Ten colleagues from the Fondrémy foundry in Chambly won $2,000,000 thanks to a Québec 49 ticket purchased in the formula group for the February 25 drawing.
“It’s only been a month since we started our group. The person who did it before decided to stop doing it since people didn’t pay. I told myself I’m going [le faire] and that people would pay a month in advance,” manager Matthieu Côté said with a smile in a video released by Loto-Québec.
Mr. Côté took advantage of a stroke of luck. After forgetting to buy the ticket, as usual, near his home, he decided to stop at Sainte-Hélène-de-Bagot on the way to Trois-Rivières.
When Mathieu Côté checked his ticket a few days later, he thought he had won $200 before finally realizing, with the help of his wife, that each of the colleagues would share $200,000.
He then shared the good news with these colleagues: Patrick Bélanger, Martin Blackburn. Matthieu Côté, Michel Courchesnes, Sylvain D’Amours, Carlos Lopes, Joseph Lopez, Denis Morin, Sylvie Ouimet and Josée Séguin. Two of them said they didn’t think they would win until it was confirmed at work the following Monday morning.
The winning ticket was purchased from Shell Voisin on Principale Street in Sainte-Hélène-de-Bagot. This retailer receives a commission of $20,000, which is 1% of profits.