Liberal MPs faced a verbal onslaught yesterday from people angry over their government's decision to subsidize Canada's National Hockey League teams.
A spokesman for Industry Minister John Manley confirmed that the minister's departmental office and his Ottawa South riding office received a stream of phone calls and faxes from voters opposed to the bailout plan, which is aimed at preventing the Ottawa Senators and other NHL teams from moving south.
Readers of The Globe and Mail responded vociferously as well. By 6 p.m. yesterday, 121 letters to the editor on the subject had been received, all of them strongly denouncing the measure.
Mr. Manley announced on Tuesday that the government would provide support for individual teams, so long as they could garner aid from their home provinces and municipalities and the league itself.
The support could cost roughly $3-million a team, although so far, only the Senators of the six teams appear to be able to meet the federal conditions.
Ottawa resident and long-time Liberal supporter Tony Bambrough yesterday faxed the minister a letter that began, "Shame! Shame Shame!"
"I have financially supported and voted for the Liberal Party for 46 years, but you have caused me to see the light -- after nearly a half a century, you have converted me into an anti-Liberal," he wrote.
In an interview, Mr. Bambrough, who conceded he is no hockey fan, said studies have shown that professional sports yield "zero economic benefits on a net basis to the community or the country."
He said the Liberals have demonstrated abysmal priorities by providing millions of dollars in subsidies to people who are already millionaires when there are so many pressing social problems.
While Mr. Manley stands to take the most heat from the decision, other Liberals say they too have been deluged by angry phone calls, faxes and e-mails.
Winnipeg MP Reg Alcock said his office received more than 220 negative calls on the hockey bailout, more than it has on any other issue including gun control or the government's decision to retain the Goods and Services Tax.
One e-mail began: "Dear scumbags."
Mr. Alcock said people were not openly bitter that the government is only providing money for teams after their city lost the Winnipeg Jets, who moved to Phoenix in 1996.
"More than anything, what people are questioning is our priorities," he said. "What I'm hearing over and over again is: You guys haven't got your priorities right. There are lots of issues. We don't want money going to millionaire hockey players."
A spokesman for Foreign Affairs Minister Lloyd Axworthy said the minister's Winnipeg office also received many angry calls. Mr. Axworthy had been quoted in The Winnipeg Free Press as supporting the government's decision, saying the money was not meant for the wealthy players but to support hockey in Canada.
However, that distinction appears to be lost on most voters.
George Zivontisis, a volunteer in Liberal MP Dennis Mills's Toronto office, said staff there had taken more than 100 calls, virtually all opposed to the bailout.
"People think they are getting so much money already and now they get a break on tax," he said. "I think it's not fair myself. When the election comes, people are going to remember this."
Even in Ottawa, where the local media has led the campaign to "save our Senators," MPs faced some backlash.
MP Marlene Catterall's Ottawa West riding office received dozens of calls, "mostly negative," said her constituency aide Catherine Clark. On the other hand, Ms. Catterall had even more feedback before the decision was announced saying the government had to do something.