The head of the B.C. Lottery Corporation has been fired after an ombudsman's report found a few retailers who appeared to be winning unusually often.
The lottery corporation's board of directors decided a change of leadership was required, they said in a statement, which announced President and CEO Vic Poleschuk had been terminated.
"The Board of Directors has decided a change of leadership is required and we've taken that step," John McLernon, chair of the board of directors, said in a statement.
"The board will now turn its focus to implementing the ombudsman's recommendations and BCLC's Player First program."
Poleschuk had been president and CEO of the organization since October 1999.
In his post, Poleschuk earned more than $440,000 a year plus bonuses. The board will meet next week to discuss finding an interim replacement for him.
B.C. Solicitor General John Les, who is responsible for the Lottery corporation, told The Canadian Press he approves of the board's decision.
"When you have a chief executive officer who presides over a very large corporation and an ombudsman does an in-depth review of a significant aspect of that corporation's operations and finds not only serious problems, but problems that have been ignored, that is quite an indictment of their lack of due diligence," said Les.
But NDP Leader Carole James said Les should also be removed from his post.
She said the government must explain why its Gaming Policy and Enforcement Branch issued a report in December that failed to reveal any significant problems with the corporation, contradicting this week's ombudsman's report.
"The minister has certainly dragged his feet on this issue, and (the firing) doesn't absolve the minister from taking responsibility himself," she said.
Les said he has no idea why the two reports reached different conclusions, and added he welcomed the ombudsman's report and has no intention of stepping down.
British Columbia will conduct an audit of the provincial lottery system, and Les said he will wait for its findings.
"The issue may be more than just personnel, it may well be a structural issue," he said. "I want all of those things looked at so I have a complete picture and a well-informed picture before I make any potential changes there."
Ombudsman Kim Carter was prompted to look into the B.C. lottery system after an investigation in Ontario found corruption at some retail lottery outlets.
Carter found there was a lack of scrutiny for 99 per cent of the winning tickets and 80 per cent of the prize money paid out for wins under $10,000.
She also found 21 retailers or retail employees were multiple winners over a span of seven years.
One of those people won 11 times in five years for a total of over $300,000. Another person claimed to have won more than $10,000 every year for four years.
Carter, who began probing the prize payouts last December, said her report's recommendations will bolster the security of the lottery prize payout process.
With files from The Canadian Press
