.
The Ontario Horse Racing Industry Association said the report, which also calls for tracks to run a sports book on single sporting events if pending federal legislation is passed, leaves “many questions unanswered” but urged talks as soon as possible.
“As our industry continues to crumble around us, OHRIA can’t sufficiently state the urgency,” the group said in a statement.
New Democrat MPP Taras Natyshak (Essex) said the report shows the government’s decision to cancel the racetrack slots funding program was made in haste and “showed complete disregard for the people employed in the industry.”
Neither the Conservatives nor the NDP have said they would reinstate the slots at racetrack funding program, which former TD Bank economist Don Drummond recommended the government cut in his report last winter on making the province’s finances sustainable.