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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