NHL Back in Quebec? Nordique Bid Exemplifies Foolishness

An impressive crowd estimated between 75,000 and 100,000—almost double the number expected—gathered on Quebec City's infamous Plains of Abraham for a new battle, 251 years after the famous 1759 one, this time with the Canadian federal government and the NHL.

Quebec mayor, Regis Labeaume, has staked his political career on getting Quebec back into the NHL, complete with new $400 million arena, which the NHL has stated is a prerequisite before considering a return.

So, to give an idea of the public support for such a project to both the federal government and the NHL, he staged a massive rally on the former battle site, hoping to put pressure on the federal powers that be to become sugar daddies in Quebec once more.

He trotted out all the great Nordique players from the past, including the three Stastny brothers, flown in directly from Europe.

Naturally, federal separatist leader, Gilles Duceppe of the Bloc Quebecois, was in the crowd, more interested in turning the federal government into the usual villain in Quebec and increasing separatist tendencies than in the return of any hockey team.

It was an impressive performance.  There is no doubt that Quebec should be back in the NHL.  A Quebec team with a proper arena would be a sure fire winner.

The rally proved what has been there for some time.  But examined closely, it was a great way to cover up Quebec's greediness and foolishness.

Nobody need argue about Quebec needing a modern, NHL-size arena.  Labeaume and other Nordique supporters are quite right to try to fulfill that prerequisite in order to have a feasible NHL franchise.

The lack of a proper arena killed the Nordiques in 1995.

But the first real step toward getting a new arena and the team back shouldn't have been a public rally.  It should have been done quietly and behind the scenes in a boardroom.

Foolish Quebec will not take the path that every other Canadian NHL, CFL, MLB, and NBA franchise has taken, getting funds through private investment.

Instead, the ploy has been to fund almost everything with government, taxpayer money.

Labeaume kicked things off in that direction by pledging $50 million of civic public funds.

Then, Liberal Quebec premier Jean Charest, sensing how to win votes in a traditional separatist area, pledged another huge chunk for the new arena, bringing committed payment up to 45 percent.

That leaves the potential savior/villain federal government to come up with the remaining 55 percent, or else face possible political consequences.

Not one penny of private money, including that of potential owner Pierre Karl Peladeau of Quebecor has been offered towards funding a new arena.

Typical of the festive, foolish, greedy atmosphere in Quebec is that there have been 70 pledges for private suites in a new arena, but no money advanced.

Still, the federal government cannot possibly fund such a project,

To do so would open the floodgates right across Canada.  Every city, town, village, and hamlet would want federal money for any new sports project, public or private, if this precedent is set in Quebec.

The federal government has maintained that it will only fund sports projects of a nature that represent all of Canada—international events like the Olympics.  That's how it should be.

To the dress things up, Quebec is pretending that the new arena is necessary for a future Winter Olympics bid.

But the federal government only grants money after a successful bid is made.  Quebec has yet to take a sniff in that direction.

To give in to Quebec on this issue would be political suicide across Canada for the Conservative government and possible financial ruin as well.

For Duceppe, trying to fan separatist flames, the issue is a godsend.

Peladeau, the great Nordique "patriot" who unsuccessfully tried to buy the Montreal Canadiens, has made little effort to find private investment partners for a project that is beyond his financial limits.

His only comment has been, "We're open to it. You have to be creative."

Had he done so, there would have been no need for a rally yesterday, and construction for the new facility would have already started.

Most people in "English" Canada (also targeted to become villains again in Quebec) want to see Quebec back in the NHL, but not at the cost of their tax dollars.

There have not been any announcements of any other Quebec businessmen and investors joining Peladeau in his plans.  So, if Quebec businessmen do not hop on the bandwagon, that leaves the recruitment of funds to "English" Canada or the United States.

But is Quebec, which has traditionally had little contact with the rest of Canada, prepared to accept all or partial "English" ownership?

A second question is, does Peladeau, the "Nordique patriot," want any partners at all?

It's obvious he either can't or won't fund the entire project, and the only way he can assume the lofty status of sole NHL owner is by getting government money.

Is he really a Quebec sports patriot or is he prepared to see the whole project crash down through his reluctance to accept partners from either within Quebec or outside it?

That's what makes yesterday's rally so pathetic and even tragic.

The rally was directed toward the federal government and the NHL, when it should have been directed towards investors.