The lucky recipient of the largest lottery jackpot ever won in Western Canada now resides in Regina, Sask. However, that is not where he bought the ticket.
“I sat there basically in awe, you know. I really don’t know what to do when you look at your phone and it says that number,” said Dale McEwen.
On the day of the April Lotto Max jackpot drawing, McEwen was headed to BC for a ski trip. When he stopped in Dunmore, Alta., to buy gas, he decided to pick up some last-minute lottery tickets, something he has done for years. The next day, while he was waiting to go to dinner, he casually decided to check those tickets.
“So I checked one out and it was a $2 winner. You know the usual and you checked the other one and it says, hey, looks like a winner. A $70 million winner and (I) was stunned for a while and didn’t know what to do so I quickly took a screenshot then went and told Christie and found out if it was real or not and what to do. McEwen said.
When dealing with an April Fools’ Day raffle, Regina residents wanted to make sure their newfound fortune wasn’t some twisted joke.
“Disbelief, obviously, but I could tell right away that Dale wasn’t kidding just by the look on his face and his reaction. So it’s like a blur,” said Dale’s wife, Christie McEwen.
The $70 million jackpot is the largest ever won in Western Canada. Saskatchewan’s previous lottery winnings peak was $60 million. The province has now taken home a lottery in six consecutive months since October 2, 2021, but everyone wants to know: what will the McEwens buy with their winnings?
“We have some little things and things we want to do, but no big plans. We’re very lucky anyway, so we just do a few things to enjoy life and maybe travel a little bit more, help our families a little bit if we can,” Christie said.
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“We already have plans to help parents and siblings and that kind of thing. Like I said, we’ve had three weeks to digest this and figure out what we’re doing,” Dale repeated.
Dale doesn’t know exactly what he’ll buy, but he was aware of his plans when asked if he had any plans to stay in the trucking industry.
“Not particularly, no. No, it’s going to be an early release of that. I’ve been doing that for 28 years, but it’s definitely time to get out of it, I guess,” she said with a laugh.
McEwen’s winning numbers of 7, 10, 18, 29, 38, 43 and 50 had no significant personal meaning, but came from a quick pick.
“I’m still kidding, I’m totally blown away because I don’t know how you can ramp up for four or five weeks and build and build and build and just have a winning ticket. It always bothers me when that happens. How can there be a winning ticket? But I’m glad there was,” Dale said.
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Like any surprise of this nature, life-changing money has been hard to digest.
“You think when you’re joking around at work, oh I’m going to do this and this and this, but then when reality hits and your mind is just a fog of what the hell is going on, those thoughts just go away. the window right away because you don’t know how to process it,” admitted Dale.
“Once you hit yourself and realize how much you have and what you can do, it’s mind-boggling. I can’t even describe it.”
But will McEwen still play the lottery even with his newfound wealth?
“Well, why wouldn’t a boy do it? You have to,” she said with a smile.
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