IN THE MATTER OF THE RACING COMMISSION ACT 2002, S.O. 2000, c. 20;
AND IN THE MATTER OF TELETHEATRE APPLICATIONS
On January 10, 2002, Chair Stanley Sadinsky, Vice-Chair Herb Bryant and Commissioner Bruce Duncan convened for a hearing of teletheatre applications from Fort Erie Race Track. Manager of Information Services Wendy Hoogeveen, Executive Director Jean Major and Legal Counsel Don Bourgeois appeared for the Administration.
Mr. Eddie Lynn and Mr. Joshua Segal appeared for Fort Erie Racetrack. Mr. Bruno Carusetta appeared for the Rex Hotel, Welland, and Mr. Mike Bufalino appeared for Buffy’s Tavern and Dining Lounge, St. Catharines. Gerald Gervais and Andy Roy appeared for the Ramada Inn, Welland and J.I. Marini appeared as counsel for the Half Moon Dining Room Limited in Welland. Mr. W.P. Dermody appeared as counsel for Flamboro Downs Raceway, Reed Lawson appeared for the Ontario Harness Horse Association. Written submission was received from Mrs. B. Raseta of Longshots OTB in St. Catharines.
Upon hearing the submissions, the Ontario Racing Commission approved a teletheatre licence as follows:
Licensee: Fort Erie Race Track
Site: 106 Lakeport Road, St. Catharines, Ontario L2N 4R1
Site Operator: Buffy’s Bowl Inc., known as Buffy’s Tavern & Dining Lounge
Licensee: Fort Erie Race Track
Site: 346 King Street, Welland, Ontario L3B 3K3
Site Operator: Rex Hotel (Welland) Limited, known as Rex Hotel
Dated at Toronto this 16th day of January, 2002.
BY ORDER OF THE COMMISSION
Jean Major
Executive Director
Reasons for Decision
Nordic Gaming Corporation (Fort Erie Racetrack) has made applications for teletheatre licences for Buffy’s Tavern and Dining Lounge, St. Catharines, (Buffy’s) and the Rex Hotel, Welland, Ontario (Rex Hotel). Previously these teletheatres had been licensed as teletheatres of Flamboro Downs (Flamboro).
In accordance with our usual practice when there is a contested application, the Ontario Racing Commission (ORC) held a hearing on January 10, 2002, having given Notice of Hearing to the industry and to other interested parties. Eddie Lynn and Joshua Segal appeared for Fort Erie, Mike Bufalino appeared for Buffy’s, Bruno Carusetta appeared for the Rex Hotel, Gerald Gervais and Andy Roy appeared for the Ramada Inn, Welland, J.I. Marini appeared as counsel for Half Moon Dining Room Limited, Welland, W.P. Dermody appeared as counsel for Flamboro, Reed Lawson appeared for the Ontario Harness Horse Association (OHHA), and Executive Director Major, Legal Counsel Don Bourgeois and Manager of Information Services Wendy Hoogeeveen appeared for the Ontario Racing Commission. In addition, the panel received and filed a letter from Ms. B. Raseta on behalf of the operator of Longshots (OTB), a teletheatre licensed to Fort Erie in St. Catharines.
All of the required documents for each application have been filed and it remains to determine the respective applications in light of the objections submitted.
At its annual Race Date Hearing held on October 12, 2001, the Commission entertained applications for 2002 Live and Intertrack Race Dates and for the renewal of Association and Teletheatre Licences. At that time, Flamboro applied for and received a renewal of its teletheatre licences for both Buffy’s and Rex Hotel. However, in its Reasons for Decision, the Commission stated:
Implicit in the granting of dates is the renewal of a racetrack’s licence and the renewal of existing teletheatre licences, if applicable (subject to the filing of the required documents satisfactory to the Administration of the ORC).
For teletheatre licences, one necessary requirement is a contract between a racetrack and a site operator for the year in question. Contained in the present applications was a letter dated November 1, 2001 and a letter date stamped December 17, 2001 from Mike Bufalino and from Bruno Carusetta, respectively, which indicated that both operators were terminating their respective contracts with Flamboro. Accordingly, in the absence of operation as a Flamboro teletheatre, the licences for both Buffy’s and the Rex Hotel expired on December 31, 2001, and no ORC licences exist for these locations for 2002.
Submissions were made during the course of this hearing on behalf of Flamboro that its contracts with Buffy’s and the Rex Hotel were subsisting. Any alleged dispute between the contracting parties is not a matter properly within the purview of this Commission. The parties may seek remedies for their contractual differences in another forum.
On October 12, 2001, the Commission dealt with certain teletheatre applications from Flamboro and Fort Erie. At that time, the issue of Home Market areas for teletheatres was dealt with for these two locations as follows:
We recommend that the Home Market Area for Theatre Betting, formerly designated as shared for both Flamboro Downs Raceway and Fort Erie Race Track, be adjusted accordingly, with the exemption of the two existing teletheatre locations (Buffy’s at 106 Lakeport Road in St. Catharines and the Rex Hotel at 346 King Street in Welland), currently under licence to Flamboro Downs Raceway which should be “grandfathered”. This would mean that so long as these two locations house a Flamboro teletheatre, this would be permitted. Should either location cease its operation as a Flamboro telet