Should retailers be banned from buying OLG tickets?

Christina Blizzard still questions the integrity of the OLG, in spite of the supposed clean-up after lottogate earlier this year - Lottery still not a safe bet.

...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.

* * * *

Related: (Somewhat) Mayors singing the same old funding tune - John Snobelen.

More education links: Moira Macdonald - Start asking new questions.

'Progressive' parties seem to be against new ideas in Ontario

What a radical idea! John Tory is proposing that we consider letting Mom & Pop stores sell local wine and beer!

Oh wait. Alberta and Quebec already permit that irresponsible behaviour.

Well, there are plenty of reasons to rage against this craziness. It might encourage under-age drinking.

Oh wait. They're already selling cigarettes. What's the difference?

"Mom and pop'' stores already sell age-restricted products -- such as tobacco and sexually explicit magazines -- and have some of the toughest age-verification programs in North America, said (Dave) Bryans, who suggested the province could start with those 3,000 stores that have electronic-verification systems and go from there.

Well, John Tory is back-tracking. He seemed cool to the idea before!

Oh wait. He's just saying let's discuss it. Let's keep an open mind.

Well, no matter what, convenience stores just can't be trusted. Right, Dalton?




Seriously though, why do Progressives seem so resistant to change in certain situations? What is the common factor?

Could it be that the protection of union monopolies trumps everything else?

* * * *

Update: 'Anonymous' just reminded me that Ontario is already selling alcohol "all over this province", according to OPSEU's Leah Casselman. And she is not pleased about that.

More hypocrisy, double standards and two-tiered justice.

Related: Small beer equals big gripes - Post. This is not a new concept:

In 2005 Ontario's Liberal government commissioned a report into liquor and beer sales, which recommended the government sell the LCBO and allow beer sales in corner stores. It was rejected out of hand by Finance Minister Greg Sorbara, who said the recommendation "simply is not acceptable to the government. We don't think it's in the public interest."

John Tory's proposal applies only to products made in Ontario wineries and breweries.

Is Dalton's Mom Out of Touch too?

Yesterday Premier Dalton McGuinty defended the FLICK-OFF campaign by saying that some people are being 'a bit too FLICKING sensitive'.

But McGuinty, who proudly donned a bracelet emblazoned with the slogan earlier in the day, said he can't understand how it could offend "the modest sensibilities of some Ontarians."

"I might expect my mother to complain about this," McGuinty told a gathering of radio and television news directors in Toronto.

So I wonder if Dalton's mother has also joined Liberal media strategist Ben Chin's list of Ontario residents who are "out of touch"?

* * * *

Update: Lorrie Goldstein tells McGuinty to flick-off (with respect). I second the motion.

Wednesday Update: Colle-gate a sorry affair.

WHO'S out of touch?

Lotto-gate, 'Corner Store Trust'-gate, Colle-gate, 'FLICK-OFF'-gate...

The Ontario majority Liberal government is having to spend a lot of bothersome effort trying to divert public attention away from these pesky nuisances.

Accountability? Who needs that when you have a majority? You just vote down any attempt to be examined for questionable actions.

The public? They're so self-absorbed they don't even care what you do right, Dalton?

The first rule of politics for the McGuinty government is when confronted with an attack, fling back any mud you can grab. Anyone watching Oral Questions in the Ontario Legislature yesterday would know what I'm referring to. The government refuses to be accountable to the opposition and therefore by extension to the taxpayers.

But I always thought that being in charge of the public purse is a sacred trust - That it should be respected; not used as a party coffer.


However, I digress. In today's Sun Christiana Blizzard relates how she was told by former CityTV reporter-turned Liberal media strategist Ben Chin that she was "out of touch" as was radio host Bill Carroll and the entire CFRB audience; the overwhelming majority of whom felt that Minister Broten should resign. Chin later apologized and said that he meant that John Tory was out of touch.

Well here's a wake-up call, Ben. You can add a lot of MSM pundits and bloggers across the whole political spectrum to that list of folks who are out of touch. Also the National Post. I'm sure there are others.

