...As Sun Queen's Park Bureau Chief Antonella Artuso reported last week, over the past year, one in 20 big jackpots went to lottery insiders -- either retailers or people employed by the lottery corporation.
And while a spokesman for the OLG says the reason for that is there is now greater scrutiny of wins over $50,000, it's hard to escape the conclusion that something is horribly wrong...
...The government is happy to wash its hands of whole issue. Their mantra is that they've implemented the recommendations of KPMG auditors and the ombudsman - so their work is done.
I don't think so. Because as long as you're relying on lotteries as a major source of government revenue, you have to ensure the integrity of the process. As long as your hospitals, your schools, your police forces, are paid for from the proceeds of gambling, you'd better make darn sure it's fair...
The reference to schools being funded by gambling proceeds reminded me of a post from Nov. 18. I had been surprised to find out that the TDSB topped the list of Canada's richest charities, pulling in a staggering $2.4 billion dollars.
Interestingly, the Ontario Trillium Foundation ranked first in the most generous foundation category. A reader reminded me that funding for the OTF comes largely from lottery proceeds.
So, just remember. If you buy a lottery ticket in Ontario, not only do you have reason to still question the fairness and integrity of the system, but you are also putting money into the hands of a corporation that turns around and gifts it to rich 'charities' like the TDSB with their most interesting experiments in public education...
Just thought you might want to know.
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Related: (Somewhat) Mayors singing the same old funding tune - John Snobelen.
More education links: Moira Macdonald - Start asking new questions.
More education links: Moira Macdonald - Start asking new questions.
11 comments:
Wait a second Joanne.
How does a public school board that receives the lion's share of allocation from the gov't quality as a charity?
Holy $^&*( !!
What's interesting to me is that when I was on a parent council in my children's elementary school, we wanted to have a bingo to raise money for something. The board told us that it wasn't allowed because it was considered "gaming" and it wasn't permitted to used gaming funds for school stuff?
Has the rule changed.
I think we need a good investigative journalist.
Steve J....911
check out John Snobelen's column in today's sun too Joanne. He hits another one out of the park.
What a good education minister he was!! He supported charter schools and choice long before most of Ontario got on board.
What really bugs me is how he was hijacked from that position by the teacher unions and opposition parties yet it was ok for an education minister to have attended an elite private school aks Gerard Kennedy...and not a peep.
If you had $17,000,000 and used the money to buy lottery tickets for one draw, then used your winnings to buy tickets for the next draw and continued to do this, would you be broke within a decade? If so how long would you expect it to take?
Steve, yeah. I was shocked as well when I read about the money the TDSB pulls in.
I think we need a good investigative journalist.
I'm surprised we haven't heard more about this in the news... No, wait. I'm not.
Where's Steve Janke when you really need him?
Thanks, Anon. I added the link.
would you be broke within a decade?
Are we talking about OLG insiders here, or the general public? That could make a difference in the outcome.
Don't forget it's not a lottery in the sense that every combination purchased is entered in the draw as a possible winner.
The winning numbers are randomly generated, which is why some weeks there are no winners.
So, you could lose your $17 million right out of the gate, or you could win a few times. I don't know how you would calculate that probability.
Lotto 649 pays out 47% of the money taken in prizes. The smallest prize is $5. After ten weeks the $17,000,000 dollars starting stake would be reduced $4.71 (17,000,00 x .47^20). If you win $5.00 on the twentieth draw your luck is better than average.
Lotteries create losers, they should be discontinued.
It is beyond the realm of possibility and credulity that loto insiders win that often off of randomly generated numbers..it should be statistically impossible to win that often ..
The fix is in folks..
I agree with the above posts about John Snobelen. He was a great education minister. Look at the commie hacks we have now. (real conservative)
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