After the second day of meetings hosted by Ontario Racing (OR) to discuss the proposed long-term funding plan, the issue of transparency on a variety of issues has emerged as an early and central theme.
In order to secure 17 years of government funding worth $93.4 million per year, the proposal being presented to the industry is for Woodbine Entertainment Group (WEG) to administer a racetrack alliance of all tracks in Ontario that wish to participate. The idea is to take advantage of WEG’s expertise as they already administer a similar program, called The Standardbred Alliance, for eight Ontario racetracks. At this stage, only the general structure of the agreement is being presented, with many unknowns yet to be defined.
Horsemen from both the Standardbred and Thoroughbred sides have expressed concern over conflicts of interest of those steering the conversation, as well as a lack of transparency and the necessary details for stakeholders to make an informed decision.
The Ontario Lottery and Gaming’s (OLG) relationship with WEG as part of the proposal was addressed, but specific details were not disclosed. When asked to release the OLGs letter of intent to WEG about the new alliance, Cal Bricker, the OLGs Senior Vice President of Racing responded: “You could do a Freedom Of Information [request], it’s a commercial arrangement.”
Horsemen have also expressed concern about their level of representation at the OR level.
Standarbred participants are concerned that their representation on the OR board is through the Central Ontario Standardbred Association (COSA), which is a body that is appointed by WEG rather that elected by the membership as is done in a competing industry group, the Ontario Harness Horse Association (OHHA). “I would just like to be able to cast a vote for who is going to represent me,” was one remark from the floor.
“When I take a look at this from the outside, I see the very people that oversaw the collapse of this industry are the same people that you have to answer to on the board [of Ontario Racing] and are now primarily heading your board of governance,” commented Thoroughbred owner/breeder, Brian O’Leary about the board of OHRIA managing OR. “As an individual that does not give me a degree of comfort for the future of our industry.”
Some horsemen were supportive of the proposal, remarking that it made sense for WEG as the major industry player to step into this role. “I think you have to put some faith in the process that the alliance board will make the right decisions,” commented prominent Thoroughbred owner and breeder Jeff Begg. “If it’s not working then obviously the government and OLG and everyone else will recognize it and changes will have to be made.”
The Executive Director of Ontario Racing, Rob Cook, addressed some concerns by noting that the proposal was simply a framework that had many issues still needed to be addressed. He was upfront and acknowledged the issues surrounding OHRIA’s leadership. “The current board structure is clearly a duplication of OHRIA and I would like to think there isn’t any illusion about what some of the challenges are with that, and some of the conflicts that exist within that.”
He continued to add that OHRIA was put in place as a means of having industry representation rather than being directed by government appointees, and that they have been tasked with developing a new governance structure that would presumably have a different membership. “From my perspective as Executive Director and my staff is to ensure that the board gets advised about decisions and issues with a broad industry perspective. I don’t know what the structure will look like at the end, but clearly expectations from our partners in government – and that’s key to think about – and the industry itself, was that the board go through an evolution to a different structure than what they are right now.”
Industry consultations continue throughout Ontario during November – SUBJECT TO CHANGE:
Wednesday, November 9 5pm-7pm Sarnia (Hiawatha Raceway)
Sunday, November 13 2pm-4pm London (Western Fair Raceway)
Wednesday, November 16 5pm-7pm Ottawa (Rideau-Carelton Raceway)
Saturday, November 19 1pm-3pm Port Perry (Golfer’s Dream Golf Club, Scugog)
Tuesday, November 22 2pm-4pm Milton (Gambrel Barn, Country Heritage Park)
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