Future of horse racing in Ft. Erie

An investigation by the Toronto Star suggests that the province cannot account for much of the four billion dollars that has flowed to Ontario’s horse racing industry through the slots at racetracks program. There are also claims that former Finance Minister Dwight Duncan cancelled the program fearing an Ornge style scandal. NDP Leader Andrea Horwath says the program was not perfect, but would like to see it brought back: “If there were problems, you don’t simply throw out the baby with the bathwater. Because you’re pinning your hopes on some dream of modernization that that’s going to bring billions and billions of dollars into Ontario, because we’ve seen that dream actually turning into dust.”

P.C. Leader Tim Hudak wrote an open letter to the Premier Wednesday saying: “While I believe only a Liberal government could lose money running a casino, a business case presented by experts in the field could see gaming re-established at Fort Erie to great success.”