Over the weekend, the leaders of both the Progressive Conservatives and the NDP have come out against the Ontario Liberals’ newly released gaming strategy with guns blazing.

PC Leader Tim Hudak served as Member of Provincial Parliament for the Fort Erie, ON region when the Slots at Racetracks program was introduced in the late 1990s. On Friday he told the Fort Erie Times that he strongly opposes the Liberal government’s decision to scuttle that long-standing and profitable program and that he will rally the caucus to urge the government to reconsider.

The closing of the slots at Fort Erie, Hudak said, will be a “knockout blow” to the already struggling economy of that city. Unemployment in the Niagara region at 10.2 per cent, is already the second highest in Ontario and “this is going to make it even worse,” he added.

“Wrong headed”, Says Horwath

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath pulled no punches in her denunciation of the Liberals’ new gaming direction that stands to decimate the Ontario Horse Racing Industry.

“It’s wrong headed, it’s short sighted and it makes no sense whatsoever,” she told CTV News in Windsor on Saturday.

Horwath pledged to officially question the rationale behind the Liberals’ new direction for gaming when members of provincial parliament return from March break.

“We’re going to bring it back to the legislature,” she said, “and we’re going to try to force the government to give a rationale and explanation as to why to deep six an industry that has thousands and thousands of jobs at stake.”

A recent poll has shown that Ontarians soundly reject the Ontario Liberals’ new direction for gaming.

Of the 107 seats in the Ontario Legislature, the Liberals hold 53, the PC’s 37 and the NDP 17.

The Legislature resumes sitting in Toronto on Monday, March 19th at 10:30 am and proceedings can be viewed on live webcast by clicking this link.