So who's really out of touch? I'll let you decide. I'm just a dumb taxpayer who probably can't be trusted.

* * * *

Update: From the Globe - John Tory's worst day at Queen's Park ("Tories in Uproar over Grants").

Ontario, do you care???


And under the headline of 'How low can you go?' we have this.


Oh-oh. SDA has picked up on it. (Now your goose is cooked, Dalton!)

Y2Kyoto: The Moron is the Message. Heh.

Your Ontario Tax dollars - Hard at work

It seems that the Ontario opposition parties are a tad upset that $500,000 has been spent to help tell Canadians to Flick Off!

Yes, Ontario. You have paid to be told to Go Flick Yourself.

Perhaps you would like to mention that to Dalton in October's election.

* * * *

Thursday Update:

Christina Blizzard calls this a Brilliant flickin' idea. Actually she makes a good point. This is what the Ontario Liberal government thinks about our youth; that we can only reach them by using innuendo and potty talk. It really is an incredible example of Liberal arrogance when you think about it.

Lorrie Goldstein tells us of more idiocy emanating from Queen's Park - Canada's Dumbest Politician. Can you guess who?

ChuckerCanuk has waded into the scary world of Ontario politics with this gem! Anyone from Gov.on.ca really should check it out.


And as much as it pains me to do this, I must direct your attention to Red Tory's recent post on this subject - Flicking Stupid. (What's flicking scary is how much we are agreeing lately!)

From the Western Standard's Shotgun - Check out this pic!

Angry has another angle - The Cost to Flick Off.

Good point here - "Have we lost the ability to be creative without appealing to the absolute lowest levels of communication? If so, let's leave the lights on. Perhaps this culture is not worth saving." Well said.

Something's starting to stink in Queen's Park

The Ottawa Citizen has just provided a handy explanation of recent alleged Ontario Liberal scandals that should prove quite useful when election time draws near this fall.

Lottogate and "Colle-gate" are the latest, and could prove deadly to the Grits. Voters will overlook incompetency to some degree, notably the way Caledonia has been handled, but don't mess with public trust and the taxpayers' wallets!

Pollster Greg Lyle is quoted at the end of the piece as saying that he doesn't think that "the average person is spending all that much time talking about this."

Do you agree? Is the average Ontario resident just so complacent that potential government scandal isn't even on the radar?

Do you care?

Is it time to pull the plug on Catholic Education in Ontario?

Lifesite's John-Henry Westen has written a thought-provoking editorial questioning the value and role of publicly-funded Catholic education in Ontario today.

It would seem that thanks to the influence of the powerful Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association, Catholic education today is almost indistinguishable from the public alternative. If the current trend to distort Catholic dogma is maintained, Westen wonders why Ontario taxpayers should continue to fund the apparently redundant Catholic system?:

...However, were the political battle to be fought and won, and the status quo of OECTA-stlye 'Catholic' education to continue, you may find myself and other Canadian Catholics wishing that the so-called 'Catholic' system were abolished.

With an anti-Catholic system masquerading as a Catholic system in place, parents are deceived and the spiritual and moral formation of their children will continue to be severely harmed. At least with a secular-only system parents are not deceived and must make appropriate arrangements for faith formation of their children...

I'd love to hear from parents of children who are attending Ontario Catholic schools, as well as anyone from other provinces who has some interest in the subject of Catholic education.

Personally, I find myself wondering how we can continue to support Catholic education in an increasingly multicultural society?


Meanwhile, Premier McGuinty states that the Ontario government has no plans to scrap publicly-funded Catholic schools, despite recent pressure from some public school board trustees:

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty denied that the government had any plans to scrap the Catholic system whose existence is protected under the Constitution. Section 93 of the 1982 Constitution Act guarantees to Roman Catholics in Ontario the right to have a publicly-funded separate denominational school system.

Not surprising, since the teachers' unions appear to be huge McGuinty fans, and Catholics in general seem to vote Liberal.

