Chase the Ace returns to Hay River
Council approves new bylaw to bring back non-profit cash cow
Paul Bickford
Northern News Services
Monday, August 7, 2017
HAY RIVER
A major step has been taken that will soon see the return of Chase the Ace to Hay River.
Les Ring, left, the winner of Hay River's first Chase the Ace lottery in November 2016, looks on as Glenn Smith, the lottery organizer for the Hay River Curling Club, shows the winning ace to the crowd. Ring drew the ace of spades from 10 cards remaining in a deck to win $511,034, when the jackpot and weekly prize were combined. - NNSL file photo |
On July 25, the Hay River town council unanimously approved a bylaw to regulate the lottery, which was a massive hit when first run in Hay River last year.
That first Chase the Ace in the community was presented by the Hay River Curling Club, which made about $600,000 in profit. But nobody has chased an ace in Hay River since November.
In Chase the Ace, people buy tickets to win the right to draw from a decreasing deck beginning with 52 cards in search of the ace of spades.
If that card is not drawn, the holder of the winning ticket receives 20 per cent of that week's ticket sales, while 30 per cent goes to an accumulating jackpot and the remaining 50 per cent is retained by the licensee.
If the ace is drawn, the winner receives the jackpot and the weekly prize.
The first Chase the Ace in Hay River ended on Nov. 4, 2016, when Les Ring drew the ace of spades from a black box containing just 10 cards, winning $511,034.
The total prize consisted of the progressive jackpot that had grown to $463,079 in the 43 weeks of the lottery and a weekly prize of $47,955.
It has not been held since as the Town of Hay River worked on the bylaw.
"The reason why we felt that it was needed is because pretty well everywhere else in Canada there's a separate bylaw for the Chase the Ace because you are talking about a large pot of funds that could be raised," said Mayor Brad Mapes.
"Our town needed to get up to speed and make sure that there's no liability or issues with the groups to host it."
The mayor added another goal of the bylaw is to make sure there are some guidelines about how the money - possibly hundreds of thousands of dollars - is looked after and spent well.
"You need to make sure they're benefiting a large percentage of our town," he explained. "You wouldn't want to have Brad's wrestling team or Brad's basketball team with five or six people on it that could go and have Chase the Ace and raise $1 million without some guidelines on how you spend the money."
The mayor expressed thanks to Judy Goucher, the town's senior administrative officer, for her work in preparing the new bylaw.
The new municipal legislation has established a "decision matrix" which will award points to groups seeking a Chase the Ace licence based on factors such as the ability to run such a lottery (number of volunteers, financial capacity, space for ticket sales, and more), benefits to the community or economic development, the number of people in an organization who might benefit and the number of user groups combining to submit an application.
Groups with the highest scores will receive priority status for licences.
In particular, Mapes pointed to the fact that groups joining forces to apply for a license would have a better chance of obtaining one under the decision matrix.
"The more people that benefit from it, the more of a chance you've got to hold a Chase the Ace," he said.
The bylaw will allow only one Chase the Ace at a time for a maximum 52-week period. However, given the random nature of such a game, it could last just one week.
Mapes said the town will now be accepting applications for a license.
As for when the next Chase the Ace might begin in Hay River, he said "it wouldn't be very long."
The town's licensing fees - which will increase as the jackpot increases - will go to help pay for the new Rec Centre under construction.
"It's definitely going to benefit the town," said Mapes.
The mayor was asked about the provision in the bylaw that proceeds from Chase the Ace could be used for, among other things, the advancement of religion.
"I thought it was odd, too," he said of that provision. "I'm not going to lie to you."
Mapes explained advancement of religion was included because the Hay River bylaw is based on similar bylaws from the East Coast of Canada, and the town's lawyers felt it should be included.
However, he doesn't expect churches to become involved in running such lotteries.
