Critics cool to PM musings on Quebec arena

OTTAWA – Prime Minister Stephen Harper is in hot water over his promise to consider pumping millions of dollars into a plan to build an NHL arena in Quebec City, with critics describing it as an ill-conceived waste of taxpayers’ dollars, and one Conservative MP calling it a “risky” venture.

Among the strongest critics is the president of the National Citizens Coalition, the group which Harper led before becoming Conservative leader. And with parliament set to resume on Sept. 20, there are rumblings that Harper could even face some pointed questions next Wednesday from members of his own caucus when the MPs gather in Ottawa for a meeting.

On Friday, Conservative MP Maxime Bernier broke ranks with his fellow Quebec caucus members and said he could not support “in good conscience” public funding for the proposed arena. He said the rink would not be profitable and would constitute a “financial burden for taxpayers for decades to come.”

Meanwhile, the proposal threatens to foster regional animosities.

“This is classic pandering to Quebec,” National Citizens Coalition president Peter Coleman said in an interview. “I don’t think the federal government should commit money to any arenas. We’re in a situation where we have to get back to where the books are balanced.”

Coleman said there are many Canadians who are living from paycheque to paycheque who would object to this.

He added that it’s particularly difficult when the proposal is coming from Quebec, where the Tories are trying to increase their seat count in an effort to help secure a majority government.

“It’s a tough one for Harper. There’s no win in this process for him. If he doesn’t do it, he’ll get crapped on by people in Quebec who say you don’t give to Quebec. It opens up a Pandora’s box that I’m not sure the Conservatives really want.”

Sources say the prime minister’s decision to open the door to the $175- million funding request for the Quebec City arena has left some members of the Tory caucus concerned there could be a backlash from their political base of fiscal conservatives in the West.

Even a Quebecer, Bernier, is worried. In a strongly worded statement on his blog, Bernier said he shares the “dream” of seeing a professional hockey team return to the Quebec City region, but that doesn’t mean the proposal has his support.

“Our government has just posted a huge $56-billion deficit and the priority is to get back to a balanced budget through reductions in our own programs, and avoid by all means getting involved in risky financial ventures,” Bernier wrote on his blog, maximebernier.com.

He added that Quebecers shouldn’t complain about getting a raw deal from the federal government, as “Quebec separatists like to do.”

“They keep telling us that Quebec has been on the losing side of the financial equation and that Ottawa has systematically been favouring Ontario for more than a century. Meanwhile, people in the rest of the country believe that Quebec is the spoiled child of the federation,” said Bernier, who represents the riding of Beauce, about an hour’s drive southeast of Quebec City. “It is a pointless debate which can only divide our country.”