To all members,
Yesterday afternoon at 4:30pm, I received a phone call from our lobbyist with an update for HRBC and HPBA, on the status of our request for funding assistance from the provincial government for the 2021 racing season. Our request has been reviewed by the minister, since our presentation is a very detailed one it has obviously created several questions that require very detailed explanations, from both breeds. We are working as expediently as possible to get our answers to the questions. We hope to have a response completed for the government finished and submitted in the next few days.
Since we have not yet received a positive response for funding we are now unfortunately forced to cancel the first two weeks of February, the 4 deleted race days along with the 4 days from January will be added to the end of our spring meet. This cancellation for the first two weeks of February would mean that our first race day for now would be Wednesday, February 17, 2021.
As we had previously requested we would have hoped people and certain members would not have chosen to use social media to voice their concerns and opinions. The time they spend doing this would be far better spent in writing constructive letters to their individual MLA’s. The damage done by being critical of all the segments of our business can only hurt at this stage, especially as negotiations are ongoing.
Your patience has been appreciated and I can understand any and all frustrations. I understand your options are limited. I can only tell you that both breeds are working diligently as possible to achieve our goal of full race meet for 2021. We will get any new information to you as soon as we receive moving forward.
Sincerely,
Nigel Holmes
