The sudden and apparently forced resignation of Duncan Brown, the Chief Executive Officer of the Ontario Lottery Commission has sounded alarm bells in the province, louder than any casino winning jackpot ever could.
Brown’s resignation was announced on Sunday, in part to try and get a handle on the boiling pot of controversy that is surrounding that province’s lottery commission.
The resignation Sunday was followed on Monday by a scathing report by the province’s ombudsman, Andre Marin, who has been studying the province’s lottery system ever since the CBC's Fifth Estate exposed corruption at the retailer level.
Marin discovered in his report, a form of the old don’t ask, don’t tell theory of government involvement at the Commission, when he discovered that millions of dollars have been paid out to dishonest retailers and that OLG did little to crack down on the problem.
Brown’s resignation was announced on Sunday, in part to try and get a handle on the boiling pot of controversy that is surrounding that province’s lottery commission.
The resignation Sunday was followed on Monday by a scathing report by the province’s ombudsman, Andre Marin, who has been studying the province’s lottery system ever since the CBC's Fifth Estate exposed corruption at the retailer level.
Marin discovered in his report, a form of the old don’t ask, don’t tell theory of government involvement at the Commission, when he discovered that millions of dollars have been paid out to dishonest retailers and that OLG did little to crack down on the problem.
Instead of suspending the retailers or pursuing criminal charges, the Commission instead retreated to the back room in order to count the take and skim for their needs.
It’s an issue that is threatening to undermine the government of Premier Dalton McGuinty, hence the quick dismissal of the Commissioner and vows to make sure all is on the up and up in the legalized gaming industry.
Perhaps some can remember the days of organized crime running the numbers games, at least then the rules were pretty clear, you won or you lost and you always paid up.
Of course we’ll never know if the house then paid out, since there was no one to watch over the interests of the gambler, but then again it apparently isn’t much different today in Ontario now is it?
There are reports that tens of millions of dollars have been paid out in suspicious circumstances by the Lottery commission, monies provided to the same retailer network, which investigators suspect of deceiving customers and cashing in their “losing” tickets.
One commission employee, who found some discrepancies in the retailer network and their sudden streak of good fortune was told by senior officials that: “sometimes you hold your nose.”
A quote that somehow we suspect will come back into play during the next Ontario election.
Most Canadians are used to the house winning, it’s a nature of the pursuit, but when the folks that work around the house are the ones picking up the riches and not the folks spending the dollars, then suddenly the lambs get a little tired of getting fleeced.
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