The leaders of the Fédération québécoise des clubs quad (FQCQ) have only one goal right now, which is to ensure the future of trail quad biking in Quebec.
They held their annual convention the last weekend of May, at the Hôtel Universel in Rivière-du-Loup. A total of 347 delegates representing 84 of the 111 FQCQ clubs were present.
“In our opinion, both the convention and the general assembly were a success,” explains the president of the Federation, Réjean Blouin. It should be remembered that the last event of its kind was held in 2019. At the end of the latter, we had clear mandates from the members, i.e. the clubs. They wanted us to find ways to avoid hitting the wall that was coming, namely the lack of volunteers, the lack of funding and even the lack of credibility on certain occasions. »
“From there, we did our homework by doing a new strategic study, new modeling and a business plan. This led us to define our tactics, which can be summed up in three very specific actions. Thus, we presented to members a principle of centralizing regional resources to perform trail maintenance and a method for using identical signage, indicating the procedure for doing so. As a third point, we introduced them to the principle of reducing the administrative burden of clubs by consolidating the administration of clubs in a region in one place. This is intended to save effort, costs and a way of applying our new accounting charter which applies to all clubs, he concluded. »
PILOT PROJECTS
Before considering implementing their suggestion for a system across Quebec, the leaders of the Federation chose to implement it in three different regions as part of pilot projects.
“We have obtained the collaboration of three regions who will carry out pilot projects to see if everything works and make adjustments if necessary, explains the president. The 2022 season therefore becomes our test bed. »
When all these elements are in place and functional, it is the quad riders who will benefit from them.
“It is certain that we will have to wait until the running-in period of this year is carried out, before everything is in place, but that is where we want to go, affirms the president. We want to give more to our customers. Also, we will soon be making adjustments to riding rights and membership cards because there is a lot of confusion. All will be done without any price increase. We just want to put everything in its place. »
Work is also being done on the redistribution of amounts that come from the government.
“We are working on a model on the redistribution of sums of money to clubs, the money that comes to us via the government. It is clear that under the old system, better off clubs increased their wealth season after season while the poorest remained poor. We worked very hard with the Bas-Saint-Laurent region to carry out this project, but before declaring victory, it must be applied to all regions of Quebec. »
All these actions, which will be put in place, are only intended to ensure the sustainability of quad biking, both for users and for club volunteers who will have better tools at their disposal.
During the pandemic, many people rushed to buy a quad or a side-by-side. It seems that this movement will continue again this season.
“The quad world is still very good,” says Robert Gingras, land sales manager at Adrénaline Sports in L’Ancienne-Lorette. It’s even stronger than it’s ever been. The problem remains the same: the availability of vehicles, both at BRP and at Honda, the two brands we represent. There are very late arrivals or arrivals with missing parts. Consumers have to wait six to eight months to get their hands on their ordered vehicle. Currently, I have 80 vehicles late. People understand. It takes very patient buyers. Despite these pitfalls, demand is still very strong. People are not discouraged. »
According to this specialist, side-by-side vehicles with cabs are still the most coveted by enthusiasts. He explains that according to the information they have been able to obtain, the return to normal should take place in 2024.
