(Quebec) The decision to spend millions in public money to welcome the Los Angeles Kings to Quebec is starting to cause discontent within the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ).
At least two MPs came out publicly in the last hours to question their own government’s decision.
The Minister of Education and MP for Lévis, Bernard Drainville, as well as the MP for Jonquière, Yannick Gagnon, both declared that the timing of the announcement had been poorly chosen.
“I hear the criticisms, I understand them and I agree with you that the “timing“is not ideal,” Mr. Drainville began.
“Now I’m not going to shy away. I am part of a government which took this decision, and the reason why we took it is that we wanted to send a signal to the National League,” he explained.
According to him, the Quebec government must remind the NHL that Quebec has a new $400 million amphitheater that is ready to welcome a professional hockey team.
For his part, Mr. Gagnon declared on Radio-Canada that the announcement did not come at the right time and that he was receiving a large number of calls from dissatisfied voters.
He said he was going to demand explanations from his party.
Tuesday, Finance Minister Eric Girard announced that the Kings will play two preparatory games next fall at the Videotron Center.
He granted a subsidy of 5 to 7 million, without analyzing the economic benefits.
Mr. Girard made this announcement a week after declaring, during the economic update, that Quebec’s financial framework was “tight” and that the next six months would be difficult.
The three opposition parties in the National Assembly, as well as the Conservative Party of Eric Duhaime, all decreed that the expenditure was ill-advised and that the government had lost all sense of priorities.