bbakernbay Posted April 20, 2014 Share Posted April 20, 2014 Just watching a recorded episode of Snowmobiler TV and they had a story on the Lanaudiere area of QC, which is the north shore between Montreal and Quebec City. The Federal Park banned snowmobiles so they built 450 Kms of brand new trail just outside the park limits. Wondered who paid for that? They had 11 Groomers, 2 Mechanics and 12 Operators to groom 900 Kms of trail. They groom every trail, every day for 6 days each week. What Ontario Grooming Association could afford that kind of expenditure? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revrnd Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 IMO, Quebec treats snowmobiling as an integral part of winter tourism. In Ontario, the sport is a revenue tool for the province to exploit. I think the FCMQ has a lot more "pull" in Quebec City than the OFSC does in Toronto. I'm not sure, but I think the majority of Quebec's population is still located in the rural parts (I could be wrong). I wonder if the folks over there whined & moaned about the weather. In Ontario, the weather was the lead story on the news most of the season here (or so the media would want us to think). A lot of us may have strong negative views about La Belle Province, but when it comes to sledding, I think they've got their #$%^ together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbo Doo Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 Good post revrnd.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canuck Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 Lots to be learned from Quebec, or any other successful snowmobile organization. An old European tale: " If you see a person on a ladder above you, do you step on their back and climb higher, or do you put up your own ladder beside theirs and reach the same heights"? Time to step up funding 'requests' from Feds and Ontario. As mentioned, snowmobiling is integral to winter tourism. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbakernbay Posted April 21, 2014 Author Share Posted April 21, 2014 Anxious to see how much of the Feds $10,000,000 over 2 years makes its way to OFSC trails? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elliotgroomer Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 Didn't the FMCQ get 5 million dollars from the federal govt. a few years ago and the rest of the country got nothing. I wonder how much of this 10 million will go to them also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greggie Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 Anxious to see how much of the Feds $10,000,000 over 2 years makes its way to OFSC trails? They hope to get about. $1,000,000. It will be available for trail work on 50/50 base. What means, the club has to pay 50% by them self. On the other side, the OFSC received more money because the high permit sales, they will pay 25% so the club has to pay only 25%. Thanks, Greg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbakernbay Posted April 21, 2014 Author Share Posted April 21, 2014 The Board of Governors Report said $330,000 coming to OFSC based upon 3 or 4 years ago. That amount is ridiculously low, probably we just get the scraps after Quebec feeds at the Feds trough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wildbill Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 Lots to be learned from Quebec, or any other successful snowmobile organization. An old European tale: " If you see a person on a ladder above you, do you step on their back and climb higher, or do you put up your own ladder beside theirs and reach the same heights"? Time to step up funding 'requests' from Feds and Ontario. As mentioned, snowmobiling is integral to winter tourism. well said but where is the disconnect? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wildbill Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 The Board of Governors Report said $330,000 coming to OFSC based upon 3 or 4 years ago. That amount is ridiculously low, probably we just get the scraps after Quebec feeds at the Feds trough. almost useless Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
02Sled Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 sounds like we need to do a much better job lobbying the provincial and federal government for money. You never here about the efforts the OFSC makes or doesn't make. Do we ask the feds for money and they say no and we just walk away or do we renew our appeal, make a stronger argument and go back? I don't know... do you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbakernbay Posted April 22, 2014 Author Share Posted April 22, 2014 The OFSC has a Lobbyist or Governmental Affairs person on staff, I believe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wildbill Posted April 22, 2014 Share Posted April 22, 2014 The OFSC has a Lobbyist or Governmental Affairs person on staff, I believe. yup Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoso Posted April 22, 2014 Share Posted April 22, 2014 The OFSC has a Lobbyist or Governmental Affairs person on staff, I believe. ...and if you were to ask anyone in that office , he would be described as doing a great job, however if you compare federal level funding to QC the OFSC has failed. That being said, QC seems to get more funding on all levels from the feds, so it may well be a very tough job to lobby them when they are only intersted in feeding QC so they do not leave.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slomo Posted April 22, 2014 Share Posted April 22, 2014 The earth is estimated to be 16.5 billion years old. Quebec receives 19 billion dollars in federal transfer payments each year. Makes you think doesn't it ?..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
