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Friday, December 3, 1999
Government is to blame for Senators' troubles
There are those who think that by putting the Ottawa Senators up for sale, owner Rod Bryden is engaging in another pressure tactic.
Think again.
Bryden has come to a conclusion, based on economic realities, that he must sell the team to a U.S. interest. He fully intends to do so and is comfortable with his decision.
He has made no secret of his intentions. He has said all along he is not threatening or bluffing. He must, he said, be treated like other high-payroll companies and if that isn't the case, then it no longer makes sense to keep the team in Canada.
DUE SOUTH?
So it is probably safe to assume, because of the Canadian mentality, that the team will be heading south.
Apparently, that is what people want. The prevalent attitude seems to be that if the government were to give a Canadian hockey team the same kind of deal it gives to Japanese car manufacturers and U.S. film makers, it would be aiding the wealthy.
And heaven knows, we can't have that in Canada. In a country where the politics of envy is always the overriding factor, we must never aspire to match the achievements of someone else, we always must do our best to destroy that person's gains.
But if that's what Canadians want, that's fine. In theory, we have a democracy here. It is only in theory, of course, because in a democracy, elected representatives make the laws, not an appointed group of lawyers.
But there are enough remnants of what was once a democracy to allow the will of people to at least be considered for a while. And it's clear enough that most people -- in the Toronto area anyway -- don't want the government to help the Senators.
But what is not clear is whether those people understand the ramifications.
For starters, there will be an economic impact, even though there are books that tell us that sports teams do nothing for the community and that all dollars spent on them would be spent elsewhere.
Only a sociologist could think that people who are spending $200 a ticket for hockey games 41 times a year -- and usually buying the tickets in blocks of two or more -- will spend that much on some other activity.
How many shows can you see? How many meals can you eat? If you spent that much on food, you'd weigh nine tons by the end of the hockey season.
And what about the taxes? Given the rate at which Canadians are gouged by the various levels of government, the Ottawa players alone give the government about $15 million annually. And that's not counting the front office, the coaching staff and the hundreds of employees of the team and the building.
Who do the sociologists think will replace those tax dollars? Waiters?
But even if you want to make the case that Ottawa should not have been given a team in the first place, that the Senators are one more tainted legacy of the John Ziegler era -- both of which are probably true -- the fact remains the Senators almost certainly will be the first of three dominoes to fall in rapid succession.
If the Senators go, the Edmonton Oilers and the Calgary Flames won't be far behind. Life is better for those teams because in Alberta, there is no 10% ticket tax as there is in Ontario. Also, provincial income taxes are low (they may be non-existent in a year or two) so players can earn less, but take home as much as they would elsewhere.
Even so, the economic realities are just as stark for those teams as they are for Ottawa and if the first one goes, the others won't be far behind.
The low value of the Canadian dollar, which is simply a reflection of what the world thinks of our economy, is a debilitating factor.
NOT A THREAT
The government would have you believe that a low dollar is a good thing. If that's so, why don't they peg it at one cent US?
Basically, all the problems that Canadian teams face are the result of the government's policies. If the government won't, or can't, act to treat these teams like other companies, then top-level hockey will cease to exist in most of Canada.
And, as Rod Bryden might say, that's not a threat, it is a promise.
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