Comment 83045

By realfreeenterpriser (registered) | Posted November 20, 2012 at 12:04:47

You can bet, no pun intended, that anything OLG's Paul Godfrey (former President, Ontario PC's) and Larry Tanenbaum (currently buying up bingo licenses) are involved in will benefit them more than anyone else including the government and just be another transfer of wealth from the many into the hands of the few.

Horse-racing, whether you like gambling or not, is a labour intensive means of generating revenue for the government while keeping a lot of marginally-employable people in work while supporting a rural economy.

The fundamental problem with the Slots at Racetracks program, instituted by the Harris government, was that it handed money (10% of slot revenue) to racetracks without accountability. That worked well with not-for-profit operations such as Woodbine/Mohawk (WEG) and tracks operated by agricultural societies; they reinvested the money into their operations and the local community. Unfortunately, the for-profit operators like Windsor, Flamboro, Woodstock generally "took the money and ran". If you visit Flamboro Downs you'll see a facility that has simply been let go, while Mohawk provides a "classy" night out in an up-to-date facility.

My feelng is, if the government's going to grant a monopoly license for something like gambling then the profits from that operation should be guaranteed to go back into the community not into the hands of the Larry Tanenbaum's of this world.

Extend the slots at racetrack programs in the not-for-profit tracks for two years while fine-tuning the formula. That will keep people working and keep money in the community.

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