‘Thank God, There Is Still Some Civility In Fort Erie, Ontario

A Foreword by Niagara At Large publisher Doug Draper

In the wake of recent bad news in the Town of Fort Erie, Ontario, the mood has turned decidedly ugly in some corners of the town.

Fort Erie, Ontario resident Wendy Wolff and friend. Photo courtesy of Laurie Langley

It is one thing to get angry at the province’s Liberal government, up to and including taking legal action against it (if there is any merit to that) or lobbing to turf the government out over the news this spring that the Slots and Welcome Centre will soon close in Fort Erie, and that the town’s historic horse racing track may be next. It is quite another to threaten the local Liberal MPP, Kim Craitor, to a point where he doesn’t feel safe coming in to the town.

There have been others in the community, including ordinary citizens and some on the town council, who have been subjected to vile messages and other conduct aimed at humiliating or defaming them, and making them think twice about expressing their concerns or attending public meetings, even those of their own town council.

Yet as this reporter (who has been a target of some of the bile coming from darker corners of the town) has been reminded, there are also many good and decent people living in Fort Erie. A number of them – people who are in the business of owning and training horses, and therefore have some of the most to lose if the Fort Erie Race Track closes down – gathered in front of Craitor’s Niagara Falls constituency office this past March 30 in another rally to save the Slots and the race tracks and the livelihoods of the many people associated with those two enterprises.

One of the people from the horse racing industry who spoke at the rally was Wendy Wolff who, while making clear the group’s anger toward Premier Dalton McGuinty and his government, went out of her way to thank, rather than vilify Craitor for his efforts, as an individual MPP, in fighting for the survival of the Fort Erie Race Track. Wolff and the others also gave Craitor the opportunity to come to the podium and say a few words at the rally.

In all of my more than 30 years of covering news and watching communities take on governments when they feel they have been wronged, it is the kind of dignity and class that Wolff and her friends that has always shown a better chance of righting the wrong – not the insults and threats of people who behave like schoolyard bullies. That kind of abhorrent behaviour does the cause of Wolff and the dozens of others who gathered recently in front of the MPP’s office a gross disservice in the eyes of civil-minded people across this region and province.

Wendy Wolff was good enough to share with Niagara At Large a prepared text of the talk she gave at the March 30 rally and we are posting it below for our readers’ information. We then invite you to share your views on the contents of this post remembering, as always, that we only post comments by individuals who share their real first and last names.

Wendy Wolff’s March 30 address in front of the constituency office of Niagara Falls, Ontario riding MPP Kim Craitor –

“I’d like to thank each and every one of you for being here.

Those of you who know me personally, are fully (and sometimes painfully)aware of my passion for this industry and for the horses I love with every fiber of my being. And to those people, I’d like to apologize for having borne the brunt of that all consuming passion and ferocity since the Drummond report first came out to the public.!

For those of you who don’t know me…my name is Wendy Wolff…according to the Federal government…I am a farmer…according to the Ontario racing Commission, I am a thoroughbred owner and trainer…but first and foremost, like many of you here today…I am a horseman.

This rally is just ONE of a dozen or more taking place today on behalf of all horsemen, targeting liberal MPP constituency offices all across this Province. These events are being held to re-iterate to our government, the devastating affect closing the slots at racetracks will have on their particular communities.

These politicians NEED to SEE the faces whose livelihoods they are negating, not only within the horse racing and breeding industry, but within the wide ranging economic cycle that our business sustains.
We are all angry and frustrated by our government short sightedness and blatant misrepresentation of our contribution to this province, but regardless of your political persuasion, the MAN whose office we stand before, must NOT be the target of those emotions.

Kim Craitor has fought tirelessly with his own government on behalf of the Fort Erie racetrack and community. He was the ONLY Liberal MPP at Monday’s Queen park horsemen’s rally to have the courage to take the podium to accept our many petitions from Fort Erie Mayor Doug Martin.

Kim Craitor has successfully managed to do, what no other politician or tax paying citizen has been able to do so far in this matter…Get Dalton McGuinty to at least agree to consider the Fort Erie Live Racing Consortium proposal to privatize the slots at Fort Erie and keep the dedicated people in our industry WORKING instead of on WELFARE.
Even though we may differ in our opinions about his political party, the fact remains…Kim Craitor NEEDS OUR help, now more than ever, to stand up against the dictatorship of McGuinty and his sidekick Duncan.

I am here today to personally thank KIM CRAITOR and to support HIM in his efforts on OUR behalf…I sincerely hope you all will join me in that sentiment…..Thank you.”

(Wendy Wolff is a Fort Erie, Ontario resident and an owner and trainer of horses.)

(Niagara At Large invites you to share your views on this post in the comment boxes below. Remember that NAL only posts comments by individuals willing to share their real first and last names with their views.)