Why would Dalton want to rock that lifeboat?

* * * *

Other posts on this subject: Just between us girls - Single School System.

Doggerel Party - Merging school boards. 'Mike' in comments says why not 'Fund the Student'? Has a nice ring to it, don't you think?

I think Sarah should pick up on this one.

Also, thanks to Tomorrow's Trust for posting a link to this blog.

Under columns I wish I had written...

(...with apologies to Norman Spector.)

Today's National Post op-ed by David Menzies is one of the best pieces I've read lately. It encompasses the whole convenience store wine-Lottogate fiasco and points out the underlying influence of the LCBO.

The entire column is well worth the read, but he sums things up here:

Bottom line: State-sanctioned wine sales in Ontario translate into less choice, questionable security and dubious policies that damage the domestic wine industry. Much of this would've been addressed with the passing of Craitor's bill. Alas, for Ontario oenephiles craving more choice and Ontario wineries hoping for a new distribution channel, it remains business as usual under the McGuinty Liberals.

The Red Star's Ian Urquhart has also written an interesting column (Queen's Park Blows Chance on Lottogate).

But there are still unanswered questions surrounding when the government first learned of the problem and what it did about it. Such questions were not the purview of the ombudsman's inquiry, nor are they subject to the OPP probe.

Are these questions worth the time and trouble of a multi-million dollar judicial inquiry? No. But they could certainly be posed by a legislative committee in a timely manner – that is, before the fall provincial election. Conservative Leader John Tory proposed this option to Premier Dalton McGuinty in the Legislature yesterday. Unfortunately, the premier rejected the idea.

Urquhart goes on to explain why he thinks that Dalton made a mistake here and how the Legislature is little more than a 'shell', as Conservative House Leader Bob Runciman refers to it.


The system sure does seem broken. As an Ontario taxpayer and voter, are you happy with the status quo? Are you satisfied with the way things are going?

Or would you like to see some real change? If so, get involved. You can start here by checking out this website, "You Deserve Better Results".

Talk to friends and coworkers. Get involved in the political process. Write letters to the editor.



Otherwise, it won't be just the Legislature that is a 'shell'. It will be the whole province.

* * * *

One more question - Why all the secrecy about what we Ontario taxpayers are spending on hospitals?

WHO can't be trusted?

Convenience store owners and workers who have been maligned by Dalton McGuinty will get a chuckle out of this one.

It seems that a Sault Ste. Marie man will have to pay a hefty fine for helping himself when he discovered that the door of a Beer Store was unlocked!!!


Remember this? "McGuinty said he didn't trust convenience stores – especially in light of the recent scandal over retailers scamming customers out of winning lottery tickets – to do as good a job as the LCBO and Beer Stores do in making sure alcohol doesn't fall into the wrong hands."


As good a job? Gee, I'm fairly certain that most convenience store folks would remember to lock up...

* * * *

Saturday Update: V.P. of Mac's weighs in here.

Corner Stores request apology

Late last night I received a heads-up from John Perenack of Room 40 Communications, regarding a press release issued yesterday by Dave Bryans who is the President of Ontario Convenience Stores Association. This morning I scoured MSM for a reference to this story and have yet to find a single report.

The letter asks Premier Dalton McGuinty to apologize for his recent remarks suggesting that corner stores cannot be trusted to handle the sale of Ontario wine and beer. Bryans states:

It's not often that a Premier unfairly questions the credibility of an entire industry and its 140,000 workers...

There are many levels of legitimate outrage to be examined here. First of all, McGuinty is tarring an entire industry and all related workers with the same brush; painting them as irresponsible and trustworthy just because of the few that were involved in the Lottogate fraud.

If the Premier had made a similar sweeping generalization about everyone belonging to a particular religious faith or culture, he might very well have found himself facing discrimination and hate-speech charges.

And in the case of Lottogate, it appears that the OLG has to take some responsibility for the scandal with its apparent enabling culture of 'nose-holding' and looking the other way.


