PUBLIC PAYMENTS MADE TO FAILED JETS ARENA EFFORT IN WINNIPEG

     Ottawa Human Resources Minister Lloyd Axworthy "quietly"
directed a total of C$1.5M in federal funding last spring toward
preliminary work on a failed bid to build a new arena in
Winnipeg, according to a report in the Montreal GAZETTE.
Documents obtained by the CANADIAN PRESS indicate that in
addition to a previously revealed C$500,000 secret payment to
Manitoba Entertainment Complex Inc., there was another C$1M
payment through the government agency Western Economic
Diversification Canada.  About C$750,000 of the C$1M was paid out
-- for "design, legal, architectural and financial work" on the
proposed C$110M arena.  The documents show MEC head Cam Osler
granted federal requests to keep the money quiet.  An official
with Western Diversification said the money was part of a C$10M
infrastructure grant, and since the arena was never built, there
was no need to announce what it was for (CP/Montreal GAZETTE,
11/17).