$30 million and it’s all mine

A 48-year old man in Montreal, Canada has just won over $30 million on the Loto-Quebec lottery, which is the biggest-ever payout for one person in Canadian lottery history. Yves Dubeau is an amateur painter and who can blame him for quitting his day job as an accountant. Firstly he is going to invest his winnings, but he plans to open an art gallery to display and sell his works, and those of other artists. But he does have two purchases on his shopping list, a diamond ring and a new car.

Many lottery winners get besieged by requests for money from family and friends, and Yves says that any pleas from his three siblings may fall on deaf ears, though his brother’s missionary work in Africa will be supported. This winner has one person more than most to thank for his win though, the employee at the shop where he bought his $18 worth of winning Super-7 lottery tickets. She persisted in processing his lottery combination despite problems with the machine. Yves says he hopes his life will continue as before with people allowing him to paint, play squash and eat out in his favourite restaurants.

- 2 May 2006