LITTLE SUPPORT SHOWN FOR KEEPING NORDS

     Nordiques fans "expressed disappointment" yesterday at Co-
Owner Marcel Aubut's rejection of the government's offer to save
the franchise, according to Rheal Seguin of the Toronto GLOBE &
MAIL.  "But the vast majority of supporters refused to take to
the streets just yet, preferring instead to watch from the
sidelines the outcome of a face-to-face confrontation that will
likely take place between Aubut and Premier Jacques Parizeau."
Only 200-250 fans participated in a demonstration yesterday
before the National Assembly in Quebec City.  A "handful" of taxi
drivers honked their horns and people carried hockey sticks and
placards in support of the team.  The demonstrators also carried
a petition signed by more than 75,000, urging the government to
keep the team from moving to the U.S. (Toronto GLOBE & MAIL,
5/18).
     PUBLIC CHOICES:  Nordiques fans "ran up against" another
group of demonstrators protesting the government's decision to
shut-down seven Montreal hospitals.  According to Seguin, the two
demonstrations "symbolized the divisions expressed by many
Quebecers.  On the one hand many support the government's offer
to the Nordiques but draw the line by insisting that public money
should not be doled out at the expense of further cutbacks" in
health care and other government programs (Toronto GLOBE & MAIL,
5/18).  In Quebec City, LE SOLEIL columnist Jean-Guy Lemieux
argues that subsidizing a team is as valid as funding museums and
theaters, and says losing the Nordiques would be a "national
catastrophe" for a society which considers Patrick Roy to be
their Luciano Pavarotti (Toronto GLOBE & MAIL, 5/18).