According to a columnist at Le Journal de Montréal (JDM), it's the federal government that is holding up the negotiations for a new 10-year contract for the Montreal race. Below is a Google translation (tweaked by me) of two articles from French language news sites about the negotiations. (The original JDM article is accessible only to subscribers).
Apparently Bernie is willing to renew the contract at $15M/year with annual increases of 5%. That means the fee would be at about $19M/year in year 5 and $24.5M in 10 years. That's a lot of government money to support a private sports event, but it's still significantly less than what the state of Texas is currently paying...I know, I know, the state of Texas doesn't want to call their deal a subsidy.
I am skeptical of the value of government subsidies like this and I would understand if Canadian taxpayers and their government representatives decide they don't want to subsidize the race anymore...but, selfishly, I sure hope they decide to continue to subsidize my trips to the race.
Assuming you accept the idea of a government subsidy, Bernie is offering a surprisingly fair deal to Montreal, Quebec and Canada.
News
The Canadian Grand Prix in jeopardy because of Ottawa?
May 29, 2013 at 10:31 |
canoe.ca
The federal government is the only one of four financial supporters of the Grand Prix of Canada to refuse to agree to the annual increase demanded by Bernie Ecclestone, the boss of Formula 1, which jeopardizes the race after 2014, according to
Le Journal de Montreal.
The parties negotiated a new 10-year agreement that would ensure the continuation of the event from 2015 to 2024, and Ecclestone would get an annual increase of less than 5%, according to what columnist Michel Girard reported Wednesday .
The Quebec government, the Office of Tourism of Greater Montreal and the City of Montreal were all ready to sign the new agreement, but not the federal government.
However, "at the time of the Grand Prix last year, a verbal agreement was reached between the representatives of the four partners and negotiators for Bernie Ecclestone," according to the Journal.
The deal, however, was temporarily suspended last fall due to provincial elections, the resignation of Montreal Mayor Gerald Tremblay and a change of authority on the federal side - Minister Denis Lebel has replaced Minister Paradis.
Minister Lebel was not available to comment about the news Tuesday, according to his publicist.
The current five-year agreement expires in June 2014. A sanctioning fee of $ 15 million is paid annually to the organization of Formula 1 for the right to host the race.
Each year under the current agreement, the federal government pays $ 5 million to support the Grand Prix. According to former provincial finance minister Raymond Bachand, the race would yield annual tax revenues of $ 7.8 million to the Government of Canada.
Overall, the economic benefits associated with the holding of the showpiece of racing in Montreal are estimated at $ 90 million each year.
Future of the Montreal Grand Prix
Quebec is confident
QMI Agency
Louis Gagné
29/05/2013 3:12 p.m.
QUEBEC - Even if Ottawa refuses to commit to increase its share of funding to ensure the survival of the Canadian Grand Prix, the Quebec government of Pauline Marois is confident of keeping the event in Montreal.
The provinicial minister responsible, Pascal Bérubé said he was hopeful of an agreement with the leaders of the Formula 1 in the next two weeks. However, the Minister for Tourism has refused to comment on the issue further so as not to interfere with negotiations.
Also on Canoe.ca:
The Canadian Grand Prix in jeopardy?
Prior to renew the agreement, the big boss of F1, Bernie Ecclestone, requires different levels of government to increase annual contributions by about 5%
Under the current agreement, the public funding of the Grand Prize is $ 15 million. Tourism Ottawa and Montreal each pay $ 5 million, against $ 4 million for the Quebec government and $ 1 million for the City of Montreal.
With the exception of the federal government, all donors have agreed to increase their contribution.
The responsible minister in the Harper government, Denis Lebel, said Wednesday that he had no intention of negotiating in public.
"We will work with the promoter and other levels of government to see if they can keep us in this event, while respecting the ability of taxpayers to pay," said his press secretary, Marie-Josée Paquette.
The five-year agreement reached between Formula 1 and the organizers of the Montreal Grand Prix will end in June 2014.