Sometimes you Hold your Nose

Ombudsman Andre Marin has stated that "unscrupulous" lottery-ticket retailers in Ontario have collected at least $100 million in fraudulent claims since 1999, under the "watchful eye" (what happened to the other eye) of the OLG which allowed the practice to persist.

Marin said that lottery officials who raised concerns about suspect claims by retailers in 2003 and 2004 - including on $12.5 million prize - were told by Brown: "Sometimes you hold your nose."

Wrong Duncan!!!!! You hold YOUR BROWN NOSE, probably as a result of walking too close behind your masters when they suddenly stopped ..... I'M KICKING BUTT!!!!

Let's go through some of Andre Marin's findings:

1. There have been at least $100 million in fraudulent claims. - Question: how many of these "unscrupulous" lottery-ticket retailers have been criminally charged? How many have been convicted and are currently serving time with big hairy men who would like to dance the mambo in one of our fine correctional facilities? Let me guess ...none...nada...zilch...WHY?
2. The OLG is "hopelessly conflicted." - Question: Conflicted about what? To steal or not to steal? Oh the dilema of multiplke choice!
3. Marin said the OLG ignored allegations of fraud because it was "fixated on profit rather than public service." Question: How many of these "fixated" public service trolls will now be dismissed? Or will Duncan Brown be the only one to walk the plank, because his high profile dismissal might mitigate some of the damage suffered by DUHlton McGuinty and the crew of The Black Pearl? Oh by the way, it didn't happen to be you DUHlton who was the prime fixator was it? Now was it DUHlton...comon, was it?
4. Customers who complained were rarely taken seriously, said Morin, who called the corporation's customer complaints department "rude and inept" when dealing with them ...not surprising Mes Amis....have you had to deal with the boys at Queens Park lately? Like government - like government agency!
5. There was too much hanky panky between retailers and the OLG. The question still stands ... how many folks at the OLG have been shown the front door and how many retailers have been criminally charged?

The Cantankerous One has a few additional questions, namely: Why does David Caplan, the minister responsible for the OLG still hold that porfolio? Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character give him power. Caplan was given power and voila ....behold his character.

Why does OLG Chairman Michael Gough still hold his position? He shows all the backbone of a chocolate eclair. In the midst of a scandal, Gough thumps his chest with pride, as he announces that despite the fact that some unscrupulous vendors stole money out of our pockets lottery ticket sales are in fact up. How stupid of me to not understand that sales increases make theft allright.

Gough goes on to say "that's a ...reflection of Ontarian's basic trust in this corporation." As usual Mr. Gough, you have mastered many things, but common sense is not one of them. Where would I go if I wanted to play big-payout lotteries which are not controlled by the government? I guess one does not deal much in facts when one is contemplating saving ones butt.

Let's go back to David Caplan for a moment. Here's the Caplan Clincher. He said that the government and OLG would try to find people who had their legitimate lottery winnings stolen by someone else and pay them the jackpot they were entitled to have. There was no mention of cleaning out the complicit vipers nests within OLG who knew what was going on and looked the other way ... can these people be criminally charged for aiding and abetting the facilitation of a crime? ...no mention of criminally charging all of those retailers involved in theft ... no mention of forcing these thieves to pay restitution ... no mention of pulling OLG kiosks from retailers directly involved with these thefts.

We need to arrange for a quick Cat Scan of Mr. Caplan's cranium to ensure that there is something of substance inside, instead of as it appears now, a resting place for his hair follicles.

Meanwhile back at the ranch, DUHlton McGuinty defended Caplan and accused the opposition parties of playing political games by demanding Caplan's resignation.

Hold the fort Martha...we need to order up another one of them there Cat Scans for that DUHlton fella. OOps forgot. With the health care system being what it is, we'll probably have to wait untill after the next election to get an appointment.