Mr. Speaker, the new Hull casino will open its doors next week.
I would like to congratulate the mayor of Hull, Yves Ducharme, and all the economic stakeholders in the Quebec Outaouais for their fine work on this initiative. Thanks to the casino, the national capital region has just added 1,000 direct new jobs and over 1,500 indirect jobs to its job creation record in the region.
The hotel sector alone hopes to rent an additional 75,000 rooms next year, for an increase of $5 million. Overall, the annual economic benefit to Hull, the Quebec Outaouais, Ottawa-Carleton and Eastern Ontario will amount to several tens of millions of dollars. And that is to say nothing of the number of local inhabitants who will spend their money here rather than travelling somewhere else.
Today, I pay tribute to the people of Hull and the Outaouais who, once again, have led the way in sustainable economic development in the national capital region.