TORONTO -- A resident of Balmertown, Ontario says he plans to invest in his tourism business after winning a cool $2 million in the Ontario 49 lottery.
Robert Brownlee said he’ll also treat himself to new fishing boat after scoring the game’s top prize on Jan. 1.
He bought the winning ticket at Madi's Milk on Margaret Avenue in Wallaceburg, in the municipality of Chatham-Kent.
"I said, 'Holy cow!' and the customer next to me asked me if I won,” he recounted after picking up his winnings at the OLG prize centre in Toronto. “All the customers in the store were so happy for me. We cried tears of joy together.”
He said he then drove to his parents’ to share the good news.
"They didn't believe me at first!"
The win comes at a tough time for his tourism business, he said.
"This win is an unbelievable blessing," he said. "I plan to invest most of it. I want to put some into my business to make sure it's viable for the future.”
In addition to the Ontario 49 top prize, he also won $10 on another.
"I won a LOTTO 6/49 Free Play, so I used the money I was going to spend on that ticket to purchase this ONTARIO 49 ticket,” he said.
Brownlee said he’d been a regular lottery player for over 40 years.
