(Quebec) The decision to spend millions in public money to welcome the Los Angeles Kings to Quebec raises questions within the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ).
The CAQ member for Jonquière, Yannick Gagnon, got the ball rolling on Thursday by declaring on Radio-Canada that the announcement did not come at the right time and that he was receiving several calls from dissatisfied voters.
PHOTO EDOUARD PLANTE-FRÉCHETTE, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
The member for Jonquière, Yannick 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.
Shortly after, the Minister of Education and Member of Parliament for Lévis, Bernard Drainville, admitted in a press scrum 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,” declared Mr. Drainville on the sidelines of an announcement at Laval University in Quebec.
PHOTO ALAIN ROBERGE, THE PRESS
Visit to the Irénée-Lussier specialized school with Francois Legault and Bernard Drainville.
“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.
He acknowledged that the granting of a subsidy of 5 to 7 million to host the Kings – an “investment”, according to him – “is not unanimous”.
However, “once in a while, the National League needs to know that we are there, that we exist, that we have an amphitheater to accommodate a team, and therefore that is why we did it,” he argued.
Minister Drainville continued by declaring that “we continue to believe in the return of the Nordiques to Quebec.”
“I respect the criticism, but imagine if Montreal had lost the Canadiens. This is what happened to us in Quebec. We lost our club. And we would like that, frankly, to find him again one day.
“So yes, it involves decisions like these, which are not unanimous, but which send a very clear signal that for us, return is important,” he declared.
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.
Wednesday, on Radio-Canada, Deputy Prime Minister Geneviève Guilbault said she understood the criticism. “Should we have done it, should we not have done it?” I am not going to replace my colleague from Finance. »