Ontario Racing has announced that the Ford government is increasing the province’s support for the horse racing industry by some $35 million a year over the next five years. The funding is designed to help promote a more competitive horse racing industry, protect local jobs, and support the nearly 18,000 Ontarians who earn a living from the horse racing sector.
This is big news for the Fort Erie Race Track and was an issue that Niagara Falls MPP Wayne Gates had pressed the Ford government on in recent months.
“When we worked across the aisle and kept the focus on people’s jobs, this deal moved quickly from delayed to done,” said Gates. “We’ve worked with and would like to thank the ministry, the sector, and our Fort Erie Live Racing Consortium (FELRC) for getting the funding to start flowing to the tracks and the people who keep Fort Erie’s Race Track thriving.”
The overall funding agreement will support 15 different tracks across Ontario. The horse racing industry itself contributes some $1.9 billion to Ontario’s economy on an annual basis.
Andrew Gaughan, Independent Chair of Ontario Racing, also issued a statement thanking the Ford government for the additional funding.
“On behalf of the 10-member Ontario Racing Board of Directors that represents all sectors of the industry, I sincerely thank Premier Ford, the Honorable Stan Cho, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Gaming and our long-standing government partners at the Ontario Gaming and Lottery Corporation for supporting the agricultural jobs that are important to rural communities and the provincial economy,” said Gaughan.
“This funding will support generational family businesses – including thousands of horsepeople, breeders and their staff that have invested personal capital,” Gaughan added. “It will also support rural labour jobs that have increasingly been at risk.”
“Additional funding will help these businesses, operators and the spin off rural industries tackle high inflation and allow the sector to better compete and retain its status as one of the world’s greatest horse racing jurisdictions.”
According to Racing Ontario, more details about how the $35 million in funding will be allocated will be released after July 2.
Jay Goldberg is the Canadian Affairs Manager at the Consumer Choice Center. He previously served as the Ontario Director at the Canadian Taxpayers Federation and a policy fellow at the Munk School of Public Policy and Global Affairs. Jay holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Toronto.
