The New Brunswick government has given management of the Mactaquac Golf Course to a private company for the next 10 years, but just how the province will benefit from the deal is unclear.
In an interview Friday, Tourism Minister John Ames suggested it made sense to have a private operator run the provincially owned course at Mactaquac Provincial Park and offer “a whole other level of golf for the people of New Brunswick and for tourists alike.”
The province announced Thursday that Kingswood Ventures Inc., a property management company in Fredericton, will operate the course. A news release from the government provided few details other than the duration of the management agreement.
Kingswood Ventures has confirmed that Mactaquac golf course employees will have to reapply for their jobs.
“Kingswood is going to be a great team player with us in making sure we have a more efficient golf game and more efficiently run golf course,” Ames said on Information Morning Fredericton when asked several times what New Brunswick gets out of the deal.
Ames said the government was not always the best manager of some things, golf being one of them. Under the province’s management of the Mactaquac course, there was a $100,000 deficit each year, he said.
“Utilizing people who are experts in that industry such as Kingswood would be a wise move,” Ames said. “I don’t see that as a far reach to perceive that.
“It’s not in the interest of anyone wanting to have a deficit, particularly the private industry.”
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