The three member Horse Racing Industry Transition Panel has submitted their final report to the Honourable Ted McMeekin, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. The prorogation of parliament will not affect the discharge of the report and its recommendations which is anticipated to be officially released by the end of the month.
In an telephone interview with The Motts, panellist member John Snobelen discussed the status of the report, “There is nothing in our recommendations that would require legislation.” He continued to note that the government is still in a position to act on the file and that they have given every indication that they intend to do so quickly, likely in the next two to three weeks.
Though he was unable to comment on specifics, Snobelen did note that the entire panel was optimistic about the racing industry in Ontario.
In a separate interview with Canadian Thoroughbred, former Liberal politician Dennis Mills made a few predictions about the final report. “I predict that the panel will stay in place and they will be given the mandate to execute their plan. They have invested four months in listening to the industry and interviewing 200 people, it would be silly for the government not to take advantage of that experience.”
Mills also predicts that a marketing fund will be created to focus on reaching out to the consumer both at the racetrack and online. Further, he believes that the OLG will be directed to add a new racing product to their lottery menu to be sold at the 12,000+ OLG kiosks across the province.
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