With the release Monday of what's expected to be a damning report on Ontario's lottery corporation, the province's opposition parties were gearing up Sunday to pounce on the government for not acting sooner.

Premier Dalton McGuinty, who attended a Greek festival and parade in Toronto on Sunday, had little to say when it came to commenting on the report.

"We have some concerns about what's been happening over at OLG and we're determined to continue to inspire strong confidence in our lottery and gaming system here in Ontario," he told reporters, adding that the government would have more to say Monday.

Ombudsman André Marin is to release a report on an investigation into the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. on Monday morning — a report observers expect to be highly critical.

The report was prompted by allegations in a CBC investigation that lottery retailers have won a disproportionate number of prizes.

The Crown corporation's CEO, Duncan Brown, resigned suddenly Friday and opposition parties suggest he was simply a scapegoat.

"I think Mr. Brown's departure is an attempt on the part of Mr. McGuinty to hope this all goes away and we can say 'Well it was all his fault — Mr. Brown's that is — and, therefore, we can all rest easy and sleep well knowing that the man whose fault it was is gone,"' Conservative Leader John Tory said on Sunday.

NDP Leader Howard Hampton likened it to the December departure of the CEO of Hydro One, who collected a severance package of more than $3 million. Tom Parkinson resigned after a scathing report on his billing practices was released by the auditor general.

"This sounds a lot like Tom Parkinson," Hampton said.

" 'Here's a few million dollars. Please avoid embarrassing us politically and say nothing.' But I think the indications are already that there was a very serious problem there."

Both Hampton and Tory said the public has a right to know the details of Brown's departure and severance pay.

'A few bad apples'

Rita Zivontsis, who has co-owned a convenience store in Toronto with her husband for 34 years, said if there is a retailer fraud problem it likely can be traced to "a few bad apples."

She said she is interested in the recommendations in Monday's report but said Brown's resignation is irrelevant.

"The CEO, what can he do? He's the one that gets the bad rap, but he's not at all the stores, he cannot check [them all]."

Ontario's embattled lottery corporation isn't the only one dogged by problems.

New Brunswick's ombudsman is looking into whether he can launch a probe into Atlantic Lottery Corp. following an internal report showing retailers won prizes exceeding $25,000 — 10 per cent more often than statistically probable — over a six-year period.

Another investigation was launched in British Columbia after the province's lottery corporation found retailers were winning six times more than the general public.