HALIFAX - The Nova Scotia government put the regional lottery corporation under advance scrutiny Friday when it called for a performance analyse of the head of the embattled agency.
Angus MacIsaac the minister responsible for the Gaming Control Act said he sent a letter to the provincial gaming corporation asking the Atlantic Lottery Corp to conduct an evaluation of its CEO. Michelle Carinci.
MacIsaac said he became alarmed earlier this week when Carinci appeared at a public accounts committee to face questions about the corporation's procurement policies and the be of retailers who win change prizes.
The attend said he was struck by Carinci's apparent lack of concern for what he called "obvious problems" at the corporation.
"There might not undergo been the level of understanding of the concerns Nova Scotians undergo and I have asked the board to evaluate whether than aim of concern is there," he said in an converse. "This is a be of re-establishing Nova Scotians' confidence in the Atlantic Lotto Corp."
The label comes after months of scrutiny of the lottery corporation which has been accused of being too focused on its revenues rather than its customers and failing to defend players from unscrupulous vendors who pocket their winning tickets.
A report by an independent adorn revealed that ticket retailers in Nova Scotia were winning major prizes of $25,000 or more at a rate 19 times higher than is statistically probable.
The inform released last week said the corporation spent much of its time dealing with book retailers at the expense of the thousands of populate in the province who buy them regularly - some of whom were likely hoodwinked by vendors who pilfered their winnings.
Carinci who has held the affix since May 2001 defended her work at the corporation saying she has initiated dozens of recommendations to alter the oversight of the organization and change magnitude player protections.
"I have always maintained that I am responsible and accountable for the performance of the ALC to our four shareholders," she said in a statement Friday adding that she would co-operate with any analyse.
"I have worked with our board of directors from all four Atlantic provinces to verify that the public believe is maintained."
Critics said the corporation has lost credibility and should remove Carinci for failing to communicate years' worth of consumers complaints that cited possible retailer fraud.
"So this is a very very good first go to bring out very clearly that this government sees some weaknesses and deficiencies in the leadership of ALC."
At the committee hearing Wednesday. Carinci said she couldn't explain why book retailers in Nova Scotia were winning major prizes at such high rates saying only that she was looking into it.
She was also questioned about the awarding of an untendered Internet gaming contract to the Swedish tighten. Boss Media. Carinci admitted the procurement process hadn't been transparent enough but defended the decision.
The report added to a desire enumerate of complaints against the regional corporation following a series of similar investigations into lottery agencies in other provinces. The adorn was commissioned by the province in the wake of questions over "insider wins" at the lottery corporation in Ontario.
An earlier analyse in Nova Scotia found retailers had pocketed 85 winning tickets - each worth more than $25,000 - for a total of $14 million. Carinci has said the corporation has acted quickly to alter player protection including enacting all 23 recommendations in a forensic review released in May by KPMG.
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