Sam Hamad and Agnès Maltais, two former ministers responsible for the Capitale-Nationale region, come to the defense of Mont-Sainte-Anne. This top ski resort near Quebec is suffering dangerously from a lack of investment, and they are demanding that the government “change operator altogether”.
“Mont-Sainte-Anne suffers from chronic underinvestment from the manager in place for some 20 years,” argue the two former politicians in an open letter consulted by The duty.
“One of the most eloquent proofs will have been the serious accidents involving the gondolas and which caused around twenty injuries in 2020”, they underline. Indeed, a sudden failure of the ski lift had at the time sent a dozen people by ambulance. Breakdowns have been repeated this year, but without causing any injuries. Failures in the snow coverage of the slopes have also been reported.
“No one trusts the operator anymore,” reiterates Mme Maltese in interview with the Homework.
The Quebec government owns the mountain, but delegates trail management to Resorts of the Canadian Rockies (RCR). The slope rental contract runs until 2093.
“They have a big contract in hand, the money is coming in, and they are washing their hands of it,” protested in turn Sam Hamad in an interview.
RCR’s head office in Alberta did not respond to our interview request. A representative of the ski resort in Quebec, however, reports that nearly 3 million dollars have been invested in the last year to restore the gondola and the snowmaking system. A broader “investment plan” and “worked with the government” must also be announced this year.
“It’s been twice that the operator has said that he will invest after negotiations, and he hasn’t done so,” says Agnès Maltais when informed of this response.
Quebec must “completely change the operator”, she believes, especially since “there are people in the region who are ready to take care of it, but also to take care of it financially”.
The problem “is taken seriously” in parliament, assure the two former political adversaries. “In 2021, legal steps were taken to regain control of the peripheral lands of Mont-Sainte-Anne, on which cross-country skiing, mountain biking or even camping activities take place”, they recall in their joint statement. But, “as far as the heart of the mountain and the alpine ski resort are concerned, the problem remains unsolved”.
“This is not a criticism of the government, but it must increase the intensity of its intervention”, maintains Mr. Hamad.
“The signals are good now, the other part, the greatest potential for attraction and development, is the ski mountain,” adds Agnès Maltais. It’s ours. It’s up to Quebecers, the mountain. »