The retiree from Montérégie, who on Friday collected the biggest prize ever awarded to Quebec with a historic gain of more than $70 million, already has a head full of projects, in particular to help Ukraine devastated by war.
• Read also: The $70 million jackpot won in Quebec
“I have at least 10 projects, each project is around seven million, so following 10 projects, I have no money left,” jokes Marcel J. Lussier who showed up at the Loto offices on Friday. -Quebec to claim their prize won on Tuesday during the Lotto Max draw.
This retiree from Hydro-Québec is dreaming big.
“I would like to work on a project of prefabricated houses to help rebuild Ukraine, he explains, I am already in negotiations with people”.
That’s not all, Mr. Lussier says he wants to open a center for people with autism, a cause that touches him personally.
- Listen to Carl Marchand’s column at the microphone of Geneviève Pettersen on QUB radio:
History buff
If he wants to give back a lot, this man with a big heart intends to have fun too. Starting with a cruise with his wife.
Trips to Cuba are also to be expected, but it is not only to bask in the sun that the retiree intends to visit the island.
Photo Pierre-Paul Poulin
Marcel J. Lussier received Friday, in the offices of Loto-Québec, the biggest check ever given by the Crown corporation. He also won several secondary prizes.
“I frequently go to Cuba to do research because Pierre Le Moyne d’Iberville died there. I am doing research related to his death,” he says of this explorer of New France.
The history and genealogy enthusiast hopes that the jackpot will allow him to complete his research, write a story and even make a film.
A down to earth man
The day before each draw, he would take the time to write down a list of what he would like to do with the money. However, on June 7, the evening of the draw, this great lottery lover departed from his habit. Luck turned and he only had to consult his old lists to know what to do with this jackpot.
When he realized he was the lucky winner, Mr. Lussier says he remained calm.
“I went to warn my wife, I said to her: “did you know that I just won 70 million?” “, he explains quite simply.
The owner of Dépanneur Bethell in Brossard, where the ticket was purchased, was more expressive when he learned that he will receive 1% of the prize won. “He jumped for joy,” said Mr. Lussier with a smile on his face.
Since 2019, the Lotto Max jackpot has been capped at $70 million.
On June 7, Marcel J. Lussier won not only the prize pool, but also secondary prizes for a total of $70,027,052. He therefore dethrones a 22-year-old young man who had won $ 70 million in 2020.
What Marcel J. Lussier said
“In the wee hours of the morning, I woke up feeling that I had won. »
“I moved to my computer [pour vérifier le billet] and the Loto-Québec site shunned me, it didn’t want to answer me, there were too many people. »
“The pressure mounted as I read the numbers, 6, 13, 17, 20, 28, 36 and 44.”
“We had a cruise project a few years ago and the pandemic arrived, we canceled our cruise and we were reimbursed. We want to make a new one. »
“I invest a fortune in the lottery”
