Hotel Motel Danube Bleu Inc. Receives Financial Assistance From Government of Canada

FORESTVILLE, QUEBEC--(Marketwire - Oct. 31, 2011) - The Honourable Denis Lebel, Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities and Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec, today announced that Hôtel Motel Danube Bleu Inc. of Forestville has been granted $122,750 in repayable funding for upgrades that will help the tourist establishment improve its accommodations and better meet the needs of its various clienteles.

"The Government of Canada is pleased to support Hôtel Motel Danube Bleu in its efforts to improve the quality of the tourism offering, an element that is key to the Côte-Nord tourism industry," said Minister Lebel.

Hôtel Môtel Danube Bleu is a family-run tourism enterprise that has been operating a 55-room hotel complex in Forestville for the past 44 years. Well established in its community, the lodging facility has been making sustained efforts to draw clients from outside Quebec who are interested in the many attractions the region has to offer, particularly snowmobiling.

This funding has been granted through the Temporary Initiative for the Strengthening of Quebec's Forest Economies (TISQFE).

About the TISQFE

The Temporary Initiative for the Strengthening of Quebec's Forest Economies was brought into force in June 2010 to help communities affected by the forestry crisis diversify their economies in order to ensure their growth and create and maintain employment. The initiative's goal is also to support small and medium-sized businesses in these communities in their efforts to secure their viability and sustainable development.

This past July 14, the Government of Canada announced its intention to allocate a further $20 million in funding over two years to support the Quebec silvicultural sector for the years 2011 and 2012.

This measure is one of several put in place by the Government of Canada in the past months to counteract the effects of the forest crisis. Others include, for example, the Community Adjustment Fund, with its $1 billion budget over two years to mitigate the impacts of the crisis, the $1 billion granted to the Pulp and Paper Green Transformation Program to help enterprises carry out environmentally-friendly projects and the $230 million invested, in collaboration with the Government of Quebec, for silvicultural work and the restoration of bridges and culverts on multi-use forest roads. Workers have also received their fair share of support, with the Government of Canada introducing some of the most generous measures in history to help them through the economic crisis.

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