Lotto-gate requires an all-party inquiry

Last week in the Ontario Legislature, I asked the 118th question about the lottery scandal and cover-up.  My request – all-party legislative hearings to investigate the matter.

On its face, the lottery scandal involved a few – very few – retailers stealing winning tickets from unsuspecting winners.  It was first exposed in October 2006, when the CBC ran a Fifth Estate story on so-called ‘insider wins’.

At first glance, it would appear that blame rests with the retailers that chose dishonesty as a means to get rich.  But, over the past several weeks of questioning, we’ve learned that the current Ontario government may have known about the scandal for months before it was exposed by the CBC – yet it apparently chose to cover it up, rather than getting to the bottom of it.

As the Official Opposition, we are not questioning the provincial government over the actions of private retailers.  We are questioning why the provincial government, which may have been aware of the theft, chose to cover it up.  The scandal involves a provincial government that may have been aware of the theft, but did nothing.

Despite the secrecy, more and more details are emerging.

In August 2004, the lottery corporation held a meeting on insider fraud.  That same month, a manager prepared an executive briefing, indicating winning tickets may have been stolen from consumers.

In January 2006, Premier McGuinty’s former communications director was hired for a newly created position within the lottery corporation.

In April 2006, Minister Caplan’s office received an email asking how much information about insider wins should be released to the CBC.

On October 25, 2006, the CBC’s Fifth Estate aired its documentary on insider wins, prompting Ontario’s Ombudsman to launch an investigation the next day.

On March 26, 2007, the Ombudsman released his report.  Premier McGuinty promised to implement the Ombudsman’s recommendations.

As Opposition, we became concerned when the Lottery Minister claimed he first became aware of the scandal on October 15, 2006 – despite receiving an email on the topic months earlier, in April.  News that Premier McGuinty’s top spin-doctors were sent in to discredit the report caused further alarm.

Normally, when a scandal has a price tag of approximately $100 million, the Minister resigns – allowing the Ministry to clean house and prevent another scandal.  But, Premier McGuinty reversed this trend, and allowed Minister Caplan to remain in Cabinet.

For more information on the lotto-gate deliberations, or to sign a petition demanding answers from the Minister, send me an email at toby@tobybarrett.com.  As MPP, I will continue to take your concerns to Queen’s Park.

In an attempt to clear the air, I and other members of both Opposition parties have spent a considerable amount of time in the Legislature demanding the scandal be referred to an all-party Legislative Committee.  Hearings could then be scheduled to investigate who knew what, when, and what was done about it.

I believe that if the Minister was telling the truth, he would agree to an investigation.  Why not give the committee a chance to publicly investigate whether everything possible has been done?

Rather than covering up a scandal, government needs to look after private citizens who choose to buy lottery tickets.  There may well be people in Burford, Delhi, Port Rowan, Hagersville, Dunnville, Port Dover, Ohsweken, or Selkirk who won the lottery but will never know it.