OHRIA Encouraged by Moves Toward Sustainability

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 with Norm Borg in which she discussed her meeting with Premier Wynne prior to the announcement. Leslie expressed cautious optimism regarding the Premier Wynne’s commitment to helping the industry, and relief in having finally made face-to-face contact with the Liberal leadership.

Leslie told Borg: “I think there is cause for optimism. Obviously, with what the industry has been through and continues to go through, everyone is cautious. And certainly so am I, but the meeting between the Premier and was very frank, very direct. She asked, I think, very appropriate questions and probed in the right areas. I certainly minced no words with her in terms of the condition that the Liberal government’s decision has left our industry in, and that immediate action was required in order to attempt to start remedying it. She has been very responsive to that. She made some commitments to me that day and she, since that meeting, has fulfilled those commitments. She certainly has given some indication that she is a little more in tune now with what’s happening in the industry.

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“The main thing, from our view, was to make sure she understood how desperate things are in the industry, and that we’re sitting on the edge of a cliff and we don’t have months and months to get some assurances, to get a sustainability plan in place that will allow the industry to have some confidence that there is going to be a future and that there’s reason for them to invest.”

Borg asked Leslie which commitments Premier Wynne had made, and she responded: “As I am sure most everyone in the industry knows now, she has set deadlines to get an agenda in place as to [integration] is going to happen, and she has set a deadline of this October for the plan to be on her desk – not on the desk of the OLG or the Minister of Finance, but reporting directly back to her as to what the plan for integration is going to be for 2014.”

In terms of specific ideas regarding how racing will be integrated into the Ontario gaming strategy, Leslie said: “I don’t think we do have those answers, which is why she has lit the fire to get the conversations started. There have certainly been all kinds of different suggestions and proposals and I think the difference now – and I say this with some caution – is that instructions have come directly from the Premier, and she now is going to expect the different ministries and the panel to respond to her instructions with a timeline. So, all the different possibilities of integration are going to have to be discussed and looked at and analyzed. The good news is that she continues to be committed to integration and she told me directly that I had her personal assurance that she is committed to a vibrant, sustainable horse racing industry in
Ontario. So, now we will have to see to what extent the government is prepared to go to in order to make sure that happens.”

She continued: “I think it is going to take time. And remember, [October] is the deadline. That doesn’t mean we can’t get it to her earlier if it comes together through negotiations and discussions. As much as October seems very slow to us, from the experiences I’ve had in the least year with government, that’s fairly rapidly for government to move on a major policy change.”

Leslie said it is very important for OHRIA to establish good relations with all three parties in the province. “I think the good news for the industry is that we now have, I think, established a considerable rapport with all three parties. And, although I know there are some in the industry that disagree with that approach, OHRIA believes that is the only approach. We have to have a relationship with all three parties. We’ve got to make sure all three parties understand the significance of horse racing and breeding in this province and the economic benefits to the province. [It is going to] be an ongoing duty of our industry, that we keep politicians totally apprised of the economic activity and the things that are going good for the industry and the things that are going poorly for the industry.”

While she said the industry will have to wait and see what happens, Leslie said OHRIA will continue to keep the issue of sustainability for horse racing in the spotlight. “There’s a sense of a little bit of relief, that I think finally we have penetrated the liberal leadership, but I still know there are a lot of people hurting and we’ve got to stay right on top of this and keep it as a major focus and priority and keeping pushing along the panel and the OLG and the Minister of Finance, as well as the Premier’s office. Until she shows us that she is not a woman of her word, I am going to accept that she is.”