MONTREAL - Najib Slaoui concedes his business may go bust with the demise of the Canadian Grand Prix. But not even he blames the politicians for letting it go.
The owner of a Montreal Formula One collectibles store summed up the sentiments of a city sickened by the incessant demands for public money by F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone.
The cash-grabs had become unbearable even for Slaoui, who depends on the Grand Prix's annual one-week cash bonanza to wipe away the credit-card debt his business incurs the 51 other weeks a year.
Slaoui said Monday he will miss the annual influx of star-studded, designer-label-draped tourists. But he will not miss Ecclestone -- and he supports Canadian politicians for refusing his latest demands.
"It's going to kill the business, that's for sure," said Slaoui, who opened his store nine years ago because of the Grand Prix and the buzz it brought to Montreal.
"(But) the government tried everything. They put up the money. They put what they can, but he wants too much."
A day after it became official that Montreal would indeed lose the cash cow that is the popular Grand Prix, both government officials and business owners agreed Monday that the price was simply too high and that the city would survive without it.
Montreal's mayor said he hopes other cities will take their cue from his.
With France and Australia having dropped and now China reconsidering its agreement with F1, Gerald Tremblay said he's hopeful Ecclestone might realize his demands were unreasonable and that the plan put forward by those trying to save the Montreal event just might work.
"We just hope that he'll realize that for the future of the Grand Prix, he has to adapt or change his economic model," Tremblay said.
"Maybe that's going to be our contribution to the future of the Grand Prix."
Despite his stubborn and cantankerous reputation, government officials said Ecclestone conducted himself like a businessman during negotiations in London last month with federal, provincial and municipal leaders.
While Ecclestone never budged from his demand -- $175 million over five years -- he also never made any threats, Quebec Tourism Minister Raymond Bachand said.
Canadian officials offered $110 million over five years, plus a cut of annual profits to keep the Grand Prix in Montreal. It's a price even those who stand to lose thousands in spin-off revenue say is absurd.
While government officials were diplomatic in their description of Ecclestone, restaurateurs and shopkeepers along Montreal's most famous party strip didn't mince words.
Crescent Street is typically teeming with tourists during race week. One bar owner said he knows who to blame if the throngs are thinner next June.
"(Ecclestone's) being greedy," said Ziggy Eichenbaum, who owes a good chunk of his annual profits to the Grand Prix.
"I call him ET. He looks like him and he's in space."
While he admits the Grand Prix absence will "hurt a lot of people," he stands by government officials for rejecting Ecclestone's unreasonable demands.
"How much would you pay to get it back? Especially the way the economy is right now. People are losing their jobs," he said.
"(The mayor) offered him a good package and I guess he didn't want it."
With other countries pulling out, he's hopeful Ecclestone might eventually reconsider. In the meantime, he'll be looking at other ways to attract clients and suggests Crescent Street might, for example, try to lure some of the jazz festival crowd this spring.
"But seriously, it's going to take a while before we can get something as big as F1, which is international," he said.
He noted that there are typically lineups out the door on race weekend with tourists hailing from Japan, China, the U.S. and Australia.
As for airing the big event on a big screen from its new home in Turkey and trying to drum up business that way, Eichenbaum said that's not likely.
"I think I'll snub it like they snubbed Montreal," he said.
While many bar and restaurant owners may lose out, they say admit they'll likely fare better than some shops -- shops like Slaoui's Formula 1 Emporium. The F1 collectibles store owes about 45 per cent of its annual earnings to the Grand Prix.
The Canadian Grand Prix was dropped from the 2009 schedule last month, prompting all three levels of government, with the support of the restaurant and hotel industry, to try and save it.
The event draws an estimated $100 million a year in revenue and economic spinoff and while that's considered significant, it is still less than F1's asking price.
The city is now looking at creating a development fund which could be used to help bring other high-profile international events to Montreal and help businesses affected by the loss of the Grand Prix.
