Petite-Rivière-St.-François (QC), Canada (Thursday, June 29, 2006) - As of last week, Daniel Gauthier, President of Groupe Le Massif, has yet to fulfil all conditions necessary to proceed with the major C$230 million recreational tourism project he has planned for the Charlevoix region of Quebec, including expansion of the Le Massif ski and snowboard area. He was given until June 30 to meet all conditions.

"As at today, we have yet to finalize the financing package with the federal government. As for the CSN, negotiations are progressing and we remain confident that we will soon arrive at an agreement," said Diane Laberge, Director of Communications for Groupe Le Massif. "It goes without saying that the next few days will be significant for the project."

Government participation not meeting expectations
Laberge confirmed for the first time that the parties have been negotiating for the past several months over C$60 million, which is C$15 million less than the original request made more than a year ago. The developer has accepted, under specified conditions, to take on a greater share of the risk in the project by injecting a few additional million dollars; moreover, some redevelopment also had to be planned without affecting the project's design. Laberge added in the same breath that "the promoter did its share for the most part. There is little time remaining and we are still short C$10 million." She specified that the financial support of the federal and Quebec provincial governments is indispensable to the $170 million investment that Gauthier himself is making in the project.

As for the provincial government, an offer was tabled a few weeks ago. "We can say that the provincial government has clearly demonstrated its desire to see this project become reality," stated Laberge. "Unfortunately, regarding the federal government, we still fall short of the financing required if the amount we have been offered is actually their final offer."

Groupe Le Massif last week was calling on the creativity of the governments to find a solution. "It is critical for the future of the project as much as for the ski resort," added Laberge.

Significant mobilization
Promoters argue that the community, tourism industry, municipalities and business community of the greater Quebec City area have all publicly shown their support for the project over the past few months. Developers point to the proposed Le Massif project's positive impact that it could have on the economy of the greater Quebec City area, namely through the group's claim of the creation of more than 600 jobs and annual economic spin-offs of up to C$60 million.

"We are well aware of the importance of the support received to date and the many expectations that the project incites in the community. However, this project can only come to be through the expression of the common desire of all stakeholders. We only have until June 30 to make it happen," concluded Laberge.