The winner of the largest lottery offering in Alberta’s history stepped forward and claimed his prize..Calgarian Mitchel Dyck, who owns Special Projects Landscaping Ltd., bought a ticket for the Western Canada Lottery Corporation’s $70 million LottoMax prize draw on Oct. 21 at a Centrex location in Calgary’s northwest community of Bearspaw..At a press conference hosted by Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis, Dyck said he doesn't usually play the lottery, but when a cashier asks if he wants a lottery ticket he doesn’t hesitate to say yes..The winning ticket stayed in his truck for three weeks after the draw, Dyck unaware he was Alberta’s newest multi-millionaire..While making some purchases at a local store, he remembered the ticket and asked a cashier to scan it.."I handed it to the cashier who scanned it. I thought we won $70,000," he said, adding that winning that amount gave him goosebumps..Then, the cashier told him he had won 1,000 times that amount.."I thought, 'Is that even a thing?'" he said. "It was just something you never expect."."I followed the cashier to the back room. He was calling the prize office to verify my win, and I wasn't going to let that ticket out of my sight."."It was definitely nerve-racking to have (the ticket) overnight. We went the next day and got a safety deposit box for it." .Dyck said the following few weeks were stressful, right up to the time he confirmed the win with Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis..“We drove (to St. Albert), it wasn’t exactly according to the speed limit,” he said. “It’s an enormous amount of money. I’m sure it’ll change the way we go about things, but I don’t want it to change us.”."We found a private banker who will help us manage this," he said. "For right now, it's just going in the bank until we can make some more plans.".One plan may be to buy a “fancy car or a fancy home”, which Dyck says he always wanted. .He did say his family will take a holiday over the Christmas holidays, and he’s likely to take more days off work than he has in the past, adding he wanted to ensure his two children and family are taken care of and they have what they need to get an education..“That’s still our goal, is to make sure that our kids get an education. Carry on and be honest citizens,” said Dyck..Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis Vice-President of Gaming Dan Keene said Dyck’s win is the largest Lotto Max jackpot in Alberta and ties a Canadian record..“This isn’t just a win for one individual. This is a win for all of Alberta,” said Keene as he introduced Dyck at the press conference..“Lottery proceeds in the province go to the general revenue fund, which benefits programs and services that we rely on every day.”
