Craig Bakay | Nov 15, 2017
A raffle for a lot in the One Small Town community proposed for North Frontenac Township has been cancelled after it was discovered that no licence had been issued.
“After checking into it, we realised we didn’t have a licence and wouldn’t have time to get one,” said Duncan Spence, national coordinator for Ubuntu Canada acting as spokesperson for C & T (Contribute & Thrive) North Frontenac, the cooperative being formed to facilitate the One Small Town project. “We notified everybody who had bought tickets and asked if they wanted a full refund or to make a contribution.
“We’re being very transparent here and not hiding anything.”
The raffle had been promoted on the Talking Trees website and its Facebook Page.
On Nov. 6, The Frontenac News become concerned about the legality of raffling off a lot that did not yet exist and contacted the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) asking about the legalities involved.
Ray Kahnert, senior advisor, Communications and Corporate Affairs Divison of the AGCO sent the following response on the morning of Nov. 7: “The framework for charitable gaming flows from the Criminal Code (Canada), which establishes the need for charitable or religious organizations to meet eligibility criteria in order to obtain a lottery licence. The framework also requires that the proposed uses of lottery proceeds be reviewed and determined to be eligible before a lottery licence is issued.
“The Talking Trees organization has not received a licence from the AGCO. We also checked with the local municipality and are advised that they have not issued a licence for this group to conduct a raffle or lottery. It is possible that the organization may be eligible. It would need to submit a lottery licence application and an eligibility assessment would need to be conducted by the appropriate licence authority, i.e. either the municipality or the AGCO.”
On the evening of Nov. 7, The Frontenac News contacted North Frontenac Mayor Ron Higgins who said he couldn’t answer questions on the matter because Talking Trees is “a separate entity” and referred us to Spence.
By Nov. 9, the raffle graphic had been removed from the groups’ website and Facebook Page.
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