“Do everything” to bring the NHL back to Quebec, one alderman insists

We must “do everything” to ensure the NHL franchise returns to Quebec, as it is “the only solution” that allows the city to avoid having to pay the Videotron Center rent to QMI Spectacles, year after year.

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At least that’s what City Councilwoman Melissa Colombe-Leduc, part of Mayor Marchand’s political party, called out Tuesday afternoon during City Hall.

“We have to do everything so that there is a National League franchise that ends up settling in at the Videotron Center. This is the only solution I see to put an end to this situation.

Open the convention, Melanson claims

Again this year, Quebec City had to pay back $2.75 million to QMI Spectacles as an “operating deficit contribution” for 2022.

The decision-making summary providing for this reimbursement was widely voted on by the Quebec City Council, despite the opposition of the two elected members of the Équipe Priorité Québec (EPQ).

EPQ consultant Stephens Melanson asked for a 25-year “open agreement” – signed in 2011 – under which Quebecor became manager of the runway, which opened in 2015.

“We don’t have details as to why QMI is short in spite of Remparts, despite shows and events. It’s not normal,” Mr. Melanson said.

Quebec First president Claude Villeneuve, for his part, has not called for the 2011 agreement to be reopened again. However, the latter noted that from the very beginning, the business model was planned for two scenarios: one with the NHL, the other without the NHL. The latter scenario, without the NHL, is “difficult to turn a profit,” Mr. Villeneuve insisted.