Closing racetrack slots will devastate the economy

To the Ontario Government and those running in upcoming elections.  I am writing to say I cannot support a regressive program with the potential to devastate the rural economy.

I am writing in support of the horse racing and breeding industry in Ontario to provide you with the facts on why the province should leave the industry’s partnership with OLG alone. The revenue that the industry receives is not a subsidy, it is a revenue-sharing partnership between the OLG and the horse racing industry which provides the Government of Ontario with an increasing amount of revenue to the tune of more than $1 billion a year.

Premier McGuinty clearly mis-spoke when he referred to the "subsidy" to the horse racing industry.  In point of fact it was a revenue-sharing agreement between the government and the horse-racing industry: 75% of net revenue from the slots to the province, with remaining revenues split between track owners (10%), horse owners (10%) and host municipalities (5%).  Make no mistake - there will be a huge impact on the Town of Milton.

The Slots at Racetracks Program is the biggest contributor to the OLG’s profits, which are used to fund healthcare, education and municipalities in Ontario. The government owned, stand-alone casinos are losing money while the horse racing industry shares the burden of increased competition to its wagering dollar. Any change to this revenue sharing partnership, would not only have a negative effect on the horse racing and breeding industry, it could virtually end the successful revenue stream to the province, costing the government of Ontario $1.1 billion dollars per year.

Furthermore, the Ontario horse racing and breeding industry employs more than 31,000 people full time in our province.   Canada has been steadily losing full-time jobs.  The number of people who have to resort to low-paying, part-time work because they can't find full-time employment, has been escalating.  Losing 31,000 full-time jobs will be a major loss.  More than $1.5 billion dollars a year are paid in wages by the horse racing and breeding industry.

The industry spends approximately $2 billion a year in expenditures, 80% of which is spent primarily in rural, agricultural communities. An effort to save $345 million of well invested revenue, it will cost the government $1.1 billion in annual OLG profit and cripple the rural economy when more than $2 billion in horse racing and breeding industry expenditures disappear.

Rural Milton is an example of the success of the Slots at Racetracks Program:  a great economy has been built around the horse racing industry:  breeding programs, training facilities, feed growers and vendors, etc.  Taking away the Slots at the Race Tracks is a totally regressive step, and will hurt farmers and farming, and the local economy, throwing thousands of people out of work.

Slots facilities are also a way for Tracks to create a year round operation, allowing them to diversify, impossible without the presence/attraction of Slots.

The economics of this proposal just don’t add up. I urge the provincial government to take some time to understand just how beneficial the Slots at Racetracks Program is for the government and the people of Ontario and to leave the horse racing and breeding industry alone.

Sincerely,
Jan Mowbray

Is this government the best we can aspire to?

As a Halton Federal Liberal Candidate, I oppose a PMO's office that has almost total control of Parliament; that keeps the public in the dark - reference the secret border agreement, and untendered contracts,  as with the F-35’s.

I do not approve of lowering corporate taxes ever further even when Canada is already amongst the lowest in the world.  And I especially don't support lowering taxes when we're in a deficit situation.  The lost revenue means having to get the money elsewhere to cover the gap - what programs will suffer as a result? There is no proof anywhere that cutting Corporate taxes creates jobs.  Take a look at Ireland - the situation the people find themselves in there. 

The safety nets of our parents and grandparents are so thin as to be almost transparent.  My immediate action would be to push for the GIS to be a one-time application.  A great may seniors don't realize they must apply annually.

I do not support building super jails - let's do something about the root causes of what puts people in jail. 1 in 10 people live in poverty (3.4million Canadians, 800,000 of whom are children).  The majority of people in prison come from below the poverty line.  Don't interpret the following to suggest in any way that all Canadians living below the poverty line resort to crime but statistics show that 10% of Canadians live below the poverty line but nearly 100% of prison inmates come from that 10%.  All costs considered, Canada spends $147,000 per federal prisoner each year.  It would take $12,000 to $20,000 annually to bring a person above the poverty line.  This would represent a saving to taxpayers of $127,000 per federal prisoner each year!

Many existing programs, instead of helping, hold people down.  A Liberal government will provide the leadership in the federal government that is absent now.

Immigrants.  As a Halton Multicultural Council board member, I've heard stories that would make you weep. The Conservative government has made some needed reforms but they have deprived newcomers of the family support they need to integrate successfully, they've off-loaded responsibility for immigration, and given Canada a harsher, more forbidding face (Toronto Star, Editorial, Sat, Feb 19 – The Conservative Record - Immigrants see a harsher Canada).


Getting the Canadian work experience and accreditation for overseas’ credentials is something I will work toward.

A Conservative MP wrote to his Minister asking that his  government write a letter to the Egyptian government to express outrage at the religious persecution of Egyptian Coptics. 40 Liberals MPs signed his letter in support but he's heard nothing from the minister yet.
Geoffrey Stevens asked in his Opinion column (Guelph Mercury, Mon, Feb 7, 2011):

• Is a Harper government the best that Canadians can aspire to?  
• Are we satisfied with a government that preaches accountability, then (prorogues) Parliament rather than face opposition questions? 
• A government that has no foreign policy beyond what it borrows from Washington?  
• A government that can’t win a United Nations Security Council seat that would have been a slam dunk in years gone by?

I say No, No, No, and No.  We can do better, we must.
I am contesting the Halton Federal Liberal nomination because I care too much to just to sit by. I want better for Canada, Ontario and Halton.  I want Canadians to have hope for the future.

Renewing Democracy in Canada

A Liberal government will renew democracy in Canada by:

    * Making open government our default position for releasing information to the public;
    * Holding a weekly People’s Question Period to allow Canadians to directly engage the prime minister and cabinet ministers with unfiltered questions;
    * Limiting the prime minister’s power to prorogue Parliament;
    * Reducing the size of the Prime Minister’s Office and returning to cabinet government; and
    * Respecting the independence of watchdogs, boards and commissions.

It’s time to fight for our democracy.

Canada and F-35 strike fighters

What the Canadian Government is NOT telling us about the TRUE cost of the F-35 Strike Fighters

http://communities.canada.com/ottawacitizen/blogs/defencewatch/archive/2011/02/21/no-reason-for-canada-to-rush-into-f-35-joint-strike-fighter-purchase-says-u-s-defence-analyst.aspx

--What they will cost, what Canada will get for that money, and whether we should be wating.  There are a lot of unknowns.

Milton and Multiculturalism

Further to the topic of the infamous Notice of Motion, there is little I can add to what Mike Grimwood has said below.
Although a probable mis-attribution, the Motion quotes Edmund Burke (more likely Leo Tolstoy in his book "War and Peace"), as saying "All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing". If we sweep this under the rug, if don't speak to it, this evil will triumph.

I was born in New Zealand and to think that the country of my birth was lumped in as a moral and political cesspool offended me deeply. I know my feelings are shared by other New Canadians, one of whom said he was sickened when he read that Motion. He couldn't even discuss it with his wife, he had her read it for herself.

When I, and others, became citizens of Canada, we took the following oath: "I swear that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second, Queen of Canada, Her Heirs and Successors, and that I will faithfully observe the laws of Canada and fulfill my duties as a Canadian citizen."

I am proud to be a Canadian, and I am proud to be have been elected to serve my community, the residents of the Town of Milton.