Huge gift for Bill

For Formula 1 fans and racing fans in Quebec, this is fairly good news. The Grand Prix has found a very rich owner in Bell Canada and he will stay and hopefully prosper in Montreal over the next ten years.

In modern Quebec reality, it is a step backward. Go back thirty years to the time when the Grand Prix was owned by Labatt, Molson, or Bernie Ecclestone.

This time, the Grand Prix is ​​the property of a multinational company of 52 billion with Quebec’s organizer François Dumontier.

In other words, with RDS, Noovo, their participation via CH Group and evenko in the Canadian Festival, Just for Laughs and I Forget, and now in the Canadian Grand Prix, Bell’s presence in the entire entertainment sector is overwhelming.

Moreover, I was not in awe of this $ 51 million added to the François Dumontier contract that would now serve the cause of a billionaire company. It’s the same money, the same contract that binds governments to running Formula 1, and the economic benefits that were good yesterday may be better with the additional outlay that Bell will incur to promote his investments.

But on the moral level, it can be discussed for a long time.

Direct from Bahrain

This entire economic adventure began on March 26th. Friday.

Indeed, set up your first enlargement meeting with Stefano Domenicali [président de Formula One management] It was complicated by the time difference with Bahrain. I wanted to talk to him because François Dumontier had told me of his concern if we skipped the Grand Prix bid for the second year in a row. I spoke for 45 minutes with Dominicali who told me, without giving an ultimatum, yet many countries in the world are looking forward to an event like the Canadian Grand Prix, ”says Minister of Tourism and in charge of the file, Caroline Brolux.

I have told the Prime Minister’s office of my concern that I cannot identify her. But there was concern and I did not want to be the Minister of Tourism who will announce the loss of the Grand Prix du Canada, “the minister continues.

Ms. Brooks quickly found herself in a business triangle with Economy Minister Pierre Fitzgibbon and the Prime Minister’s Cabinet. Six or seven times a day, we’d text each other the results of our efforts. Carolyn Brolux has been in contact with the office of Federal Minister Melanie Jolie and the office of Mayor Valerie Blunt. “Jet lag has made life difficult for us. If we do show at 7 pm, it means it’s already past midnight in Europe or even later anywhere else in the Middle East.” Answer until the next day when we woke up. “

FITZGIBBON in command

It was Pierre Fitzgibbon who took the lead in the negotiations with Dominicali. Every evening, he and Carolyn Brolux discussed negotiations and we passed the information on to the partners. Sometimes it was Jonathan Joy, Caroline Brolux’s deputy chief of staff, who auditioned for his counterparts in Montreal. François Dumontier warned supporters of the Grand Prix that he had begun negotiations with Bell during the “public” negotiation process. “It was very complicated. I was aware of the contract negotiations between the governments and F1 knowing that private negotiations were taking place between François Dumontier and Bell,” Prolux confided.

The informed reader will understand that Dumontier cannot sell the Groupe de course Octane and promote the Grand Prix to a third party without Dominicali’s consent. Everything was intrinsically related. “In the end, we are satisfied. The Grand Prix is ​​now owned by a very large company based in Montreal. The Quebec company. We know that this property is now in the hands that would make it prosper and that with François Dumontier in operations, good service will be provided to the public and that Society will receive benefits that we hope will be more abundant, “Caroline Brolux sums up.

Two transactions

Minister Pierre Fitzgibbon on Wednesday limited himself to announcing the main lines of the deal between federal, provincial, municipal and Formula 1.

Technically, it was within his rights because the other contract required two private investors.

However, one might think that the mediating role played by Michael Fortier early in the process might have caught Bell’s attention. Me Fortier has some interesting entries on Bell.

It’s a great deal for Bill. The company will pay debts and repay François Dumontier, keep the former operator of GP, and it has undoubtedly paid him between 5 and 7 million to take control of the event and will be able to generate hours and hours of content on its TV channels and radio networks.

The skill of the message would be to accept that governments add 51 million to the Grand Prix paid for Formula 1 by giving the impression with the help of a humble local businessman who was fighting fiercely to save the event.

Today, we learned that the 51 million will help a company of 52 billion.

Good to say …