A 60-year-old retired mechanic from northern Ontario checked his lottery ticket nearly a dozen times before he started to believe he won the $70-million jackpot prize from a Feb. 26 Lotto Max draw.
The morning after Marc Meilleur drew the winning ticket, he checked his OLG Lottery app when he saw the grand prize of “$70-million” displayed on the screen.
Still not convinced he had won the jackpot, Meilleur went to get his wife Dorothy-Ann to tell her he thought he had the winning ticket.
“My wife thought I was joking,” he said in a statement. “I scanned the ticket again to show her the $70-million win on the screen.”
Dorothy-Ann then checked the numbers herself before the couple drove to the Mayer Services Esso on David N. Street in Noelville, Ont., where Meilleur bought the ticket.
The owner of the Noelville gas station, who is also a friend of the Meilleurs, waited until all customers had left the store before validating the ticket, prompting an OLG representative to call the store owner and Meilleur.
“I started crying tears of joy,” Dorothy-Ann said.
The couple shared the news with their family — the first call was to their daughter in the Sudbury area, followed by texts to their two sons.
Meilleur and Dorothy-Ann also have seven grandchildren and two great grandchildren.
“As a parent, you want to provide the best for your children, and now we can take care of them without worry,” Meilleur said.
“We want them to be able to buy new homes and vehicles, but we also have a great team of financial advisers helping all of us set up the grandchildren and great grandchildren for future success.”
The couple also plans to buy a new truck and RV, and to travel across Canada when it’s safe to do so. They hope to buy a new home in the Sudbury region and to help different charities and institutions that are close to their hearts.
“I am not a big fan of flying across the ocean, so I want to drive and see all of the country which I love,” Meilleur said. “Starting on the east coast, there are so many beautiful areas to discover all over this amazing country.”
Meilleur and his wife have been lottery players for years, and each buy their own tickets to make sure they don’t miss a draw.