For immediate release:
April 11, 2007

Barrett points out contradictions in Lotto-gate scandal
Repeats Opposition call for legislative committee to get the facts

Queen’s Park—“118 questions now, zero answers.” – MPP Toby Barrett

MPP Toby Barrett and the Official Opposition were unrelenting, today in the Legislature, as they demanded the McGuinty government have an all-party committee look into the lottery scandal.

“We know of the April 11, 2006 e-mail to the lottery minister’s office. That was one year ago today,” Barrett said during Question Period.  “Minister Caplan said that this was just another routine FOI (Freedom of Information) e-mail, there was nothing to it, that his office didn’t get involved.

“But the Deputy Premier, just a short time ago in this House said the appropriate machinery responded. Perhaps the Deputy Premier will tell us what the appropriate machinery was and how it responded one year ago on April 11, 2006,” Barrett said.

Earlier during Question Period, the Deputy Premier admitted that when CBC’s The Fifth Estate requested information on April 11, 2006, government’s ‘machinery’ responded. Despite this, the Lottery Minister claims he knew nothing of the scandal until October 15 – nearly 6 months later.

“We need a committee to take a look into the flow of information between the Premier’s office, the minister’s office and OLGC,” Barrett said in his supplementary question.  “If there’s nothing to hide, if everything is above board and there’s no cover-up, there should be no problem to have an all-party standing committee of this House.”

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For more information, please contact MPP Toby Barrett at: (416) 325-8404,
(519) 428-0446, or 1-800-903-8629