Bryans also points out that the industry is handling the sale of other age-related products in a very responsible manner, and that alcohol is actually already being sold in certain situations:

In fact, you can buy alcohol at convenience stores in over 200 locations throughout Ontario through the LCBO's agency store model. At each of these locations, conscientious convenience store clerks sell beer, wine and spirits at standards that meet or exceed those of the LCBO itself.

(BTW, OPSEU is not very happy about that!!!)


Ottawa Suns' Geoff Matthews (Lunacy drives you to drink) points out this morning that things are tough enough in the convenience store business these days without the Premier questioning the credibility of each and every corner store worker in the province.

I think Dalton McGuinty owes these folks an apology.

Politically, it would be the smart thing to do, because these 140,000 workers have families and friends who will likely be very motivated to get out and vote this fall.

* * * *

Update: Warren Kinsella's name was mentioned in the Legislature today. I actually heard the comment while watching QP and was wondering how Warren would react. Well, wonder no more. (H/T National Newswatch)

It now seems that "Tory Nobody" John Yakabuski and "Big Baby" Howard Hampton are both in Kinsella's crosshairs.

Friday Update: Globe reports that OLG's Security Chief is stepping down.

Hitting the Salary Jackpot

From National Newswatch - CTV has a list of the top salaries for Ontario public sector workers.

This one really hurts in light of recent events:

The list grew by more than 6,500 workers, or 24 per cent, from the year prior.

Almost 140 employees at the scandal-plagued Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. were part of the $100,000 club in 2006, including many who made twice that amount, including Jim Warren, Premier Dalton McGuinty's former communications director.

Duncan Brown, who resigned as CEO right before the release of a scathing report from Ontario's ombudsman on lottery fraud practices, earned $364,825.

Ombudsman Andre Marin, meanwhile, received $192,565.

Personally, I think Mr. Marin deserves a bonus for exposing the rot.

* * * *

Sunday Update: Christina Blizzard - Liberal's Week to Forget.

Lorrie Goldstein - Who Pays for Government Debacles?

Ontario Lottery Fraud - McGuinty's Adscam?

Will this be the big wedge issue in the upcoming Ontario election? Kate seems to think it could have some traction.

One thing for sure - The people who were hurt by this are likely some of the more vulnerable in our society, such as seniors and low-income folks.

Are we as taxpayers and voters going to continue to accept this kind of weak excuse from our political leaders that according to them, they didn't know about the wrongdoing and so therefore should be excused? We are seeing this time and time again. The scapegoats get sent packing with huge incentives that make it seem as if they won the lottery!

Colby Cosh notes in his column Scratch and Lose, that:

But when OLG employees raised concerns about suspicions of retailer fraud, CEO Duncan Brown noted in an e-mail that as head of the Alcohol and Gaming Commission, "I used to have to issue gaming licences to companies or individuals that I just knew with absolute certainty were dirty. I just couldn't prove it. Sometimes you hold your nose."

I have a question for each taxpayer and lottery player in Ontario - Are you going to hold your nose and vote in more of the same this fall?

* * * *

Update: Step to the Right - OLG Campaign with YOUR Money!

I just came across one of these ads myself. "OLG- Making it even better" (for fraudsters?).

Oh boy. Here's a juicy tidbit. It seems that our friend Warren Kinsella was allegedly one of the spin doctors allegedly involved in the PR repair job after the original Fifth Estate exposé aired back in October.

..."As soon as the 'insider win' scandal was exposed, the (OLG) took action -- but instead of investigating what went wrong ... it reacted like a business facing a public relations nightmare, it hired experts to dispute the CBC's findings, even though as our investigators discovered, it knew full well that Mr. Edmonds was far from alone," Marin said...

Mr. Kinsella was allegedly not available for comment.

Gobsmacked by the Star

I'm a little late to the party here, but Sandy has been doing a great job with this story about the McGuinty government's incredible arrogance and abuse of power regarding their efforts to prevent court costs associated with fighting parents of autistic children from becoming public knowledge.

