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Friday, December 3, 1999
It's time to say NO!
Just say 'No' to Rod Bryden and the rest of the Canadian NHL franchise owners.
When it comes to federal tax relief, there is simply no justification.
In fact, if you listen to Bryden's whining long enough, you can almost begin to believe him when he says that the main problems facing his team and the others in Canada are tax and currency issues.
You might even begin to feel guilty when he talks of how unfair it is for Canadian franchises to compete with U.S. franchises, who are handed tax-free stadiums and limited tax liability.
And if you are really gullible, or blinded by your love for hockey, you'll accept the specious argument that, by not giving the Senators a $12 million tax break, you are foregoing $37 million in taxes. Geez, can you imagine if you or I took that argument to Revenue Canada!
But let us not be hoodwinked.
The only reason we are being threatened by Mr. Bryden, and the other NHL owners, is because they have let their business get out of control. Period.
If the NHL had taken corrective action in terms of a salary cap and greater revenue sharing, then there would be no "tax" problems.
It's not the Canadian taxpayers' fault that the NHL is dominated by greed, which manifests itself in a players union that has no conscience in driving up salaries as high as they can, regardless of the impact on the game.
And it has created a minority group of owners who have been their own worst enemies in helping drive up those salaries with irresponsible contracts.
That is the real problem facing the NHL.
Now, the Rod Brydens of the world would rather shirk their responsibility by heaping those issues onto the backs of the taxpayers.
While it is one thing for the region and municipality to give the Senators tax breaks similar to those enjoyed not only in the U.S., but Calgary and Edmonton as well, it is another to ask the federal government to bail out those same teams.
Bryden had the audacity to suggest that, at 75 cents per taxpayer, federal government assistance was "no big deal."
No big deal!
For a family on welfare, a single mom, seniors, it is NO BIG DEAL to pay more so a millionaire owner can get back to feeding at the NHL trough alongside a bunch of millionaire hockey players!
It doesn't matter where it comes from, lottery funds or general revenues, it's still money that will be diverted from those who really need it, and can't help themselves.
The NHL could have helped itself for years. It chose not to, until Flames owner Harley Hotchkiss finally dragged them kicking and screaming into limited revenue sharing to help defray the costs of a weak Canadian dollar. But that was too late.
There is more than enough money involved in the business of the NHL for everyone to make a very good living. The problem is they are too greedy to do that.
They would have the taxpayer bail them out now because they've screwed up their business so bad they might not survive until they get a chance to correct it in the collective bargaining agreement negotiations in 2004.
Well, too bad.
Bryden and others don't have the fortitude to solve their own problems, so they look to the taxpayer to do it for them, even though it's no real solution. That's unconscionable.
The problem IS Mr. Bryden and the rest of the NHL board of governors and the NHLPA.
Not you and I.
Exploiting Canadians' love for the game of hockey to ensure the rich of the NHL get richer doesn't wash with those of us who have the ability to see this for what it is.
Blackmail.
In Calgary, we paid off our blackmail threat a few years ago during the Saddledome renovations. That was supposed to solve the Flames problems. It didn't.
Because, with any blackmail threat, you just keep paying and paying. Enough is enough.
Just say 'No'.
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