A Commentary’
Submitted by: Monte McNaughton, MPP
Over the past several months, I have had the opportunity to meet with hundreds of people involved with the Ontario horse racing industry. I have visited horse tracks from Windsor to Kawartha and from Fort Erie to Sudbury.
One thing I have heard at every stop is that Dalton McGuinty and Liberal Finance Minister Dwight Duncan’s decision to end the successful slots-at-racetracks agreement marked the beginning of the end for Ontario’s horse racing industry and with it over 60,000 direct or indirect jobs at a time when we already have 600,000 unemployed men and women here in Ontario.
The agreement allowed slot machines into 17 racetracks with a revenue sharing program to benefit all partners. 10% of the revenue went to the tracks themselves, 10% went directly to the people working in the horse industry, 5% to the municipality hosting the racetrack and the remaining 75% was paid to the government of Ontario. The agreement has resulted in over $1 billion in slots revenue being returned to the province last year alone.
Not satisfied with 75% and facing continued bond rating decreases, the McGuinty-government is increasing its take to 100%; squeezing out the horse industry and going back on the existing agreement. In announcing 29 new ‘gaming zones’ the McGuinty government has gone ‘all-in’ for massive new casino expansion while leaving the horse racing industry in its dust.
These changes were announced with a lack of community, industry and stakeholder consultation and with the shameful arrogance of a government that is well past its stale date. They are nothing more than a desperate and greedy cash grab.
Accordingly, I was pleased to introduce Bill 76, ‘Ensuring Local Voices in New Casino Gambling Development Act’. By requiring a mandatory municipal referendum prior to any new casino development, my bill will ensure that local voices are not only heard but also respected and that the local community is indeed a willing host prior to any new casino development.
Bill 76 is now in the crucial committee stages and has been supported by not only the entire PC and NDP Caucus’ but also by several members of the governing Liberal Party, passing second reading 57-19. I look forward to continued debate and discussion on this bill and also on the benefits of a mandatory municipal referendum prior to any new casino development.
As we look towards the fall, I am urging the government to pass Bill 76 and to recognize the importance of local voices when it comes to sensitive issues such as these. Quite simply, new casino development is too important an issue to be left to the politicians to decide upon.
Monte McNaughton is a member of the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party and is the MPP for the riding of Lambton-Kent-Middlesex. He also services as the official opposition critic for economic development and innovation.
(Niagara At Large invites you to share your views on this post, remembering that we only post comments by individuals who also share their first and last names.)
Niagara At Large 
Put McGuinty On The Unemployment Lines, Too!
I confess; I hate casinos and gambling period! I despise the harm they do, the families they break, and the suicides that result from gambling addiction. Having said that, and accepting we are “all in” on gambling in this province in any event, there is little rationale — other than the desire to feed government greed for money with which to “buy” votes, and the provincial government’s lack of will to balance the books in a more humane and family-friendly ways — to take money away from already overly strained communities to put it in more lucrative — and often already well-established communities (e.g., Toronto) and eliminate 60,000 jobs! To say nothing of destroying an entire industry!
Communities like Fort Erie, already hard hit economically, cannot sustain this hit very well. More families will have to move away and more people will need welfare.
The true cost of Dalton McGinty’s decision will not be known for perhaps years. However, he can find the true cost of his decision if the people and communities hurt by this government over and over again do not forget during the next election how McGinty and his cronies have increased the provincial debt (despite his “signed” pledge to do otherwise), killed an energy project to save 5 Liberal seats at a cost of some $190,000,000 and even higher electricity bills for Ontarians, and made such a mess of our provincial health system. Let’s put him out of office and onto the employment lines next election! Let’s put our limited resources behind another party which has the citizens of Ontario foremost in their agendas.
Members of our Provincial Legislature, pass Bill 76!
LikeLike
The problem is McGuinty and most of his sheep will not be unemployed for long as the corporate sector will move swiftly to pay this party back for its support in tax and cash breaks during their time in office. Then again after reading Hudak’s answer to unemployment, one can’t but shake his/her head in utter disbelief and disgust. For this man is lost in early 19th century ideology.
LikeLike