During a recent hearing, Loto-Quebec informed the public of the overall relocation cost of its Salon de Jeux venue.
The longstanding idea of relocating Loto-Quebec’s Salon de Jeux, took a step forward last week, when the outgoing president of the corporation, Lynne Roiter, announced the cost of the move. During her hearing in front of the National Assembly’s public finance committee, Roiter noted that the cost of transferring the venue to a new location will amount to approximately CA$12 million.
The decision comes at the back of years of deliberations, as well as an analysis conducted by KPMG which deemed the move as feasible. While there were numerous locations under consideration, the final decision fell on Beauport.
Contractual Details
The contract governing the move was signed without a call for bidders, which caused some public concerns. Now located at the Fleur de Lys shopping centre, the venue will be transferred to the Méga Centre in Beauport.
During the 2018 election campaign, the Coalition Avenir Quebec was pushing to transfer the gaming venue to another location in Quebec City. There were even considerations of launching a brand-new casino. The current location at Fleur de Lys is owned by Trudel Alliance.
During the assembly hearings, leader of the Liberal Party, André Fortin, questioned the Finance Minister, Eric Girard, on the relocation plans. Girard had to defend his decision to grant the new site to the Manitoba-based company, Canada Vie. He stated that the choice for the relocation was not based on the facilities ownership, but rather the positive net value.
Since 2014, Loto-Quebec has moved the gaming property twice. To date, the relocation costs have amounted to over CA$5 million in moving and expansion expenditures, with the latest change of site scheduled for November this year.
Local Backlash
However, there seems to be a great deal of discontent among locals regarding the relocation of Salon de Jeux. In September 2020, a local organisation came up with a petition against the move, which was signed by over 1,100 individuals. Residents believe that they are fully capable of making responsible decisions when it comes to gambling and the exposure of the community to the casino should not be a reason for the repositioning of the venue.
