29-Dec-06. Racing fraternity honours Klein’s support. Edmonton Journal, B5.

Early next year, Standardbred Canada will honour fomer Alberta premier Ralph Klein with an award. Standardbred Canada, which promotes harness racing, credited Klein with revitalizing a sector that breeders and operators argued had been struggling for gambling dollars against video lottery terminals (VLTs) and casinos. In 2002, the Klein government reached a deal to give the industry a portion of profits from slot machines installed at race tracks. It gave horse racing a $33-million take that year, a number that has nearly doubled over five years.