I agree the optics are bad and you're going to bring out the no $ for sports league crowd. I agree there are more important things right now. My argument in favour would be its is a Canadian tradition and Canadian culture. The government spends a ton every year on Canadian Culture and we get a lot of books people don't read and tv shows and movies that people don't watch. Not all Canadian books, tv shows or movies but a lot. Heck they spent 500 million on Canada 150 and there was some questionable spending on that.