Finance Minister Dwight Duncan provided an emailed statement to the Windsor Star on Wednesday March 7, 2012, regarding the OLG Slots at Racetrack program that contained a number of inaccurate statements.
“Since 1998 the horse racing industry has received $3.4 billion in government support, including $345 million last year alone. That’s more money than we spend on water and road safety and more than 10 times the amount the governments of Alberta, B.C. and Manitoba provide to their horse racing industries combined. We as a government need to be accountable to the taxpayer and decide whether or not we’re spending their hard-earned dollars wisely. The review of the slots at racetrack program will help us to do just that.”
Minister Duncan claims the horse racing industry has received “government support”.
Fact Check: The horse racing industry has received no government support, but has received it’s share of revenue generated from OLG Slot machines at private racetracks in Ontario as part of a revenue sharing agreement with OLG.
Minister Duncan claims Ontario provides “more than 10 times the amount the governments of Alberta, B.C. and Manitoba provide to their horse racing industries combined.”
Fact Check: Alberta provides 67% of revenue generated by slots at racetracks to their horse-racing industry, while Manitoba provides 100% of revenue from slots at racetracks to their horse-racing industry. By comparison, Ontario provides just 20% to our horse-racing industry.
Minister Duncan claims tax dollars are being spent on horse racing in Ontario. “We as a government need to be accountable to the taxpayer and decide whether or not we’re spending their hard-earned dollars wisely.”
Fact Check: The OLG Slots at Racetrack Program is not a taxpayer subsidy. It contributes $1.1 billion dollars of profit to the Government of Ontario and provides taxpayers with $1.1 billion dollars worth of healthcare funding that does not come from tax revenue.
“We would hope the Finance Minister would stick to the facts when discussing the merits of the OLG Slots at Racetrack Program, because the facts demonstrate this is an excellent value for money,” said Sue Leslie, President of the Ontario Horse Racing Industry Association (OHRIA).
OHRIA has launched a website http://value4money.ca/ to allow Ontarians to write members of Provincial Parliament to show their support for the horse racing and breeding industry in Ontario.
May 24, 2013
Poll
Latest Classified Ad
| Sign up for our Enewsletter |
Where has all the slot money gone?
Accountability and Transparency by the Racetrack Owners and the Horse Industry will calm the rough waters or open the biggest scandle Ontaio has ever seen!
My only question is, “can the track owners/operators and the horse people who each receive a10% share of the slot revenue at the tracks provide any reasonable accounting for the proceeds that have been received?”. We are living in a day and age of transparency. If both groups can show the government, the 60,000 strong horse people and the rest of the tax payers in Ontario that the monies paid to them under the program was indeed used to improve the tracks and the industry then everyone might settle down and get back to business as usual. But, and there always is a but, if there is any problem with accountability and transparency then the Liberals may have both cause and concern over the continuation of the slot program. So get those bean counters working on the numbers so that the industry can show that it is squeaky clean.
The Horsemen share of the business agreement is accounted for as it was put into purses and breeding programs.
To my knowledge, the track owner’s share was not required to be scrutinized or mandated to be used for any specific reasons.
Again Mr. Keenan, the monies that the tracks and Horsemen received were not tax dollars, but after tax dollars that were spent at the casinos by not only Canadian residents but residents of other countries as well in many instances.
The monies earned by the tracks and horsemen were their share of a business agreement, much like what you are seeking with your idea for putting up a new track in the Chatham area.
If the government starts online gambling with a partner like Betfair, the percentage of revenues Betfair receives is not tax payer money, nor will they be mandated by the Ontario government to use it is a specific way.