An 81-year-old man, cheated out of a $250,000 tax-free winning, has settled with the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp.
Bob Edmonds of Coboconk, Ontario, alleged the owners of a variety store kept and cashed his winning Super 7 Encore lottery ticket in July 2001.
He sued the OLGC for $100,000 plus interest after recovering $150,000 from Phyllis and Scott LaPlante, owners of Coby Variety store in his hometown.
Edmonds received an undisclosed financial settlement after a 10-day trial just as the case was to be decided by a jury.
He testified he took the ticket to the store and the lottery terminal chimed twice indicating two prizes but was told it was a prize of one free ticket.
After learning the LaPlantes had won the big prize, he complained to the OLGC, but officials said there was no record of Edmonds contacting them.
Although suspicious because their agents couldn't recall where they bought the ticket, the OLGC paid out the winnings anyway.
Judge Harriet Sachs ruled before the settlement the government corporation does "owe a duty of care to the public."
Bombing inquiry rejected
Calls for a public inquiry into the investigation of the Air India terrorist bombing in 1985 have been rejected by Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan.
She also disputed claims police botched the investigation, leading to the acquittal of Ajaib Singh Bagri and Ripudaman Singh Malik in Vancouver on Wednesday.
They were found not guilty on all charges - including first-degree murder - related to the bombing of Flight 182, which killed 329 people.
The men were held in jail for four years awaiting trial.
News in brief
Paul Cellucci ended his four-year term as U.S. ambassador to Canada and returned to Hudson, Mass. Reports say Cellucci has been hired as a senior executive at the gambling and racetrack company Magna Entertainment Corp., headed by Canadian entrepreneur Frank Stronach.
Talks aimed at ending the softwood lumber trade dispute with the United States are to begin in Toronto on Wednesday. A Canadian proposal is to be discussed in the hopes of resolving the 3-year-old trade war in which producers have had to pay $4-billion in U.S. duties.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is appealing a temporary court-imposed delay on Canadian cattle imports. It's a bid to reopen the border until a July 27 court hearing in Montana on whether the border should be permanently shut because of mad cow disease fears.
Facts and figures
The Canadian dollar is little changed over the past week, closing Friday at 83.05 U.S. cents, while the U.S. dollar is $1.204 Canadian, before bank exchange fees.
The Bank of Canada's key interest rate is steady at 2.5 percent, while the prime lending rate remains 4.25 percent.
Stock markets are higher, with Toronto's composite index at 9,771 points and the Canadian Venture Exchange 1,988 points.
Three teenage boys were arrested and accused of conspiring to take control of a Saint John, New Brunswick, high school and kill students and teachers. Police said they found gunpowder and other material for making pipe bombs. The attack was planned for April 20, the anniversary of the 1999 Columbine High School massacre. Police said they found notes naming people the boys planned to kill.
A windstorm and sea surge along the east coast of Newfoundland have caused millions of dollars in damage.
