Atlantic Canada Drags Its Feet on 2016 Atlantic Lottery Corporation Operation Changes

Atlantic Lottery Corporation strives to achieve more and bring better gaming to provinces such as New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland and Labrador but a recent report highlighted a problematic lack of action. Atlantic Canada’s auditors general concluded in their recently issued report that provinces still have 2016 recommendations to implement.

The lottery corporation oversees several provinces and ensures that gaming enthusiasts have their needs met and expectations exceeded. Traditional casino venues and lottery offerings are available throughout the provinces, but this is also associated with certain expenses. Back in 2016, the lottery corporation was subjected to another audit that discovered substantial spending for various projects that needed to be curbed down. The details surrounding this joint report stirred the pot.

Provinces Still Ponder Recommendations

The two Auditors-General for Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador conducted their audit on the lottery day-to-day operation and discovered substantial spending. As a result of that, some 25 recommendations were listed as crucial for Atlantic Lottery Corporation’s future operation. They were supposed to be implemented by both the corporation and its four shareholder governments.

The perfect scenario would include the implementation of all 25 of those in a timely manner over the past two years and a half. In reality, things are rather different. The Atlantic Lottery Corporation managed to put all 16 of its recommendations to good work and see the improvement coming with that. In the meantime, its four shareholders governments did not perform that well, as the recommendations related to them are still pending.

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The remaining nine recommendations were supposed to be acted on, but as of now, only two of them have been taken into account by the shareholder governments of Atlantic Canada. One year after the initial audit was publicly issued, the two Auditors-General for the provinces went over the progress and ensured that everything is going according to schedule.

Thorough Review Still Needed

They wanted to see a timely solution to the outstanding issues with lavish spending that would eventually optimize the lottery corporation’s operation down the road. This week saw the issuing of their latest report that highlights insufficient efforts demonstrated by the provinces. Results could be visible in the foreseeable future. However, some of the provinces previously rejected some of the recommendations.

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They refused to implement the new regulation that would prohibit elected officials on the board. What needs to be done in the upcoming weeks is that senior members of the government have to thoroughly review them and give their nod that would guarantee the recommendations would be implemented. Among those is the detailed review of the Atlantic Lottery Corporation’s mandate, as well as the currently progressing analysis on the Council of Atlantic Premiers pension plan.

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Estimations are that the said recommendations would have to be implemented in their entirety, as to ensure that the Atlantic Lottery Corporation is working as efficiently as possible. In the meantime, the corporation is also linked to a class-action lawsuit against its Video Lottery Terminals in Newfoundland and Labrador. Some 30,000 individuals are linked to the lawsuit that claims the said devices are intrinsically corrupt and have a deceiving nature.