And I may have to change my opinion about the Star after reading this opinion piece and the following statement:

The government's stonewalling is indefensible. Openness should be the rule in the public sector, not the exception. Premier Dalton McGuinty and his ministers have apparently forgotten that government information does not belong to them or their bureaucrats, but to the citizens who vote and pay the bills.

Wow! Dalton, you've got to know you're really out to lunch when even the Star disagrees with you.

* * * *

Meanwhile in Ottawa, brother David is howling about lack of accountability (A.G. Fraser 'Refuses to be Accountable', should explain, Grit MP says).

It seems that in the McGuinty family, accountability only matters in Federal politics.

* * * *

Star Reality Check - Now here is the Star that we all love to hate - Tory Training Camp: No Welcome Mat Here.

My Ontario 'Dream Team'

I was just listening to Elizabeth Witmer on a local news-talk show. Liz is one accomplished and classy lady. She is gracious, but can cut through the BS with razor-sharp clarity.

No offense to John Tory, but I sure do wish Elizabeth was the leader of the Ontario Progressive Conservative party. Tory seems like a nice guy, but I just don't see him being able to wrestle the crown from McGuinty. Anyway, as I said in a previous post, it may actually be to the Federal Conservatives' advantage to have the Ontario Liberals working well with the Harper government.

But in my daydream, Elizabeth Witmer would be the leader. Her deputy would be the witty, no nonsense attack-dog Tim Hudak.

I would love to see those two go up against McGuinty and Smitherman.

Suggestion to John Tory: Get Elizabeth and Tim into some of those ads! You're not trying to sell sleep-aids, John.

Caledonia Update

As the one year anniversary of the Caledonia dispute draws near, Kate has an inconvenient truth posted - "It's time for the politically incorrect truth to be told".

Just for the record, the Feds have said that the claim is invalid.

However, there is a breaking news link on the main Hamilton Spectator page at the moment titled "Caledonia resolution not coming soon..." I'm not even going to try to link to it, because those Torstar breaking news links are so frustrating.

However, Monday's Spectator does promise extensive coverage of the upcoming Happy Anniversary, which I'm sure all the townsfolk will be busy celebrating.

* * * *

Monday Update: CTV - No quick end to Caledonia dispute... Mayor Marie Trainer says, "Despair has set in".

Check the Spectator all this week for articles (click 'Local').

Election year

Secret meetings. Time to buy out the Caledonia residents. Maybe they'll all get a Blackberry.

* * * *

BTW, I'm still waiting to hear McGuinty's response to this - Feds Say Six Nations Land Claim is Invalid.


And here's another election cynic on the topic of health care.

If you're a Conservative and planning to buy a Blackberry...

You might be interested in this.

(Note - Link no longer available. Highlights below).
Record Feb. 2/07 -
RIM execs among top donors to Liberals

...For 2004 to 2006, Liberal organizations have disclosed $28,623.06 in donations from RIM, while the PCs have only reported $2,301.99 in financial support from the company. Riding-association records from 2005 and 2006 are still incomplete.

Lazaridis' financial support for the provincial Liberals shows up the same year he served as chair of the party's annual Heritage Dinner, an $800-a-plate gala that raises more than $1 million.

(...)

Lazaridis sat at the head table with Premier Dalton McGuinty at last March's dinner.

Eighteen days later, McGuinty announced the government would provide $50 million in funding for each of two of Lazaridis' pet projects: the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics and the University of Waterloo Institute for Quantum Computing.

Two-Tier Integrity

Darcey points out the hypocrisy of the Ontario Liberal government in making an exception to the Smoke-Free Ontario Act for casinos only.

I guess it wasn't enough for Dalton to just have two-tier justice in Caledonia and two-tier economics with the 25% pay raise for MPP's while the manufacturing sector continues to implode. Now we have two-tier smoking rules. Legion and charity bingo halls will just have to suck it up.

So by process of elimination, I won't be able to vote Liberal in the fall because of McDouble Standard; nor Conservative because of Tory Raise-Accomplice; nor NDP because of lingering nightmares from the Rae Reign.

