Now that the Grey Cup has been awarded, it’s time to assess the CFL year in review - not the on-field play, but rather from a taxpayer angle. And unfortunately it comes up expensive.
Since the federal government opened up the spending flood-gates, it should come as no great surprise that even professional sports teams are running to the trough.
The CFL and its interests have been making lots of expensive requests for taxpayer subsidies.
The prime minister should deal with these requests all easily, quickly, consistently and equitably; say ‘no’ to them all.
Prime Minister Harper has suggested in the past that he opposed cash for professional athletes and sports teams. He backslid on this a bit already when his government approved $800,000 for the CFL to play Touchdown Atlantic - a game last September in Moncton, New Brunswick between the Toronto Argonauts and the Edmonton Eskimos.
The game sold out, proving it could have gone off successfully without taxpayer subsidies.
These requests for sports subsidies often involve requests from all levels of government.
The federal dollars for Touchdown Atlantic were added to $700,000 from the deficit-running New Brunswick government. The taxpayers of Moncton also tossed in $65,000.
Wouldn’t you think a large deficit would be a good excuse to say no to requests for frivolous spending? If so, we’ve got a large reason to say no right now. The federal government is running a projected deficit of $45.4 billion this year on top of the $56 billion last year. The books aren’t projected to be balanced until 2015-16. Restraint is in order.
When he was head of the National Citizens Coalition, Mr. Harper called proposed subsidies for the NHL “a puck in the face for taxpayers.” Wouldn’t that make CFL subsidies today a punt in the face for taxpayers?
The government recently set a good precedent when Heritage Minister James Moore said no to the $1 billion federal request for cash for the Edmonton Expo, stating it is time for budget austerity. Governments should take this same approach to professional sports subsidy requests.
The CFL is seeking another round of subsidies for Touchdown Atlantic for 2011.
They want a repeat of the $1.5 million in tax cash they received from the feds, the province and the taxpayers of Moncton. Mr. Harper can do himself and Premier Alward a favour by turning down this request.
That’s not all. The CFL is also asking for $12 million from the federal government and indeterminate millions from provincial and municipal governments for celebrations surrounding the Grey Cup’s 100th anniversary in Toronto in 2012.
CFL Commissioner Cohon defends the request calling it, “nation-building.”
Again the prime minister can help Toronto’s new mayor, Rob ‘respect for taxpayers’ Ford, to balance his budget by turning down this request.
The largest CFL request on the table is from the government of Saskatchewan, which has asked the federal P3 fund for over $100 million.
This money would pay for one-quarter of the cost of building a domed stadium in Regina as a new home for the Saskatchewan Roughriders – a team that played 11 home games this season, including pre-season and playoffs.
Research by the C.D. Howe Institute clearly outlines that the economic benefits of subsidizing sports or cultural activities is usually small and might even be negative in some instances.
Budget austerity is supposed to be a strong focus of the federal government today.
Mr. Harper can demonstrate this commitment by tackling and rejecting these CFL subsidy requests. Not rejecting them may just look like a Stanfield fumble.
Kevin Gaudet is the federal director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.
