(Quebec) The Legault government made public on Wednesday the decree it adopted almost three months ago to authorize a “subsidy of a maximum amount of seven million dollars” to Quebecor Sports & Divertissement for the arrival of the Kings of Los Angeles at the Videotron Center in Quebec in October 2024.
The council of ministers adopted the decree on September 8 “on the recommendation of the minister responsible for the Capitale-Nationale region and the Minister of Finance”, Jonatan Julien and Eric Girard respectively, we can read in the Gazette officielle du Québec .
The two ministers aroused controversy by announcing this subsidy, estimated at 5 to 7 million, on November 14.
Under the decree, a maximum amount of 2.5 million will be granted in 2023-2024 and another 4.5 million will be granted in 2024-2025.
The decree confirms that the money will come from the Capitale-Nationale region fund, as The Press had demonstrated it. This fund is managed by the City of Quebec and the MRCs of the region under a delegation agreement. The Minister of Capitale-Nationale “may, as responsible for the Fund […] and in order to support the development of the Capitale-Nationale region and participate in its influence, grant any financial assistance,” indicates the decree.
We remind you that “any grant and any promise of subsidy must be subject to the prior approval of the government, on the recommendation of the Treasury Board, when the amount of this grant or this promise is equal to or greater than $1,000,000”.
“The conditions and terms of granting this subsidy will be established in a subsidy agreement to be concluded between the minister responsible for the Capitale-Nationale region and Quebecor Sport et Divertissement inc., which will be substantially consistent with the draft agreement attached to the ministerial recommendation of this decree”, we can read. This agreement, the agreement with the Quebecor subsidiary, has not been disclosed to date.
The government used an article from the Executive Law to postpone the publication of this decree. “It is in the public interest to defer the publication in the Gazette officielle du Québec of this decree to a date no later than December 15, 2023, in order to allow Quebecor Sports et Divertissement inc. to complete the agreement it is negotiating with the company The Los Angeles Kings Hockey Club LP,” we explain.
The Kings will be at the Quebec amphitheater from October 2 to 6 to finish their training camp and play their last two preparatory games. Their opponents will be the Boston Bruins (October 3) and the Florida Panthers (October 5).