Government investment of $2,000,000 in Québec for multisport stadium with artificial turf field at Patro de Charlesbourg community centre

Canada-Quebec Recreational Infrastructure Canada Program Agreement

Québec, Quebec, March 8, 2010 – The Patro de Charlesbourg will soon have a multisport stadium with an artificial turf field, today jointly announced Daniel Petit, Member of Parliament for Charlesbourg–Haute-Saint-Charles, acting on behalf of the Honourable Denis Lebel, Minister of State for Canada Economic Development, and Michel Pigeon, Member of the National Assembly for Charlesbourg, acting on behalf of Laurent Lessard, Quebec Minister of Municipal Affairs, Regions and Land Occupancy.

The project, the total eligible cost of which stands at $3,157,581, will be carried out thanks to a government investment of $2,000,000. The governments of Quebec and Canada will each contribute $1,000,000& toward the work, with Patro de Charlesbourg Inc. together with the City of Québec, Cégep Limoilou and Commission scolaire des Premières-Seigneuries assuming the remaining third, or $1,157,581, of the project’s costs.

The initiative involves replacing a natural grass field with an artificial surface suitable for the practice of a variety of sports, paving the running track and building a service pavilion as well as a storage pavilion with a covered courtyard. The project also calls for the installation of a lighting system, main screen and scoreboards.

The future stadium will mainly serve the needs of the City of Québec’s organized sports leagues and the youngsters who attend the Patro de Charlesbourg community centre. These new facilities will also be available to the Cégep de Limoilou and Polyvalente de Charlesbourg sports teams for the practice of intramural sports and will be used for the schools’ physical education classes.

“The Government of Canada is proud to lend its financial support to projects that, like this one, serve to improve the quality of life in our communities. The decision to create a multisport stadium at the Patro de Charlesbourg is the fruit of collaboration among various local stakeholders. Our funding has been awarded under the Recreational Infrastructure Canada Program, an initiative through which we have committed to investing $500 million over two years in the rehabilitation of our sports and recreational facilities across the country,” explained Daniel Petit.

“I am delighted that, with this multisport stadium project, our governments are joining forces with the Patro de Charlesbourg to upgrade recreational infrastructure that will meet the needs of residents in a sustainable development perspective. These sports facilities will be getting a major facelift ! We are thus encouraging citizens to adopt a healthy and active lifestyle,” added Michel Pigeon.

The governments of Canada and Quebec signed an agreement to accelerate the execution of recreational infrastructure projects in Quebec over the next two years. To that end, the Government of Canada will invest $76 million and the Government of Quebec at least that amount in recreational infrastructure projects carried out in cost-sharing partnership with municipal administrations or local organizations. These investments are thus expected to generate greater financial leverage, as is the case with the other infrastructure programs.

The funding announced today has been awarded through the Government of Canada’s Recreational Infrastructure Canada Program and the Government of Quebec’s Programme Infrastructures de loisirs.

The Recreational Infrastructure Canada Program, part of Canada’s Economic Action Plan adopted by the federal government in January 2009, is intended to stimulate immediate economic recovery and reduce the short-term impacts of the global recession. Government investment in this area will help create new jobs and improve the population’s health and quality of life. For more on this plan, see www.actionplan.gc.ca.

For further details on the state of advancement of the Quebec Infrastructure Plan, visit www.infrastructures.gouv.qc.ca.

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Sources:

Anne-Marie Mongrain
Political Attaché
Constituency Office of Michel Pigeon
Tel.: 418-644-9240

Simon Bachand
Press Secretary
Office of the Honourable Denis Lebel
Canada Economic Development
Tel.: 613-996-6236