Documentary Urges Ontario Government to Restore Racetracks Programme
By Amanda Brodhagen, Farms.com
Thousands of jobs are at risk is the tagline for the County of Wellington’s new documentary entitled “Restore the Programme” that seeks to bring awareness about the devastating impacts of cancelling Ontario’s slots racetracks programme. The compelling six minute documentary hammers home the economic contributions that Ontario’s horse racing industry provides while featuring stories of those affected.
The Ontario Government has said that they will put an end to the slots-at-racetracks agreement - a shocking announcement to those who are tied to the industry. The announcement was made in March 2012, with the plan to fully remove the programme by 2013. Whole rural communities will be impacted, the County of Wellington alone has $330 million invested by horse owners in fixed assets and in Ontario $2.1 billion is spent annually by the horse industry from employee wages, fuel, feed, boarding and property taxes. There are also 60,000 people who are directly employed in the equine industry in Ontario and their jobs are on the line.
“I wish some of these politicians from Toronto would just come out and walk through some of these breeding operations or training centres and just see what it encompasses and how many people that it affects” says Travis Umphrey, horse trainer.
When Umphrey was asked if he would welcome politicians to come visit his operation he said “they are welcome anytime, I will make time to let them come and walk through my operation, in fact, we encourage it.”
What most Ontarians don’t know is that the racetracks programme isn’t a subsidy it’s a revenue sharing agreement between the provincial government and the horse racing industry. The partnership provides the provincial government with 75 per cent of the revenue earned from the slots, leaving the remainder of the profits to municipalities, track owners and horse owners alike.
“I want them to know that they should have done their homework. You could almost make the argument that what they [the government] are going to do is they are going to lose money” says Chris White, Mayor of the Township of Guelph/Eramosa.
The share agreement generates $1.1 billion to the province and doesn’t require any investment by the government. The rural and urban divide is evident by the government’s priorities. Not only is this programme profitable, it has put Ontario horse racing on the map.
“I grew up in this industry it’s all I know, I have been involved for 30 years we work hard we never have our hand out for welfare we just want a fair shake” says Umphrey.
Rural communities such as the ones found in the County of Wellington know the cost of dismantling the programme and what that will mean for the province’s horseracing industry. They’ve stepped up to the plate, to stand up and be an advocate for the industry. Government policy decisions have been made without proper examination into the affects that this decision has on rural Ontario and that’s why the County of Wellington has produced this documentary to educate Ontarians and the province’s politicians about why taking a second look at the issue is worthwhile.
“It’s one of those situations where you know what’s happening and you know the facts, but when you are literally interviewing these people whose lives are changing dramatically for the worst and for me, it became more of an issue that I was going to become an advocate for because I had listened to their stories” says Jacqueline Boulet, Senior Communications Officer for the County of Wellington.
The documentary is going to be a part of a province-wide campaign to save Ontario’s horse racing industry and the County of Wellington is taking to documentary to Ottawa for the Association of Ontario Municipalities Conference, where the film will be placed in 2,600 delegate bags.
“The film really speaks for itself and it does a good job showing how this change in the horse racing industry will have a drastic effect on people’s lives” says Andrea Ravensdale, Communications Manager at the County of Wellington and producer of the documentary.
Organizers of the event would like to urge those concerned to lobby their Member of Provincial Parliament and ask them to restore the programme.