Saint-Zénon , Quebec, March 17, 2009 −The Honourable Denis Lebel, Minister of State for Canada Economic Development, today announced $178,588 in non-repayable funding to the Club Royaume de la motoneige de Saint-Zénon, a popular snowmobile club in Lanaudière’s Matawinie Regional County Municipality (RCM). This assistance, awarded under the Community Economic Diversification Initiative –Vitality (CEDI-Vitality) will enable the club to purchase two snow-grooming machines.
This new equipment will be used to groom the Club Royaume de la motoneige’s 693 km trail system. Requiring an overall investment of more than $357,000, this project will ensure that snowmobilers from the municipalities of Sainte-Émilie-de-l’Énergie, Saint-Zénon and Saint-Michel-des-Saints have easier and safer access to the Trans-Québec and transregional trails.
“The Government of Canada is proud to support projects aimed at increasing communities’ drawing power and ability to attract more tourists. The importance of snowmobile activity for the vitality of Lanaudière no longer needs to be proven. This sport alone generates economic benefits in the tens of millions of dollars. These positive effects encourage us to adopt assistance programs that will help organizations like the Club Royaume de la motoneige to pursue their activities,” said Minister of State Lebel.
The Matawinie tourism industry is the second most important economic driver in the region after the forestry industry. The accommodations, exceptional snow conditions, and quality of the trails give the region a competitive edge. This is why Club Royaume de la motoneige intends to take full advantage of the new snow-grooming machines to improve its facilities and increase snowmobiler traffic from Ontario, the United States and Europe.
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Sources:
Nathalie Lévesque
Communications
Canada Economic Development
Tel.: 514-283-0306
Cell.: 514-966-0661
E-mail: nathalie.levesques@dec-ced.gc.ca
Éric Lefebvre
Senior Assistant, Communications
Office of the Honourable Denis Lebel
Canada Economic Development
Cell.: 613-608-7906
E-mail: eric.lefebvre@dec-ced.gc.ca
