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Something has changed significantly in Elora, Ontario.   Seven years ago, slot machines were a hotly contested topic so much so that 1,500 people turned out to a public meeting debating slot machine expansion at the Grand River Raceway in Elora.  The debate over slot machines divided the community and led to a legal battle in the Superior Court and the Ontario Municipal Board.  Now, in 2008, placing additional slot machines in the raceway in Elora was only enough of an issue to draw 12 people to the meeting. 

David Copp, a resident of Salem, is convinced that weather had something to do with the low turn out, but mostly he takes it as a sign that most people find it useless to fight the expansion of slot machines and the gambling industry. 

The owners of Grand River Raceway, the Grand River Agricultural Society, is requesting that the Wellington Township make an amendment to a bylaw that currently limits the number of slot machines they are allowed to operate to 200.  General Manager of the Grand River Agricultural Society, Ted Clarke, says there is room to expand their numbers to by 20 or 30 more slot machines.  The slot machines are operated by the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp.

“There is a demand for more product than we can deliver at this time,” said Clarke.

“All other sites are able to operate in a manner that has no cap, and the OLG just simply fills demand as they see it.”

Since Grand River Raceway opened in 2003, the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp has collected close to $150 million in slot machine revenues. 

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