Fredericton councillor questions recent horse-racing event quietly planned at NBex

A Fredericton councillor says she has questions about how and why a horse-racing event was organized last weekend unbeknownst to her on the grounds of the New Brunswick Provincial Exhibition.

Coun.Jocelyn Pike is the city's appointedmember on the exhibition'sboard of directorsand said she had no knowledge that an officialharness-race qualifying event was organized on the decommissionedtrack lastSaturday.

"It's unusual that that happened,I'll be honest with you," said Pike, in an interview Tuesday afternoon.

"I do know there were judges therefrom Standardbred Canada, so we need to find out just how that happened."

Standardbred Canada is a non-profit organization that promotes harness racing.

Organized harness racing hasn'tbeen held at the track since the exhibitiondecidedagainst renewing thelease held by Fredericton Raceway in December 2016.

Since then, the stables have still housed horsesand ownersuse the track, but only to exercise their animals.

Controversy has been kicked up in recent months following apparent efforts by horse-racing enthusiasts to work against a plan that includes getting rid of the track.

In March 2022, the City of Fredericton, which owns the property, and the provincial exhibition, which leases it, agreed on a planthat would see the exhibition remain on the site, while redeveloping the horse stables and race track areas forhousing.

Then late last year, Horse Racing New Brunswick shared video online from one of theirmeetings in which officials discussed "seizing" the track in Fredericton by registering for membership with the exhibitionin order to influence decisions.

Pike said she hopesto find out more about who organized the eventand why, considering the track hasn't been used for official events in more than six years.

The event was also held just a week after Mike Vokey was fired from his role as executive director of the exhibition.

Vokey led the organization for almost 12 yearsand helped create the plan agreed to between the exhibitionand the city.

He said at the time of his firing, Rob Kitchen, the exhibition's board chair, told him the board wanted to take the organizationin a "different direction."

The event last weekend would have either been organized immediately after he was fired, Vokey said, or "behind the scenes"while he was still executive director.

CBC News initially requested an interview with Kitchen to discuss Vokey's firing. On Tuesday, he said he would consult lawyers with the exhibition and then provide an interview, however, he did not return repeated calls from CBC News.

Inan email Wednesday morning, Kitchensaid the NBex boardand Jeff McCarthy, the new executive director, remain "committed" to moving forward with the city of Fredericton on plans to redevelop the exhibition grounds.

"The board looks forward to working with the city in the coming days and weeks to form a joint committee to determine how the plan is implemented," Kitchen wrote.

Concernedby Vokey's firing

Pike said Vokey's firing was also a surprise to her.

She said she joined the board last falland knew there was a process underway to replace him in time for his expected retirement in spring2024.

However, she thought the plan was to keep him on to transition the new executive director, Jeff McCarthy, into the role and the responsibilities involved.

"How's that going to impact our revenues?How's thatgoing to impact what's been going on in the community?" Pike said."Because Mike Vokeywas very much engaged in all kinds of fundraising activities."