Ontario lottery corporation blasted for Benz giveaway amid auto crisis

Deputy Premier George Smitherman lambasted the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. on Tuesday for its planned lottery of imported cars at casinos next month, saying lottery executives made a "crappy decision" as the province's own auto industry struggles to survive.

During question period at the provincial legislature in Toronto, Conservative MPP Ted Chudleigh asked the Liberal government why the OLG is giving away 22 Mercedes-Benz B200s during its April "License to Win" competition, instead of cars made by Ontarians.

"You'd think the OLG would be sensitive to the problems that we face in the automotive sector," Chudleigh said.

Responding for the Liberals, Smitherman said he agreed "entirely" with Chudleigh's question and added he had a face-to-face meeting over the contest with OLG chief executive officer Kelly McDougald.

"I told her in no uncertain terms that the purchase of those vehicles represents very, very bad judgment on the part of that organization," Smitherman said.

Smitherman then went further with his criticism outside the legislature.

'Wrong on all levels'

"It was a crappy decision, and I let them know it full-force that it would not be tolerated going forward," he told reporters.

"It's disappointing, it's disillusioning, and it's wrong on all levels and it was a big mistake made."

The outcry comes as members of the Canadian Auto Workers union began voting on a tentative labour deal with General Motors that was reached over the weekend.

The proposed deal covers roughly 10,000 CAW members at GM's Ontario operations in Oshawa, St. Catharines, Woodstock and Windsor.

It would eliminate a $1,700 annual "special bonus" and reduce paid time off to 40 hours a year from 80 hours. (This time is in addition to vacation entitlements ranging up to five weeks annually for high-seniority workers, reduced last year from six weeks.)

GM workers would also for the first time make payments toward their own health benefits — $30 a month per worker family.

Recovering from scandal fallout

The deal is also contingent on GM winning support from the federal and provincial governments.

In December, the governments of Canada and Ontario offered the automakers $4 billion in aid to prevent a collapse of Canada's auto sector amid the faltering global economy.

The OLG, a Crown corporation of the province, was not immediately available for comment on the contest.

The OLG is still recovering from the fallout of a scandal in recent years over allegations that several lottery clerks stole winning tickets from unsuspecting customers and cashed in millions of dollars in prizes themselves.

The allegations came to light in 2006, when CBC's The Fifth Estate told the story of Bob Edmonds, an 82-year-old Ontario man who sued the lottery corporation in 2005. Edmonds, from the town of Coboconk, alleged he won $250,000, but his prize was fraudulently claimed at his local corner store.