The day after his re-election, the government of François Legault formalized a new loan of $2.1 million to businessman Charles Sirois, co-founder of the CAQ, for his hotel Château Mont-Sainte-Anne, now operating under the name of Delta Marriott Mont Sainte-Anne.
• Read also: Purchase offer for Mont-Sainte-Anne: “Good news” for the Capitale-Nationale region
• Read also: Another loan from Quebec to the hotel of one of the co-founders of the CAQ
This loan, which is added to two others since 2020, for a total assistance of $8.8 million, was negotiated very close to the time when Investissement Québec (IQ) was informed of the offer to purchase from the Mont-Sainte-Anne ski resort by the Massif de Charlevoix.
This was presented to the Resorts of the Canadian Rockies (RCR) manager in September and remains unanswered.
The loan proposal to Château Mont-Sainte-Anne was made on August 17 and accepted the next day, ten days before the start of the election campaign. The notarial deed of the loan was signed on October 4th.
investments
In recent years, Charles Sirois, majority shareholder of Château-Mont-Sainte-Anne, and Henri A. Roy, co-shareholder and former president of the Société Générale de Financement (ancestor of IQ), have invested heavily in the hotel complex. and its adjacent studios and condos.
Photo d’archives
Businessman Charles Sirois, co-founder of the CAQ.
These major renovations can come as a surprise near a ski resort whose reputation continues to fade.
In an interview with Le Journal from Quebec last week, businessman Yvon Charest, head of the citizens’ group Les Amis du Mont-Sainte-Anne, formed to bring about the rebirth of the resort, spoke of the current manager in not very flattering terms.
“When there is an infrastructure in difficulty, they drop it,” he said, listing the closure of the chalet in the western sector, the closing of trails and the burned chalet never rebuilt at the golf course. Ski lift failures have also been in the news a lot over the past few years.
An offer that pleases Alex Harvey
To restore Mont Sainte-Anne station to its former glory, the citizen group headed by Yvon Charest hoped that the Quebec government would intervene with a local investor rather than with RCR, which has an operating agreement until 2093.
Yesterday, cross-country skier Alex Harvey, also active with Les Amis du Mont-Sainte-Anne, was delighted with the purchase offer presented by the Massif.
“Our objective is to ensure the sustainability of the resort and that requires new money. It also takes a long-term vision and the Massif knew how to do that and apply it with Club Med. There is a movement of consolidation in the ski resorts and a Massif-Mont Sainte-Anne offer for international visitors, it would follow market trends, ”he says.
New investments at the Mont Sainte-Anne ski resort would necessarily come at the right time for the hotel and the condos of Charles Sirois, who had announced a renovation plan and the construction of an aquatic center at a cost of $18.5 million. in early 2020, just before the pandemic.
Our attempts to reach Mr. Sirois were unsuccessful. Investissement Québec did not answer our questions either.
The Minister of Economy and Innovation Pierre Fitzgibbon said he was not aware of the new loan granted to Mr. Sirois. Regarding the Massif’s purchase offer for the Mont-Sainte-Anne ski resort, he hoped that what he considers to be the most beautiful mountain in Quebec would be upgraded.
“The role of the government is not to determine who will own the property. The government’s role is that if someone wants to invest, we have to be there, as we were for Bromont, Orford and Le Massif. »
– In collaboration with Nicolas Lachance
$2.1 million loan from Investissement Québec
October 2022
$1.7 million loan from the Concerted Temporary Action for Businesses (PACTE) program to survive the pandemic
December 2022
$5M loan from Investissement Québec, Support Program for the Development of Tourist Attractions
February 2020
$1.9 million grant from the Quebec government as part of the Strategy for the Development of Winter Tourism
2018, before the CAQ came to power