Clinton Raceway Slots spared the axe in today's announcement.
UPDATED: Bullet News – Clinton Racetrack Slots was spared the axe when the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation announced the permanent closure of three slot facilities at racetracks along the U.S. border Wednesday.
The OLG announced it will close slots facilities in Windsor, Fort Erie and Sarnia on April 30, 2012.
The OLG says the closure of slots facilities at Windsor Raceway, Fort Erie and Hiawatha in Sarnia are part of OLG’s plan to modernize lottery and gaming in Ontario following a steady decline of U.S. visitors to Ontario gaming sites and changing customer preferences, according to a press release issued this morning.
The mayor of Central Huron, which is home to Clinton Racetrack Slots, said yesterday’s announcement is “worrisome.”
“The bigger issue is the complete, total lack of consultation with the host communities. This is a unilateral action being taken by the government with no consideration for the host municipalities at all,” Jim Ginn said.
Rod Phillips, who is the OLG’s president and chief executive officer, is expected to meet with the municipality in April.
“To me that’s probably a good sign because if they were just going to close us they probably wouldn’t come and see us,” he said.
Officials from host municipalities across the province are scheduled to hold a teleconference on Tuesday, March 20 to discuss the Slots at Raceways program.
The provincial government has announced that the province-wide Slots at Racetrack program will end March 31, 2013.
On March 12, Finance Minister Dwight Duncan directed the OLG to act on a number of proposals in its report Modernizing Lottery and Gaming in Ontario, which is meant to transform lottery and gaming in Ontario to modernize the system and create jobs. It projects in five years OLG will contribute an additional $1.3 billion annually to key public priorities and usher in $3 billion in private sector capital investment in the province.
He directed it to review the number of gaming sites it operates and to wind down the Slots at Racetracks program on March 31, 2013, according to a press release issued Monday morning. Slots at Racetracks program was introduced in 1998.
OLG Slots at Clinton Raceway, which opened its doors in 2000, employed 92 people in 2011 and operates more than 100 slot machines. Clinton Raceway operates a half-mile track, stabling and paddocks, with about 20 race days through the summer months. The raceway, which has operated for 42 years, employs 70 people on race days through the summer, and has 32 horse people.
It is unclear whether the province will honour its contract with Clinton Raceway for the use of the building until 2015, either by ending or altering the existing arrangement.
Clinton Raceway built the $3-million facility on Beech Street in Clinton to the province’s specifications in an arrangement that saw 20 per cent of revenue split between raceway operators and horse people’s purse accounts. The raceway has no outstanding debt on the building, which sits on municipally owned land, but it pays $50,000 annually in municipal taxes.
Five per cent of Slot revenue goes to host municipalities but the province has said it will also change the fee model for municipalities hosting gaming sites. In 2001, which was the first full year of operations, the Municipality of Central Huron received almost $444,000 from slot revenue. That number has fluctuated in an upward trend and the municipality received $641,000 from the Slots in 2011.
The OLG says border gaming has dropped in recent years.
“Fewer Americans are crossing the border to play slot machines at border sites. A decade ago, border casinos returned a net profit of $800 million a year. Today, that profit is less than $100 million and falling,” said Phillips. He said the OLG’s plan to modernize the province’s lottery and gaming sector will create about 2,300 net new industry jobs and about 4,000 service sector jobs.
“In order to be more responsive to our customers as we modernize our business, we will expand, relocate and contract OLG gaming sites. These three site closures are difficult, but are an important first step. The discussions with key stakeholders regarding potential relocations or new facilities will begin shortly. We will keep employees and the public up to date or our progress,” Phillips said.
The report also recommended expanding regulated private sector deliver of lottery and gaming.
Copies of Modernizing Lottery and Gaming in Ontario are available at www.olg.ca.
Gaming proceeds support Ontario’s hospitals, amateur sport, recreational and cultural activities, communities, provincial priority programs such as health care and education, and local and provincial charities and non-profit organizations through the Ontario Trillium Foundation.
According to the press release, here are the key recommendations in the OLG’s report:
1. Become More Customer-Focused
• Improve lottery offerings: allow for multi-lane sales at large retail outlets like supermarkets and big box stores.
• OLG would identify distinct zones where existing or new gaming sites (with municipal approval) would be permitted.
• In order to be able to change, move or create new sites, OLG should be able to expand slot facilities beyond horseracing racetracks. This would mean ending payments of approximately $345 million annually to racetracks. OLG does plan to continue offering slots at some racetracks where there is customer interest.
• Lottery terminals and gaming sites should be where customers are—the supply should be near the demand.
• Subject to municipal approval, allow new gaming sites in convenient locations where there is customer interest and, tourism potential.
• Close or relocate facilities that are underperforming. Some could move to locations within their regions that are closer to customers.
• Allow up to one new casino in the GTA, subject to an OLG business case and municipal approval.
• To improve the ability to offer a mix of games at sites, implement a consistent fee model for host municipalities to allow OLG to place gaming sites where there is customer interest.
2. Expand Regulated Private Sector Delivery of Lottery and Gaming
• To modernize both lottery and gaming options in Ontario, OLG would expand the engagement of the private sector to build and run the day-to-day operation of existing and new sites and to develop new technology and games for lottery terminals.
• This will mean some $3 billion in new private capital investment—a benefit to the Ontario economy.
• In addition to 2,300 net new jobs in the lottery and gaming industry, this initiative would help create an estimated 4,000 service sector jobs in the hospitality: hotel, restaurants, entertainment and retail industries.
• The moving of 6,000 gaming positions to private sector operators who will manage all OLG sites. Currently, 60% of gaming employees in Ontario work for private operators – the resort casinos which are owned and overseen by OLG. In the next 12-18 months, we anticipate 100 % will be employed by the private sector.
• OLG would maintain strict control and oversight of the business—including maintaining the integrity of lottery games.
• Regulated private sector providers would be responsible for funding, building or improving new and existing sites (upon recommendation by OLG with approval by the Minister and the host municipality).
3. Renew OLG’s Role In Oversight of Lottery and Gaming
• OLG would continue to maintain direct responsibility for all critical decisions related to the operation of lottery and gaming.
• OLG would continue to manage the lottery and gaming market and provide net profit to the government of Ontario—and if this proposal is accepted, increase that contribution.
• OLG will become a smaller organization focused on market management, the oversight of private operators and responsible gambling.
• Ontario will continue to be the North American leader in problem gambling programming. Ontario dedicates over $50 million dollars to the prevention and treatment of problem gambling – the highest funding level on the continent.
• OLG will ensure that responsible gambling resource centres and facial recognition technology are established at all gaming sites to mitigate the risk of problem gambling.
• OLG recommends the expansion of research and treatment support for problem gambling.
• OLG would also commit to increasing environmental practices in any modernization of lottery and gaming options.
The full report is available on the OLG’s website.
One Comment on "Host municipalities will discuss Slots at Racetracks program next week"
From city hall to Ottawa, the politicians only care about their own pockets being lined. Ever since Free Trade was introduced, the amount of manufacturing jobs has dropped significantly …. Those jobs paid decent wages …. Now most of the working force is making $11 to $18 per hour – half the amount it was making 20 years ago. The citizens of Ontario no longer have the money to blow at a Casino … The OLG also blamed new Casinos on the USA border. The reason the Americans aren’t coming over is the PASSPORT Issue . Also all their goods are being manufactured in China, just like Canada …. No manufacturing , no jobs — no jobs , no money.
Go on You Tube .. enter .. The Real Niagara Falls New York …. this is what is going to happen in Ontario unless all levels of government WAKE UP