Ontario Horse Racing Economic ‘Study’ a Farce?

Ontario PC MPPs Point Out the Contradictions

By Amanda Brodhagen, Farms.com

The Ontario PC`s uncovered a document that reveals that the Ontario Liberal’s plan to end the Slots at Racetracks Program, is purely a political move. The decision to end the Program was made even before the government economic analysis was released. The report was dated March 14, 2012, two days after the Ontario government made the public announcement to end the partnership between the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation and the racetracks.

Two PC MPPs who exposed the newly released document - Ted Arnott (Wellington-Halton Hills) and Randy Pettapiece (Perth-Wellington) are calling the study in question a sham.

“This report exposes the sheer arrogance of this Liberal government toward the horse-racing industry – not to mention the thousands of people whose jobs are on the line,” Pettapiece says in a news release. “It’s as if they just cooked up this report after the fact to try to defend this decision they had already made.”

What`s even more unnerving is that the Liberal`s own 2004 report hailed the success of the Slots at Racetracks Program as a success - driving 60,000 jobs in rural Ontario. In comparison the March 14, 2012 said that ending the program would result in 3,500 to 5,800 job losses on an annual basis and concluding that 11 out of the current 17 racetracks would be shut down.

“To the extent that they studied the economic impact, it was superficial and flawed in many respects. Their numbers are highly questionable, and likely won’t hold up under scrutiny,” says Arnott.