That leaves what?

Time to start a new party. How about "The Integrity Party"?

The slogan could be "Ontario. Yours to Recover".

* * * *

Update: McGuinty hypocrisy seems to be getting attention in New Zealand! Aren't you proud to live in Ontario?

Oops - Michigan too. Well, Dalton, it may be hard to sweep your butt under the rug this time.


Thursday Update: Interesting letter in today's Sun from Jim Watson, Minister of Health Promotion -

Unlike Conservative critic Tim Hudak and the big tobacco lobby, I will not agree to exemptions for indoor smoking rooms at casinos or any other facility because I do not believe employees of these facilities should be treated as second class citizens and have their lives put at risk as a result of exposure to second hand smoke.

Furthermore, I will not support the Conservative party's plans to water down the legislation and allow a whole series of exemptions to the act.

Say what?


Also please check out Arthur Weinreb's column at CFP!- Casino smoking rooms shock naïve Ontarians. There are several gems in this one.


More from the Sun's Christina Blizzard - Evolution's Political Detour.

Rant Aggregator

Today's post is a compilation of rants from MSM which caught my eye.


Greg Weston takes Stephane Dion's English pronunciation to task in Pardon, Monsieur Dion? "Liberal Leader's Shaky English Could Make Him French Toast in the Next Election". I would suggest possibly milquetoast as well.


Roy Leishman of the LFP - "Judicial Activists Know No Restrain." Roy rants about the Ontario Court of Appeal's self-proclaimed right to define the Canadian family and asks why our legislated officials seemingly have no opinion or objection.

Strange indeed...

Oh yeah! I know why, Roy! Christina Blizzard found them - They're at home counting their 25% raises!!!

- and saying see ya in March, suckers.

* * * *

Update: Kate does her take on the Weston article - A Way with Words: Found in Translation.

Read the comments. One of her readers starts talking about "Borat Dion". Too funny.

Afternoon Update: I don't know how I missed this one this morning! Lorrie Goldstein has another column on the Kyoto debacle (More Kyoto Crimes):

The news for Canadian taxpayers and consumers only gets worse. Even if we were to meet our Kyoto targets for 2012, which would have a huge negative impact on our economy because we're now 35% behind, it won't matter.

China, India and the U.S. -- none of them restricted by Kyoto -- are planning to build more than 850 new coal-fired energy plants over the next few years. China alone is planning 562. (Burning coal emits more greenhouse gas, linked to global warming, than oil or natural gas, the world's two other major fossil fuels.)

BTW, still an excellent debate going on a few threads ago.


Since this is somewhat of a dog's breakfast today, I'm going to include a short excerpt from a great letter by a geologist in Saturday's Financial Post in response to Peter Foster's Jan. 9 column, "Climate Action Would be Suicidal".

Reviving catastrophism

"...Also, for your information, there was a fascinating paper that appeared in the Geological Association of Canada journal, last year I think, demonstrating that increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide appear to follow increases in temperature, not precede them! I doubt you'll hear the great wizard, Dr. David Suzuki, catastrophist extraordinaire, speaking much about that.

Finally, as if any other proofs of the earth's incredible self-buffering and self-regulating capacity were required, how about the fact that as this winter has been so mild, the burning of fossil fuels for heating as gone way down and so has the consequent emissions of carbon dioxide. Presto. Problem solved! Avrom Howard, Thornhill, Ont. "

Well, that might be oversimplifying things a bit.

Challenge for Dalton

I wonder if Dalton can do anything about the incredible shrinking job situation in Southern Ontario?

Talking about good-paying jobs here; not McJobs.

* * * *

More from the Record about NCR:

NCR is blaming the strong Canadian dollar and the fact a high percentage of Waterloo's production is exported as reasons for the changes.

As well, NCR's competitors are cutting expenses by moving their manufacturing to "offshore and low-cost regions," Langos said. "If we didn't take this effort and activity, then it will cause our margins to decline significantly because it will make us less competitive in the marketplace."