DEMANDS DISCLOSURE OF FIVE YEARS OF ENFORCEMENT FILES

VICTORIA – Questions still linger about the role of the Solicitor General John Les and the Gaming Policy Enforcement Branch in the Campbell government’s failure to adequately monitor retailers winning lottery prizes through improper means, according to New Democrat Lotteries and Gaming Critic Guy Gentner.



“Just firing the CEO of the B.C. Lottery Corporation is not nearly enough to deal with the questions raised by last week’s Ombudsman’s report on lotteries,” said Gentner, the MLA for Delta North.



“We need to see full enforcement files from the past five years for the Gaming Policy and Enforcement Branch so we can find out what they have been doing. The public evidence we have suggests that they have been ignoring the festering problems at the lottery corporation while they chased small mom-and-pop bingo operations,” he said.



“We also need to see the minutes of the board of the B.C. Lottery Corporation to see if the board and its members have been doing their job,” said Gentner.



“Above all, it is time for John Les to be relieved of his responsibilities because he has clearly failed British Columbians. In December, he claimed the Gaming Policy and Enforcement Branch had found nothing wrong with lottery retailing in B.C., but last week he told a different story, saying that the branch had found deficiencies last fall.



“The Premier must reorganize gaming regulation in B.C. The responsibilities for lotteries and for gaming enforcement must be separated. Keeping these conflicting responsibilities under the same minister and ministry has clearly failed British Columbians,” Gentner said.



When Ombudsman Kim Carter issued her damning report on lottery retailing on May 29, Minister Les chose to stay in place and not have anyone on his management team take responsibility for the lottery fiasco. Finally on Friday, the lottery corporation board fired CEO Vic Poleschuk.