A Letter To.......................

September 16, 2011

The Honorable Shirley Bond,

In writing this letter to you I must be forthright from the start. I am a member of the (HBPA) Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association of British Columbia and have been for the last 10 years or so of which I have owned horses at Hastings Racetrack.

This particular letter is with regards to the continuing troublesome situation regarding an issue which is severely hampering the thoroughbred sector from moving forwards due to a lack of a unified voice. It is my personal belief that the “BC Horse Racing Industry Management Committee” acted inappropriately and without merit when several members of the “Committee” chose to recognize a new rival horsemen’s group in that of BCTOBA over the long time existing group in that of the HBPA. This was largely due to personality conflicts between certain “Committee” members and several Board of Directors of the HBPA. This very unorthodox action by the “Committee” has resulted in funding to the HBPA being cut in half for 2011. Because of this, a number of HBPA programs have had to be discontinued. This has distressed many members of the HBPA and its Directors.

The HBPA has been a recognized society for nearly 40 years. It has represented owners and trainers throughout their existence. All of the Board of Directors were voted into office in a manner that is in keeping with the laws of British Columbia. Any qualified member of BCTOBA the newly formed group was always free to stand for election as a Director. At present none of the Directors were voted into office at BC Toba and therefore do not represent the vast majority of individuals who make up our industry. They appointed themselves. The “ Committee” had no right or authority to recognize BCTOBA and all but dismiss the importance of the elected body of Directors of the HBPA. Further in May of this year the “Committee” agreed to assign the responsibilities of the all-important “purse” account to BCTOBA without any consultation with the HBPA before hand. These actions by the “Committee” are astonishing and are not in keeping with the democratic ways in the Province of British Columbia. This “Committee” is an extension of the British Columbia Government and should never act in a way that favors one society over another. This action is unprecedented. Because of these and other actions of this “Committee” there is much dissention amongst the owners, trainers and breeders and moral is very low.

In August of this year a petition was circulated in the backstretch of Hastings Racetrack asking that the members of both groups decide amongst themselves whom shall be the organization that represents the groups involved by way of vote. Over 300 owners, trainers and breeders signed the petition that was spearheaded by a member of the HBPA. The number could have easily reached in excess of 400 but in the interest of holding an election between the two groups as soon as possible and certainly before the end of the meet, the petition was presented to the HBPA Board of Directors. The HBPA were now given a mandate to ask BCTOBA to hold an election between the two societies and decide once and for all who would represent the Thoroughbred sector. The HBPA wrote BCTOBA asking for an election but BCTOBA outright refused. This is understandable as they are reported to have no more than 90 to 140 members. The HBPA easily had over 400 members ready to stand by their society.

The “Committee” was well aware of what was happening and should have reversed their stand to support BCTOBA, but did nothing. It is not the place of the “Committee” members to choose sides. That is the business of the industry participants i.e. owners, trainers and breeders who are the only ones who should decide who their representatives are. This is how the system has worked in Canada since 1867. The system works well and many a Prime minister, Premier, MLA and high school class president have been elected using this very method of choosing representation. The HBPA and its elected Board of Directors also used this method of determining representation. The “Committee” has wrongly interfered in this democratic process and had no right to choose for the industry who should represent them.


And finally it is very important to note that the HBPA is the official representative organization in every racing jurisdiction in Canada and nearly all jurisdictions throughout the United States. At present there are more than 35,000 members of the HBPA throughout North America focused on a common goal of the betterment of racing at all levels.

In view of the above, I respectively ask that you do the following:

• Have the “Committee” recognize that the HBPA are the sole representatives for the Thoroughbred sector and only the HBPA be present in industry meetings.
• Strike BCTOBA from the industry agreement as signatories as they were never part of the original agreement and signed after the fact without the knowledge of the HBPA
• Further only the HBPA should be present as representatives in any financial sub-committee meetings
• At seasons end turn over the responsibility of the purse account to the HBPA
• Call for an immediate accounting of the funds allocated to BCTOBA and have the balance transferred to the HBPA.

I am well aware that you are an extremely busy individual and have recently taken on the added responsibilities as Attorney General. I would fully understand if you turned this matter over to another individual in your office or the Attorney General’s office itself to look into this important matter.

Best Regards,

Michael Robert Bye

Resident North Vancouver

G&G Stable Owner at Hastings Racetrack

Disclosure

Please note that this is an open letter and has been posted on a blog that I author.http://blogbritishcolumbiahorseracing.blogspot.com/

CC:
Honorable Naomi Yamamoto
North Vancouver-Lonsdale

Honorable Rich Coleman
Fort Langley-Aldergrove

Assistant Deputy Minister - Gaming Policy & Enforcement
Douglas S Scott

Links to letters between the HBPA and BCTOBA

Letter to the BCTOBA asking for participation in an election
Response from BCTOBA refusing
Response back to BCTOBA

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