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Annual Report Sheds Light on Ontario’s Horse Racing Field, OLG

The 2019 Annual Report focusing on Ontario and the various ways in which locals are being affected by the programs eyeing their protection was issued recently. It aimed to shed more light on the various programs there are, also including the local horse racing field and gaming operation on a provincial level, among other elements. The audits included also reflected on the opioid crisis that has taken many lives.

Ontario’s horse racing field offers a reliable income to many horse people investing a large part of their life into it. The annual report reflecting on it revealed that throughout the past five years, the horseracing field has bagged some CA$500 million in operational funding. Ontario’s government offered support eyeing the benefit of local horse people and the various initiatives they oversee.

Annual Report Reveals More

However, the report also revealed that transparency of actions remains a delicate topic in Ontario’s field, as keeping everything in the light has gotten harder with time. The level of accountability eyed by the provincial government is still unattainable for the local horseracing industry.

Ontario Harness Horse Association President James Whelan recently stated that the government should take a look at its commitment and values over the past years. Woodbine Entertainment appears to be taking more control over Ontario Racing with each passing day while failing to meet the expectations when it comes to information flow. The report showed that publicly revealing financial statements is not a common practice among Ontario’s racetracks.

At the moment, there are 15 locations offering live horse racing, but solely one of them maintains its financial information transparent. This includes vital information issued on a quarterly basis through fiscal reports. Gross wagering information, as well as the size of purses being paid, are points that should be publicly available for Ontario’s residents to review.

OLG Cybersecurity in the Spotlight

Prior to the elections, Premier Doug Ford made a promise to focus more efforts on the rural regions of the province and the local horse people relying on the income it offers. The provincial horse racing field is about to bag some CA$2 billion over the next two decades, all distributed by the appointed Ontario Racing. Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation was also mentioned in the annual report, as the lottery corporation has to work more on its cybersecurity.

In an ever-changing world, cybercrimes abound and the hackers are constantly looking for hacking opportunities. Some platforms make it easier for them, while others do their best to protect their information and the gaming enthusiasts associated with them. According to the annual report, the Crown corporation should work on its IT systems in order to guarantee adequate protection.

According to the information issued publicly, Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation has not reviewed its software source code in the past months. This creates an opportunity for a potential malicious attack. When it comes to the online gaming and lottery offerings available at olg.ca, no security testing was conducted as well. Such negligence could make online gaming offering more prone to hacker attacks in the future if no measures are implemented.

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Author:

Yolina has followed closely the latest development on the Canadian gaming scene over the past years, monitoring the land-based, lottery, and online offerings up for grabs. The dynamic nature of the local lottery and casino fields, as well as the opportunities lying ahead of Canada fire her enthusiasm for what is to come. A sports betting enthusiast, in her spare time Yolina could be found in her natural habitat – turning the pages of biographies and catching up on the latest stand-up comedy podcasts.