At first glance, this seemed self-contradictory. But what the NHL reps meant by the phrase, it turned out, was that hockey should be subsidized just like any other business. And of course, they had a point.
Corporate welfare is truly Canada's national sport.
But then, that is to reckon without Canadians' selective sense of outrage when it comes to government handouts. There really isn't any coherent basis to it. The tiniest sums can excite the largest response, while billions more are thrown away without comment. But he can shell out half the budget to his political benefit and no one breathes a word. Now, it's true that one dollar in subsidy is a dollar too many.