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NHL assistance plan sparks controversy

ESPN.com News Services

OTTAWA-A broad array of critics yesterday blasted a controversial government plan to subsidize Canada's hockey teams. One of the country's leading newspapers said it showed how the governing process in Ottawa had been corrupted.

Few were impressed by the government's offer to aid the six Canadian teams in the NHL at a time when many farmers in western Canada are facing crisis and the state-funded health care system is crying out for more money.

"Time and time again this Liberal government shows its utter ignorance for the real woes of this country," fumed Inky Mark of the official opposition Reform Party.

Opponents of the plan questioned whether the government had been overly influenced by Ottawa Senators owner Rod Bryden, who threatened to move his team to the United States unless more aid was forthcoming.

"It is the Rod Bryden Relief Fund. It always was," said the Globe and Mail newspaper, reminding readers that Industry Minister John Manley - who announced the subsidy plan - is from Ottawa.

Manley said Tuesday he knew Canadians were divided about the idea but stressed the government had a responsibility to preserve an important part of the country's cultural heritage.

The Toronto Star, the largest circulation newspaper in Canada, said the plan had nothing to do with culture.

"What it boils down to is an age-old corruption of the governing process where the rich and powerful exert an undue influence over politicians," it thundered in an editorial.

"As Ottawa's hockey handout so clearly demonstrates, what that means is that our government is dangerously out of touch," said the paper, which ran a large cartoon showing Prime Minister Jean Chretien loading sacks of money into an NHL limousine.

Some Liberals are uneasy about how to sell the idea of giving money to millionaire owners and players when many Canadians are unhappy about the country's high taxes.

Nick Discepola, a back-bench Liberal member of Parliament, estimated that 70 to 80 percent of his colleagues in the House of Commons opposed the idea.

The idea won few friends in the western provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan, where farmers are suffering from record low prices for commodities.

"I can't think of anything which demonstrates totally twisted priorities than (this) decision," said Saskatchewan Premier Roy Romanow.

Another problem for the Liberals is Manley's insistence that provincial and municipal governments aid the teams. As it stands, only the Ottawa Senators are sure to benefit, since other provincial and municipal authorities are much less enthusiastic about the idea.

"We will not be subsidizing professional teams with our tax dollars," said Stockwell Day, treasurer of Alberta - province to two NHL teams.

Bryden was understandably ecstatic and said the deal would help preserve the $200 million (Canadian) he said the six teams provided every year in tax revenues.

"(This) means we can look forward to money flowing in which will help the homeless and which will allow us to have a meaningful child poverty program," he told CBC television.

Pierre Boivin, president of the struggling Montreal Canadians, said the subsidies were sorely needed.

"We pay three times more municipal taxes than all 22 American teams combined. So that in itself is pretty dramatic in terms of a disadvantage in our ability to compete," he said.

But he found little support from the Montreal Gazette.

"The public, increasingly, is fed up with the mediocre NHL product, the high ticket prices and the bloated player salaries. It would be hard to think of a more undeserving recipient for taxpayer charity," it said.

Jeff Giles, president of the financially strapped Canadian Football League, said he would now be asking for help.

"The CFL is also as deserving as the NHL in that we are an important part of Canadian culture, Canadian heritage and the fabric of this country, and we need help as much as anybody," he told CTV television.