It is our national past time and is part of our identity as Canadians, but does the sport of hockey deserve special treatment from the federal government? Canada’s NHL franchises have asked the federal government for a tax break so they can compete with the American clubs and it appears they may get a 15 million-dollar tax break courtesy of our government.

Is this good news or bad news? The fact the government is considering giving these hockey teams a break makes us believe the message that high taxation is making it hard for Canadian businesses to compete with U.S. companies, is getting through. The problem is professional hockey teams are not the only ones who need tax breaks, all Canadians need a tax break.

When the Liberal government took power in 1993, the taxes collected were $107.3 billion or $13,937 per family. In 1998, taxes collected were $149 billion or $18,315 per family. That’s an increase of over $4,200 per family or a 30% tax hike over six years.

So how does this high level of taxation affect our country? It limits the amount we can spend on other items that create real jobs and improve our standard of living. According to Statistics Canada in 1997, 21 cents of every dollar earned went to personal income taxes, followed by 20 cents for shelter, 12 cents for transportation and 11 cents for food.

It also affects the number of people living in this country. The high level of taxation is causing our highly skilled workforce to head south because of better jobs and lower taxes. The average income in the U.S. is $7,000 higher than in Canada and our taxes are 20% higher than our American counterparts. This has a negative effect on our economy.

The question often asked is, can we afford a tax cut? The definite answer is: "yes we can!" Here is an excerpt from the Globe and Mail on June 17, 1999: "The finance department asked economists from four major forecasting firms to run their projections of fiscal surpluses for the next five years, based on agreed-upon assumption of low inflation and moderately strong growth. Based on that work and its own projections the finance department expects the current year surplus to be about $4 billion, rising to $9 billion in fiscal 2000-01 and $19 billion by 2003-04."

With these types of projections, substantial tax relief should be a priority of this government. Unfortunately, they prefer to spend our hard earned money. Over the years the trend has been towards bigger and more bureaucratic government, spending more of your tax dollars. In 1966 the government’s spending made up 29.6 % of the Gross Domestic Product. In 1996 the government’s spending made up 46.1 % of the GDP. That is a 16.5 % increase in government spending. Do you think we are better off now, with a much bigger bureaucracy, than we were 30 years ago?

When our government considers giving NHL hockey teams a $15 million tax break, there is some hope they are beginning to realize businesses as well as every Canadian is overtaxed. We all need a tax break now, not at the time of the next election when the government will try to buy votes. Broad based tax relief would do more to help our economy then selecting certain sectors like professional hockey for special treatment. It is time the government got the message on high taxation. If you would like a copy of a petition asking the government to lower taxes please contact my office at 1-800-667-6606.

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