Conservative leader Éric Duhaime wrote to Los Angeles Kings president Luc Robitaille to demand the millions in public funds that the Quebec government has committed to paying the team for two preparatory games in Quebec in the fall next.
Duhaime said the $5 million to $7 million grant sparks outrage in light of the National Hockey League (NHL) team’s decision to play in Salt Lake City without state aid. of Utah nor of the City.
“For the good of Quebec and for the excellent reputation of the organization that you chair, I ask you today to renounce the financial assistance granted by the Legault government,” he wrote.
On Monday, the Liberal Party of Quebec (PLQ) also demanded reimbursement of the controversial subsidy, announced last fall by the Minister of Finance, Eric Girard.
The government has entered into a subsidy agreement with Gestev, a subsidiary of Quebecor which is organizing the event during which the Kings will face the Boston Bruins, then the Florida Panthers, on October 3 and 5, before the start of the regular season.
Ten days before playing in Quebec, the Kings will play a preseason game in Salt Lake City as part of an agreement that does not provide for any expenditure of public funds on the part of the City or the State of Utah, a reported Monday The Press.
Billionaire organization
Mr. Duhaime wrote his letter Tuesday to Mr. Robitaille, who was present with Mr. Girard in Quebec when the Kings games were announced.
” Yesterday [lundi], we learned that these same Kings have just concluded an agreement to present, for several years, exhibition games in Salt Lake City, and this, without any government assistance, neither from the State of Utah nor from the City, wrote the Conservative leader. It was enough to trigger a wave of indignation across Quebec. »
According to Mr. Duhaime, the Kings should refuse these funds in the context where the deficit in the next Quebec budget will be greater than expected and Quebecers are struggling to feed themselves and renew their mortgages.
“This subsidy has become a symbol of mismanagement of public funds, which risks tarnishing your brand image,” he warned.
Mr. Duhaime believes that the Kings constitute “a billionaire organization” for which the subsidy of 5 or 7 million dollars from the Quebec government has a marginal impact on its income.
Questions
On the sidelines of an event bringing together business people from the Quebec region, the Minister of Economy and Energy, Pierre Fitzgibbon, did not want to comment on the financial conditions offered by Salt Lake City.
“I don’t have all the information,” he said. I don’t know if things are comparable. »
Mr. Fitzgibbon explained that the grant to the Kings is part of the government’s plan to obtain an NHL team that would make up for the departure of the Nordiques in 1995.
“We can question the means we take to get there,” he admitted. I think that basically, is it legitimate to want Quebec to have a professional hockey team? I think so. »
Present at the event, the mayor of Quebec, Bruno Marchand, affirmed that he will ask for clarifications from Mr. Girard to understand the difference between the financial situation of the Kings in Salt Lake City and in Quebec. “There may be a difference that we don’t understand, but I think he needs to explain it to us,” he said on the sidelines of the same event.