Conservative Party Leader Criticizes Quebec Government’s Subsidy for LA Kings Trip

Wednesday morning, it was the turn of the leader of the Conservative Party of Quebec (PCQ), Éric Duhaime, to express his dissatisfaction with this government decision which he describes as “indecent”.

He demanded that the Legault government cancel its subsidy, especially in the context where “the Montreal Canadiens were ready to come for free,” he stressed.

Mr. Duhaime also criticized the timing of the announcement. According to him, many Quebecers who have difficulty paying for their groceries and their mortgage feel “insulted.”

The Conservative leader did not fail to point out that the announcement of the subsidy fell in the middle of negotiations to renew the collective agreements for public sector workers.

“It’s insulting for the teacher who is told that the government does not have a penny more for her salary increase, but it has millions for a multi-millionaire American professional hockey team to train at the Center Videotron. »

— Éric Duhaime, in a press release

The announcement of the subsidy was made Tuesday by the Minister of Finance, Eric Girard, who, a week earlier, declared while presenting his economic update that Quebec’s financial framework was “tight.”

He said the next six months would be difficult.

Liberal MP Gregory Kelley reacted Tuesday by pointing out that food banks were still asking for eight million dollars. “Thousands of Quebecers are hungry. This is more important than two hockey games,” he said on social media.

The parliamentary leader of Québec solidaire, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, agreed.

“Quebecers really like hockey, but they would also like to have a government with a sense of priorities. The CAQ is passing the palette to the NHL rather than to the people who are struggling,” he lamented.

The PQ MP for Îles-de-la-Madeleine, Joël Arseneau, declared on the X network that the Legault government’s decision to subsidize Los Angeles Kings matches left him “without words”.

He pointed out that this same government had just abolished the Assistance Program for Maintaining Essential Regional Air Services.

“We are talking about very similar amounts. The government is paying for the Kings’ trip to Quebec, but cutting the wings of regional air transport,” said Mr. Arseneau.