Liberal Member of Parliament Peter Fragiskatos would vote against the Canadian Football League receiving any taxpayer funds amid the coronavirus pandemic in Canada.
Fragiskatos was one of the members of the standing committee on finance who heard commissioner Randy Ambrosie’s plea for COVID-19 financial aid. The London North Centre MP admitted he was a CFL fan, converted from a Toronto Argonauts supporter to backing the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. However, Fragiskatos represents his constituents and Canadian citizens above all.
“If I was to recommend something today to the government, I would absolutely not recommend that the federal government grant financial assistance to the CFL,” Fragiskatos told the Western Gazette.
“I can’t see why the federal government should back the league in financial terms.”
Ambrosie asked for $30 million in working capital to maintain operations through the crisis and estimated the league could need as much as an additional $120 million over the next two years — if the most negative scenarios, all of them, come true. That equals $150 million in total.
Fragiskatos explained to the Western Gazette Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his cabinet will make the final decision whether to give the CFL bailout money.
