Speaker tosses out Leal
Tempers flare at Queen’s Park after Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock MPP questions Kawartha Downs being rejected for extended 2018 schedule
Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Minister Jeff Leal had such an outburst in the Ontario legislature on Thursday over questions about whether he let horse racing die at Kawartha Downs that he was asked to leave the Chamber for the rest of the day.
Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock MPP Laurie Scott, a Conservative member whose riding includes Kawartha Downs, was asking the questions.
Scott asked how the racetrack will survive now that it’s been denied an application to double the number of races it can hold in a year.
Kawartha Downs currently has just 18 race nights annually. Doubling the number of race cards at the track was expected to keep the Downs in business when the popular slot machines move to Peterborough in 2018.
The loss of the slots is expected to decrease revenues at the Downs by 85 per cent; doubling the race nights at the Downs was meant to offset the lost revenue. But late Tuesday, the Ontario Racing Association turned down the application.
Scott wasn’t addressing her questions to Leal on Thursday: she asked Finance Minister Charles Sousa to defend his government’s decision to move the slots and leave the race track to flounder.
“How does the Minister (of Finance) expect tracks like Kawartha Downs to succeed when they have both hands tied behind their back?” Scott asked.
Sousa said the government has been so concerned about horse racing that it has provided $100 million in support of the industry.
But that wasn’t enough for Scott, who said the government - and Leal - were saying one thing but doing another.
“The rural affairs minister pretends to be concerned about Kawartha Downs, while at the same time the government and its agencies quietly kill this race track,” she said.
As she continued to speak, a voice could be heard shouting from across the Chamber, “That’s absolutely wrong!”
Then Speaker of the House Dave Levac interrupted Scott; he issued a warning to Leal before allowing Scott to continue.
“Will the minister finally present a real plan to support this industry or is he happy just to watch horse racing die on his watch?” Scott asked.
Sousa then stood and defended Leal, while Premier Kathleen Wynne vigorously applauded.
“Mr. Speaker, let me be very, very clear: the Minister of Rural Affairs and of Small Business has been advocating and fighting for the horse racing industry for some time now,” Sousa said.
“We’re very proud of what this man has done, and proud of this premier who stood and fought for this industry, recognizing that it was lacking transparency, and wasn’t going where it needed to be: It was going to big shots in the United States.”
But while Sousa spoke, there were more shouts in the background and the Speaker demanded quiet before naming Leal (thereby requiring him to leave the Chamber for the remainder of the sessional day).
Leal faced the Speaker and shouted one last time, before he was escorted out: “Let me tell you, the facts still matter in Ontario!”
That elicited a loud chuckle from the Conservative bench, but the Speaker wasn’t amused.
“There are several members here who could be named as well,” he said, looking at the Conservatives. “It is very disappointing.”
Once Leal left the Chamber, Sousa was allowed to continue.
“We are providing supports for the horse-racing industry, managed by the industry. It’s them who matter to us,” Sousa said.
“The members opposite are making claims that would continue to allow for lack of transparency and lack of controls .... We’re providing supports on an ongoing basis.”
Leal couldn’t be reached for comment Thursday night.
The slots at Kawartha Downs are expected to close in about a year, once the Shoreline Casino Peterborough opens on Crawford Dr. at The Parkway. The new casino is under construction now.
After the application was turned down Tuesday, Kawartha Downs general manager Orazio Valente told The Examiner that only so many race dates are allotted – and there were none available for Kawartha Downs.
It’s still unclear what Kawartha Downs and four other race tracks in Ontario will do once their slot machines go. Late last month, Leal said he was seeking a solution.
Leal said off-track betting was one potential option, and that he also wanted to consider keeping some of the slot machines at Kawartha Downs.
He said another option is for the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation to create a special tax category for race tracks without a casino; the idea would be to significantly decrease their tax rates.
NOTE: Watch the entire Question Period exchange at www.thepeterboroughexaminer.com.