Seems strange that they wont get a B190 sim because the no. of type in the REGION i.e S/E Asia, Australisia yet they will get a Q300 sim for a similar number of a/c in the region, and there is already one in MEL. A source in Flight Safety (Toronto) suggested a type requires about 50-60 airframes in a region to justify a sim installation.
I realise that Pt. 121 comp checks have to be done in a sim but wouldn't status quo of going to MEL be sufficient? They could use the money to get a B190 sim so decent recurrency training could be done, rather than remain compentent at 1 eng. inop procedures with 2 flights a year and they are both pass/fail flights. Atleast NSN get a day of practice in the sim before their check rides. Not sure about Cook.
As for the options on the Q400, those options are open for years yet, I wouldn't expect anything to happen straight away. Maybe see the settling in of the Q300 before going for fleet commonality.
(2 yrs to introduce, maybe 2 years to settle)
S2K