The Ontario Horse Racing Industry Association (OHRIA) was not surprised by the findings contained in the Auditor General’s Report on the Ontario Lottery and Gaming’s (OLG’s) Modernization Plan considering the devastation the horse racing and breeding industry has endured since the cancellation of the Slots at Racetracks Program (SARP). “It is troubling when your own […]
Kathleen Wynne
New Democrat Leader Andrea Horwath was in Niagara today to attend the last races of the season at Fort Erie Race Track. She was joined by NDP horse racing advocate Taras Natyshak. From a grandstand packed with horse racing fans, Horwath rejected Kathleen Wynne’s view that there’s no future for the Fort Erie Race Track. […]
Ontario has released a five-year plan for a sustainable horse racing industry in the province based on the final Horse Racing Industry Transition Panel report. The plan will strengthen the industry and support future growth by: Providing up to $400 million over five years to sustain a wide range of racing opportunities that are supported by strong […]
Rural Ontario knows the pain the Region of Waterloo is feeling as they brace for the massive layoffs Blackberry has recently announced. Since the cancellation of the Slots at Racetracks Program last year, job losses and business closures in Ontario’s horse racing industry are more than double the expected worldwide losses of Blackberry as they […]
The following letter was written by Premier Kathleen Wynne regarding the state of horse racing in Ontario: The new Ontario government believes in a strong, sustainable future for the horse racing industry in this province. We have a plan, guided by the report of the Horse Racing Industry Transition Panel, for a way forward that […]
If you weren’t at City Hall on Tuesday, you will likely have heard by now that Toronto City Council voted against expanded gaming at Woodbine Racetrack. In the end, it was a very close vote – 24 to 20, as opposed to the 40-to-4 vote against a downtown casino. Needless to say, we are shocked […]
Paul Godfrey, chair of the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG), has been fired. And, as a result, all seven members of the OLG Board of Directors have resigned. Godfrey, who took on the role as chair of the OLG in 2009, has reinvented the organization, helping it become modern and more efficient, according to […]
As reported on May 13th, Ontario’s Premier, Kathleen Wynne, has tasked the Horse Racing Industry Transition Panel with producing a draft plan for integrating horse racing into the Ontario gaming strategy by June, and a final plan by October. Ontario Horse Racing Industry Association (OHRIA) president, Sue Leslie, recently did an At the Gate podcast […]
Ontario has asked the Horse Racing Industry Transition Panel to bring forward a long-term plan to implement recommendations from its final report. As transition funding negotiations with track operators are now substantially complete, the province has asked the panel for a plan that sets a clear path forward on: • modernizing the governance and regulation […]
The Ontario Horse Racing Industry Association (OHRIA) is calling on Premier Kathleen Wynne to pause the OLG’s modernization process until after the Auditor General releases his report on the decisions surrounding the OLG modernization plan. Today, the Standing Committee on Public Accounts voted to ask the Auditor General to investigate the OLG’s process in determining […]