02Sled Posted April 22, 2014 Share Posted April 22, 2014 The OFSC has a Lobbyist or Governmental Affairs person on staff, I believe. I have heard that but what do we hear about what that person is doing? They may be doing a great job or maybe not? How many do they have in Quebec... is their person(s) just better at it than ours. Have we approached the feds or do we just lobby the province? Just another part of the OFSC we see or hear little about. I know there was that situation with hydro corridors that the OFSC person would likely be involved with but what else. Not suggesting for a second the person isn't working hard on our behalf. Just asking the questions because the answers are unknown to myself and many. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wildbill Posted April 22, 2014 Share Posted April 22, 2014 remember that qc has a major industry that relies on sledding (BRP) that makes the government more attentive I think. The province actually asks the feds for money. Ontario asks for subways Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nutter Posted April 22, 2014 Share Posted April 22, 2014 remember that qc has a major industry that relies on sledding (BRP) that makes the government more attentive I think. The province actually asks the feds for money. Ontario asks for subways Bill sledding in general in Quebec is seen as an industry in it's self, here it's now just looked at as a special interest group sport. What I find crazy is you can't find any mention of volunteers, let alone just the word volunteer on the FCMQ website http://www.fcmq.qc.ca/english/accueil.asp , are they taken more seriously and so successful when it comes to outside funding because they have tons of passionate people throwing their all at the betterment of the sport without having to be asked ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wildbill Posted April 23, 2014 Share Posted April 23, 2014 Bill sledding in general in Quebec is seen as an industry in it's self, here it's now just looked at as a special interest group sport. What I find crazy is you can't find any mention of volunteers, let alone just the word volunteer on the FCMQ website http://www.fcmq.qc.ca/english/accueil.asp , are they taken more seriously and so successful when it comes to outside funding because they have tons of passionate people throwing their all at the betterment of the sport without having to be asked ? We have awesome volunteers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revrnd Posted April 23, 2014 Share Posted April 23, 2014 almost useless Compared to what is spent in Ontario during a typical winter 300,000 is pretty much that. Definitely not a game changer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revrnd Posted April 23, 2014 Share Posted April 23, 2014 Nutter, when I was planning the QC part of the trip, I got some info for the Abitibi-Temiscaming area. I couldn't believe the establishments advertising. Very impressive places basically in the middle of nowhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbakernbay Posted April 23, 2014 Author Share Posted April 23, 2014 Yes and big surprise on all those flashy, multi-page ads, the red Canada flag is at the bottom to show that every Canadian is paying for those spreads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revrnd Posted April 24, 2014 Share Posted April 24, 2014 Bill sledding in general in Quebec is seen as an industry in it's self, here it's now just looked at as a special interest group sport. The OFSC is just another hand in the crowd. Somewhere between the Brampton Cricket Assoc' & Woodbridge Bocce Club. In the late 80s/late 90s, OLG tightened up the criteria for grants. I think a lot of PC targets were added (I don't mean Tim Hudak's bunch either). This was probably when the NDP were running the show (same time I was a club exec'). Up to the change the club annually got a $1,000 grant when we applied. I think the way the new rules were written,the club was ineligble. The president had a very non-PC comment about how we could get a huge grant under the new rules. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbakernbay Posted June 18, 2014 Author Share Posted June 18, 2014 And the Club has to fund the project at 25%! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viperules700 Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 The Main difference between ontario and Quebec is we have approx 13,000km of trail in the southern regions, that sometimes only get used for a month. Hard to get businesses to buy ads four weeks of buisness. Costs money for liability, stakes, signs groomers etec. Since we have the bulk of our population in the south, if you didn't have these southern trails the ofsc wouldn't exist anymore. Quebec is a very northern climate, with bulk of population in Montreal and Quebec City area. Which is pretty far north compared to southern ontario. Ontario has great north too, we just have population more wide spread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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