MONTREAL - The federal government is quashing speculation it might use gas-tax revenues to help cities build hockey arenas.
A key cabinet minister shot down the suggestion, floated this week in Ottawa, that federal gas-tax guidelines could be expanded to help fund sports infrastructure.
Under the current guidelines, gas-tax money cannot be used to build arenas or other sports facilities.
"We have no plans to change that criteria," Infrastructure Minister Chuck Strahl told reporters in Montreal on Friday.
"It's quite flexibile. It's not infinitely flexible," he added.
That announcement comes one day after Quebec City announced plans to build a new NHL-style arena -- with or without federal help.
That doesn't mean Ottawa is completely slamming the door on funding the Quebec arena through some other mechanism. A PMO spokesman explained that Strahl's comments in Montreal today apply only to the gas tax.
Strahl told reporters that the gas-tax guidelines already provide cities with enough flexibility in how they spend funds.
Canadian cities receive about $2 billion annually from the federal gas tax, which helps pay for infrastructure such as roads, bridges and water-treatment plants.
"We want it to be used for city needs, and they can set it aside," Strahl said.
Project comes under criticism
Meanwhile, there were emerging signs that the arena project may prove controversial within Quebec.
The head of the Action democratique du Quebec issued a scathing statement against the decision to build the arena -- whose price tag is estimated at $400 million -- entirely with public money.
Gerard Deltell, who represents a Quebec City riding in the provincial legislature, accused his fellow politicians of "living in a dream."
Andre Richelieu, a marketing expert at Universite de Laval, said the project doesn't make fiscal sense.
"Well, there's something wrong," he said.
"Either we have the confirmation that the NHL is coming back next season, which I don't know - or we're gambling with public money."
