A meeting took place Wednesday morning at the Le Germain Charlevoix hotel in Baie-Saint-Paul between the various elected officials of the region, Tourisme Charlevoix, as well as the leaders of Réseau Charlevoix.
“We remained in the positions where everyone had been for the last month. So with this status quo we must take measures that are drastic, but necessary,” indicates Mr. Labbé, during a short interview with The Sun.
The company had a shortfall of $625,000 for the current financial year. Different partners had promised to advance a total of $275,000, provided that the MRCs, municipalities and Tourisme Charlevoix provide the rest of the amount.
“The region does not intend to make other proposals, so the observation is that we have an obligation in terms of our financial operations to put an end to the Réseau Charlevoix operation” as of Friday, adds -he.
Mr. Labbé did not wish to make any further comments. The future of the railway, and of the company which manages and maintains the railway, Chemin de fer Charlevoix, remains unknown.
Most of Réseau Charlevoix’s employees had already been laid off in recent weeks. Those who have not already been thanked among the thirty employees will be on Friday.
The Charlevoix Train linked Quebec, from Chute-Montmorency Park, to La Malbaie, via Petite-Rivière-Saint-François and Baie-Saint-Paul. Launched in 2011, the tourist attraction was an entity of the Le Massif Group.
Last March, 4.2 million were released by the Quebec government to support the tourist train until 2027.
Of this amount, $3.6 million was allocated to the Charlevoix Railway and $600,000 to the Charlevoix Train.
Questioned last week about this financial aid, Nancy Belley, general director of Train de Charlevoix, maintained that the $600,000 “was intended for the purchase of a new train”, and not for current train operations.
According to Réseau Charlevoix, the Charlevoix Train brought in approximately eight million dollars in annual economic benefits.
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