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Setting up this page to better organize & format my Horseracing & other photos, and make it easier f

10/02/2026

Copied and pasted from Rob Gilker's page--he's interested in running for MLA of the Vancouver-Hastings District, which lies between Commercial Dr. on the West, the water on the North, Boundary on the East, and 12th Ave. on the South. If you live within these boundaries, please click on the link to add your signature to his list to be considered as a candidate. Best of luck Rob!

Robert Gilker
about an hour ago
·
Hello, my name is Robert Gilker and I am writing to the neighbourhood that resides in Vancouver-Hastings for the upcoming provincial election.
I’m asking for your support for me to run as a candidate.
I need to get 75 signatures from the residents of the riding in order to file with elections BC
This can be done electronically on a form that I could send you if you wouldn’t mind? Hopefully I can just attach it to this as time is extremely short. Saturday is the cutoff for this.
The reason that I’m running.
I realize that historically this has been a very safe NDP riding.
I feel that Niki Sharma needs to be taken to task regarding things going on in our neighbourhood that she has not defended us from? Perhaps you don’t mind having an amphitheatre (originally budgeted for $2M when I worked on the Hastings Park Masterplan many years ago), and perhaps also, you’re looking forward to the possibility of a new stadium as well as the infrastructure that may or may not come through on its way possibly to N Vancouver?
But we should be part of those conversations
The NDP government shut down an industry that this very neighborhood agreed to help 20 years ago, by allowing the slots in the Racetrack grandstand.
Now, I realize that some of you are going to be happy that Hastings Racecourse was closed, but you may not realize just how many jobs were taken away and how many people were affected? Not everyone can work in a white collar, or blue collar job, but many of those people who worked with the horses, were given a sense of purpose and a source of pride. Yes they included many from the downtown eastside. You probably didn’t know that as they rarely, if ever, caused any trouble. When we (my wife and I) met with Niki after the cancellation of the slots revenue sharing program (that we got from Great Canadians profits- not in fact the provincial take on those slot machines) she seemed to be responsive to our situation, but in the end (even as the Deputy Premier) did nothing about it. Now it sits empty, not generating any tax revenue
Thank you for taking the time to read this. I’ll attach the form that you can. If you wish, fill out.
You don’t actually have to vote for me. This is just so I can tell elections BC that I want to be a candidate for Vancouver-Hastings
Again thank you for your time
Robert Gilker

https://tinyurl.com/yk29p6ba
This should take you to an Elections BC link for a secure signature
You’ll receive an email where you need to click a confirmation link

na5.documents.adobe.com
Electronic Nominator Form — Robert Gilker

Share with your colleagues and friends the simplicity of using Adobe Acrobat Sign to sign documents electronically. Click on the buttons below to spread the word! Learn more at https:\/\/acrobat.adobe.com

12/13/2025

Here is a link to a petition created by Tama Perez de Lopez which, if you haven't already seen or signed it, please do. We need as many signatures as possible in order to not be ignored over this sudden closure and breach of contract. It doesn't matter where in the world you are, as long as you have a verifiable email address. Thank you!🏇

Keep Hastings Racecourse open

12/12/2025

I'm sure most, if not all of the followers of my page are aware of the recent abrupt announcement by the city to cease the support of horseracing at Hastings racecourse; effectively shutting down an institution and industry that has been a part of Vancouver for 133 years now. Mayor Ken Sims has thrown all of his support behind the creation of a dedicated soccer stadium for the Vancouver Whitecaps team, which would also serve as a entertainment/concert venue. Hastings park, where the racetrack now sits, has been identified as a prime location for this stadium, and the City is wasting no time getting the wheels of this project in motion.
An agreement was signed today at City Hall, called a "Memorandum of Understanding", or MOU, which while not a binding contract, paves the way for deals to be explored, discussed and made, and makes the purchase of the team by a party who commits to keeping it in Vancouver, a far more attractive prospect for potential buyers. The only comments about horseracing voiced during the meeting were that it was a dying industry in N America and globally, (so I guess, why even bother trying to save it, is their attitude). To my mind, there are many reasons, and I believe it's not dying as much as it's being run into the ground and made to die by people in power who either don't understand or appreciate it, and maybe prefer development and it's potential promise of big returns, over agricultural pursuits and long standing traditions. I feel that a soccer stadium could be built a number of other places, whereas a racetrack really couldn't. I also feel with the right support, commitment, and upgrades to track and facilities for horsemen and the public, racing in Vancouver could regain the popularity it enjoyed as recently as even 10 years ago.
I have lots more to say on the topic, and I will in other posts, but for now, I want to share the link to the youtube video of today's meeting. There were some good questions asked by some of the reporters; the answers were in many cases, vague. Mayor Sims noted that building this stadium and entertainment complex would create "a heck of a lot of jobs". Not sure what that equates to in numbers, but it made me wonder if he had any idea how many jobs would be wiped out by closing the racetrack, and if the number of jobs created would be more than the number of jobs lost. Something to look into.... Here is the link: bit.ly/4pzGJ8j
Also, if you'd like to contact and share your views and feelings about keeping horseracing with the new potential owners of the land Hastings sits on, the Tsleil-Waututh band, they have a website, which is https://twnation.ca/ Also, in addition to contacting your MLA's, you can also contact City Council members through the following site" https://vancouver.ca/your-government/contact-council.aspx
Hoping if we all pull together we can stop this takeover of the track and bring horseracing back to it's former glory, and keep it going for the next generation to enjoy. 🍀🏇💪🏼🤞🏼🙏

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