SACRE BLEU! MONTREAL RESIDENTS SAY "NON" TO HABS' TAX BREAK

          A Quebec government that has Canadiens' Owners Molson
     Breweries save C$4.5M annually in property taxes on the
     Molson Centre sparked "a storm of protest," according to
     Sandro Contenta of the TORONTO STAR.  Quebecers "flooded"
     radio talk shows with "angry" calls about the tax cut
     despite Quebec Premier Lucien Bouchard's explanation of
     "fiscal fairness and efficiency."  The controversy arose
     after the City of Montreal, the province and Molson
     Breweries agreed to cut a C$9.9M property tax bill by more
     than half.  By "the end of the day, the city's beloved Habs
     has received such a public black eye" that team President
     Ronald Corey "met the media to plead fairness."  Corey: "If
     we wanted a (tax) gift, we would have asked for it before we
     started construction, not after we finished."  Corey added
     the city's formula to assess property taxes of C$9.9M a year
     would see the team pay taxes three times higher than the
     Canucks, the NHL's most highly-taxed team.  Property taxes
     on the old Forum were C$1.2M (TORONTO STAR, 12/17).