ST. ALBERT, Alta. — A lottery win worth almost $42 million has given a laid-off welder from Alberta new spark.
Cameron Blair of Beaumont, just south of Edmonton, has come forward as the jackpot winner in the April 23 Lotto Max draw.
Blair’s ticket was the only one with all the winning numbers, so he doesn’t have to share his prize with anyone.
It’s the biggest jackpot ever won by a single person in Alberta and the second-largest ever in the country for an individual.
The 32-year-old, who is an only child and isn’t married, says he probably wouldn’t have bothered to buy a ticket if he hadn’t been laid off a few weeks earlier. And it wasn’t until he saw the advertised jackpot amount of $41.7 million that he decided to snap up a couple of quick picks at an Edmonton gas station.
Blair says he plans to give some money to his parents, pay off his mortgage, earn his journeyman’s ticket and then continue working — probably for himself.
Blair admits he started thinking right away about how his win would change his life, but has settled down since then.
“Of course you dream (about) going on trips all over the world, buying cars, living the life you dream of, but now I know that I won’t do that. It’s not who I am. Right now I want to really sit down and figure this out.”
On his wish list, however, is a trip to Scotland to see the birthplace of his ancestors.
“Mostly, I just want to make sure my life will stay as normal as it can. Sure, I could take the $41 million and get lost in Mexico or some place and live the dream, but is that the purpose?
“No. I don’t think that’s what it’s about.”
It was the second time in a month that a multimillion-dollar ticket was purchased in Edmonton. Joanne Tsetta bought a 6-49 ducat worth $20.6 million in a city mall in March.
Alberta has had good karma with lottery tickets. In October 2005, 17 oil and gas workers shared a $54.3 million 6-49 windfall — the largest lottery prize ever in the country.
And 13 human resources workers at an Edmonton bank split $49.8 million in a 6-49 draw last May.