Tuesday, March 10, 2009

What were they thinking???

There are no cars built in North America worth giving away?

Lotto corp. blasted for buying foreign cars as prizes
KAREN HOWLETT
Globe and Mail

TORONTO — Ontario's scandal-plagued lottery corporation is embroiled in controversy again, this time over its "crappy decision" to buy European-made luxury cars as prizes instead of ones produced in the province's ailing auto sector.

George Smitherman, the Ontario cabinet minister responsible for Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp., told reporters on Tuesday that he admonished the top executive of the Crown agency over the decision to buy 22 Mercedes Benz cars, which will be given away as prizes.

Mr. Smitherman said it is too late to undo this purchase, but he said he put CEO Kelly McDougald on notice that he won't tolerate another "huge lapse in judgment" like this, especially at a time when domestic car makers are laying off thousands of workers amid slumping demand.
James Morton

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's all a question of perspective and marketing...

Would you prefer to win a Mercedes or a Chrystler?

Now it seems that politicians are trying to score cheap political points.
I would have preferred that the OLC choose an American made car from the beginning but let's be honest to sell more tickets, a Mercedes has more prestige...

Anonymous said...

it doesn't matter.. the optics are just as bad as the Big 3 automaker execs showing up to a bailout meeting in their private, executive jets...
In this economy, a free car is a free car.. and the OLG would have been far better to purchase Canadian made autos for the draw.