Ombudsman Involved In Ontario Lottery Row

Published: Friday, October 27, 2006 Online-Casinos.com

OMBUDSMAN NOW INVOLVED IN ONTARIO LOTTERY ROW

Disquiet in Canadian province after academics express doubts on lottery wins

The Ontario lottery row has escalated with the involvement of an independent ombudsman announced at the end of the week.

Earlier in the week statisticians at the University of Toronto who carried out a number crunching analysis of the provincial lottery found that the proportion of high value winners among ticket sellers was questionable, igniting a row which had provincial politicians in defense mode (see previous Online-Casinos.com/InfoPowa reports).

"Ontario Lottery and Gaming is certainly committed to operating a business in a responsible and ethical manner and has some of the most stringent inside win provisions of any organisation of its kind in North America," David Caplan, the minister responsible for gaming in Ontario, said.

Still, the province asked the OLG to conduct an investigation into the allegations, and on Thursday, Ontario's Ombudsman Andre Marin announced he will investigate the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Association in response to the complaints of alleged theft and fraud involving retailers.

The investigation will deal with, among other things how the body responds to complaints of potential theft or fraud involving winning lottery tickets.

"The public buys into the agreement because the corporation it deals with is no ordinary corporation, it is a public servant," said Marin.

"My investigation will explore the ways and means the corporation uses to determine whether that trust is properly safeguarded and whether public interest is sufficiently protected."

Meanwhile, in Nova Scotia, provincial officials engaged in launching the province's own lottery reacted to the news from Ontario by issuing a statement assuring residents that it is working with its ticket and video lottery operator to ensure the new lottery system in the province is as safe, fair and as regulated as possible.

The Atlantic Lottery Corporation (ALC) is reaffirming its security policies and procedures related to retailer lottery wins by conducting an internal review, the statement revealed.

"We have full confidence in Nova Scotia retailers and in ALC's stringent security systems, but in light of media reports of problems in Ontario we want to be proactive in ensuring that our policies and procedures are the best in the country," says Marie Mullally, President and CEO of NSGC.

"Media reports in Ontario suggest retailers in that province are winning lottery prizes in higher numbers than ordinary citizens because some are allegedly defrauding the system, she said."There is no evidence of this happening in Atlantic Canada. Strong investigative procedures are in place to ensure all winners are legitimate. Security and integrity are the top priority in all of Nova Scotia's regulated gaming operations.

"Our accountability is to the taxpayers we serve. Therefore, when issues arise in other provinces we have a duty to proactively work to ensure that our system is the best it can be. This is part of our steadfast commitment to being accountable, transparent and open and we fully support Atlantic Lottery in this process of continuous improvement," says Ms. Mullally.

NSGC is the crown corporation responsible for managing the business of gambling on behalf of government. ALC is the ticket and video lottery operator in Nova Scotia. Last year, NSGC provided all of its profits, $174 million in gaming revenue, to the province to help pay for government programs.