Taxpayer watchdog says Ottawa Senators must fund new arena themselves
A tax advocacy group is calling on all levels of government to “publicly reject subsidizing a new arena” for the National Hockey League team, the Ottawa Senators.
A tax advocacy group is calling on all levels of government to “publicly reject subsidizing a new arena” for the National Hockey League team, the Ottawa Senators, after reports surfaced that they were “lobbying” provincial and municipal governments to fund the project.
The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is pushing back on the idea of the Senators adopting a similar pay scheme that the Calgary Flames received when constructing their new arena, which used government subsidies.
“Politicians need to stand up for taxpayers and tell the Ottawa Senators’ lobbyists NO,” said CTF Ontario director Noah Jarvis in a statement on Thursday.
“Prime Minister Mark Carney, Ontario Premier Doug Ford, and Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe all need to publicly reject giving taxpayers’ money to the owners of the Ottawa Senators.”
First reported by the Ottawa Citizen, the hockey club has hired Toronto-based lobbying firm StrategyCorp Inc. to engage with federal and provincial government representatives to help allocate taxpayer funding to cover the arena costs.
The taxpayer money would be used to offset expenses that would otherwise be incurred by the Senators, which has agreed to pay $37 million for the proposed land where the arena will be built.
The site is also expected to include a new hotel.
“StrategyCorp has been retained by the developer to communicate with the government to keep them informed about the transformative residential, commercial, and entertainment destination project planned for LeBreton Flats and its benefits for the Ottawa region, province, and country,” the club said.
StrategyCorp plans to meet with representatives of Aboriginal Affairs, Budget, Economic Development, Housing, Infrastructure, Municipalities, Sports, Taxation and Finance, Tourism, and Transportation to seek funding.
Additionally, the lobbying firm will ask that the Ontario provincial government play a role with “infrastructure financing and other government programs,” said StrategyCorp’s Aidan Grove-White, who is leading the project.
The meetings come at a time when Ontario Premier Doug Ford recently raised his government’s commitment to the Building Ontario Fund from $3 billion to $8 billion, which allocates funding for provincial infrastructure projects.
According to Forbes, the Ottawa Senators were valued at a little less than $1.2 billion as of December 2024.
Meanwhile, the Calgary Flames’ new arena is expected to cost more than $1.2 billion, and is being funded by both the city and the province of Alberta.
The Alberta government will fund 27 per cent of the project, along with $537 million from the city and another $356 million from the owners of the Flames.
Ottawa Senators owner Michael Andlauer is now allegedly seeking a similar arrangement, although he has publicly stated that the organization will not be asking the City of Ottawa for taxpayers’ money.
“People need to understand this is not my arena. This is Ottawa’s arena, and I don’t need to own it. To me, I want to do something special that is going to be special for this community,” said Andlauer.
However, the CTF said that now is not the time for taxpayers to be on the hook for such a project, noting that “both the federal and Ontario governments are deep in debt.”
The federal government debt is expected to reach $1.35 trillion by the end of the year, while the Ontario government is $459 billion in debt.
Meanwhile, the city of Ottawa has proposed a 3.75 per cent property tax increase next year.
“Governments are up to their eyeballs in debt and taxpayers shouldn’t be forced to fund a brand-new fancy arena for a professional sports team,” said CTF federal director Franco Terrazzano. “If the owners of the Ottawa Senators want to build a fancy new arena, then they should be forced to fund it with ticket sales, not tax hikes.”
If the players and owners want a new arena, then let them fund the project. The taxpayer should not carry this burden. Use our money so they can reap the profits.
These athletes want us to hear how they feel, which is one-sided, and now you will hear the other side, the audience.
If these sports figures want to bring attention to racial injustice, then do it on their own time.
Do you think for one moment that I will spend my hard-earned money on buying merchandise that is accompanied by complaints of racial injustices? We are not isolated from the problems of the world, where everything is peachy keen. We have to deal with these problems every single day of our lives. When we go to these games, we want to cheer for our heroes, to do something we enjoy, allowing us to get away from our problems, just for a moment, without being reminded that life is not all that grand.
Should we care about the players who are playing the sport? You have to understand they enjoy a standard of living that is beyond what I can comprehend. I worked hard all my life and had to endure many injustices without complaint. They have to understand that when I go home, I have to start scrimping and saving to get enough money to attend the next game.
I am a senior on a pension of 1800 dollars a month. Would these players like to compare what they make a month compared to my meagre earnings?
Do you care about the people who are providing you with this entertainment? Absolutely not, these people are rewarded quite well for their services. They have an obligation to bring us the best in entertainment without subjecting us to their bias. These people have a platform to express how they feel about some of these injustices, but I am not given the same opportunity to express how I feel, which might be contrary to their way of thought.
“And so I would say, if you love the sport, you really have to care for and respect the players who are playing.”
Respect, I take the time to attend the games, buy the merchandise, buy the overpriced food, watch many games on TV, and cheer on my team. These players need to understand the sacrifices I go through just to support my team. They have to wake up and smell the roses.
That starts with listening to what they have to say.
When they start to listen to what I have to say, then maybe I will give them the pleasure of listening to them.
I have not watched sports of any kind on TV or otherwise for all of this year. I have lost any interest even in my favourite sports, which are tennis and golf. All of this talk about injustice has been a turnoff, and I am not the only one who feels this way.
The attendance at some of the games has dropped by almost 50% and it will even get worse if the players insist on mixing politics with entertainment.
“We need to continue to take action and provide education.”
Education, let’s start by stopping all this looting, rioting, burning down shops, destroying lives, and all the heartache that goes with this destruction.
Education, there is not one bit of effort being made by these athletes to take action to put a stop to all of this destruction. They are not voicing their thoughts on how damaging this is to our lives and economy because, actually, they support this violence. After all, it plays right into their hands of racial injustice.
“So, I think that we’re at a good starting point”.
These athletes have many different platforms where they can make a difference, but they choose to do it on the field. They are using the media to voice their opinion, and as far as the fans are concerned,” their lives don’t matter.“These athletes have been given a great opportunity to make a big difference in many people’s lives, and that comes with being famous and earning the big bucks.
It’s time these athletes and owners start living up to their responsibilities.