Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil is looking to put an end to the speculation of the province placing limits on Chase the Ace jackpots.
“To my knowledge, there's no intent to cap the winnings,” said McNeil.
Progressive Conservative MLA Eddie Orrell says people are worried the province will be capping jackpots at $500,000 once the current draw is over.
“The rumour is that Atlantic Lotto is concerned about the amount of revenue they're losing on their ticket sales on their regular lotteries,” said Orrell.
Stephen Tobin, the organizer of the Sydney draw, is raising the same concerns.
“I think a lot of people just assume that that is something that will happen,” he said.
In the 2016 budget, the province is projecting a $34.8-million increase in lottery revenue. But the premier says he isn't worried about losing revenue to Chase the Ace.
“The province has other gaming opportunities, which they are doing, and we've said that's where our growth would come from,” said McNeil.
In question period on Wednesday, Minister Mark Furey was asked whether the draws would be capped, and didn’t give a definitive answer.
“Well I didn't hear the minister say that himself, and the premier's also said in the past that he doesn't always stick his nose into each individual department,” said Orrell.
Next weekend's draw in Sydney is expected to attract 10s of thousands of people eager to get their shot at a jackpot that's now close to $2.6 million.
As always, officials from the province's gaming commission will be on hand to make sure things run smoothly.
That's something organizers welcome.
“This game and the explosion in its popularity will mean that there will have to be some standardized best practices that will be applied,” said Tobin.
The opposition says community groups in Sydney and across the province need assurance their fundraising efforts won't be impeded by government red tape.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Sarah Ritchie.
