Western Canada Lottery Corporation: Yukon lotteries go under microscope
Lottery operations in the Yukon are currently under review, in the wake of similar probes in other Canadian provinces, but Yukon lottery officials foresee no problems.
The Western Lottery Corp. has hired Ernst & Young to audit its operations, which include those in the Western provinces and the Yukon. A final report is expected by late September.
The audit will examine, in part, how many lottery retailers are winning at games for which they sell the tickets — something Yukon Lottery Commission general manager Carol Arntzen said is not happening in the territory.
"We feel that we have the checks and balances in place and have educated our lottery players regarding [the] validation process," she told CBC News.
The findings will coincide with the arrival of new anti-fraud measures the Yukon commission is bringing in.
Recent investigations in Ontario, British Columbia and the Atlantic provinces have turned up unusually high numbers of retailers claiming lottery prizes. Those findings have forced the Western Lottery Corp. to expand the audit to look into retailer winnings, WCLC spokeswoman Kathleen Polyak said.
"Given the recommendations made by the Ontario ombudsman as well as BCLC ombudsman and developments in [the] Atlantic ... the board decided ...to expand the scope of the Ernst & Young report," she said.
Polyak said an earlier review of Yukon lottery operations did not turn up high numbers of winning retailers.