Mr. Speaker, seing the behavior in this House, I am not sure I am pleased to rise this afternoon.
I wanted to speak about the Mills report, which was very well done, a job the member should be proud of. However, it was with regret that I noted that the Minister of Canadian Heritage trashed the recommendations of the report on amateur sport in Canada.
In fact, on April 28 the Minister of Canadian Heritage turned down all of the recommendations calling for additional money for amateur sport. She said yes to every activity that would ensure the visibility of the Canadian flag. With the help of the Prime Minister, she passed the recommendation concerning professional sports on to her friend the Minister of Industry.
Amateur athletes were horrified. I would like to quote at least three statements by athletes and by directors of federations on the Mills report and what the minister said on April 28.
First, here is what John Thresher, head of Athletics Canada, said, as reported in the Globe and Mail on April 29, 1999:
From the standpoint of G-7 countries, our Canadian athletes are second class citizens.
Quebecer Jean-Luc Brassard raised the following question:
Should we perhaps in the future march behind our sponsor's flag?
And, finally, here is the most bitter, which comes from Lane MacAdam, president of the Canada Games Council:
It is a black day for amateur sport. It would appear that the government has chosen hockey millionaires over the 1.3 million poor children who have no access to sports. Amateur sport has been cheated.
That same day, April 28, the Minister of National Revenue held a meeting with the mayors of the cities that have the main franchises in professional sport to find ways to help professional sport.
At that meeting, I believe the minister called another meeting, scheduled for mid-June, where he will ask mayors and provincial officials to provide means such as tax breaks, tax holidays, sales tax reductions or others to help NHL teams to the tune of at least $10 million. These NHL teams are playing in a small market.
However, we are still waiting for a definition of small market. Does it apply to cities such as Ottawa, Calgary or Edmonton, or does it also include Montreal, Toronto or Vancouver, when compared to an American market such as New York?
If the six NHL Canadian teams play in small markets, this means that the municipal, provincial and federal governments will have to provide $60 million annually to these teams, through all sorts of schemes. Over a five-year period, we are talking $300 million.
I am not saying that these teams do not need the money. However, the government's priority should be to put money into amateur sport, because it is amateur sport that is really suffering in Canada.
I have a few suggestions for the Minister of Industry. Before deciding to help professional sport, particularly hockey, as he said, the minister should ask himself the following question: Do Canadian taxpayers help fund professional hockey teams?
They do through tax deductions given to companies for entertainment expenses, meal expenses and the purchasing of tickets. Such deductions amount to tens of millions of dollars.
Before making a decision, the minister should ask himself another question: Should he give priority to the funding of professional or amateur sport? Personally, I think amateur sport should have priority over professional sport, which is experiencing serious problems.
Professional sport should first solve the problems it is facing, the first and most serious one being skyrocketing salaries. What gets professional clubs into trouble is players' salaries.
In fact, on February 16, 1999—not so very long ago—in an address to the Canadian Club in Toronto, Mr. Aubut, former president of the Quebec Nordiques, said “The worst threat to professional sports teams in Canada, and you all know it, is the meteoric rise in players' salaries”. That is what Mr. Aubut said and I think he is right.
The other problem plaguing our professional sports is the presence of the average spectator at games. In 1977 the average cost of a hockey ticket was $7.89. In 1994 it had jumped to $33.66. The increase in the consumer price index for the same period was 245%, while the price of tickets jumped 430%.
I could go on for hours about the national league's problems. Like my Bloc Quebecois colleagues, I think the government's first priority should be to fund amateur sport. Our millionaires in hockey and other professional sports are truly spoiled. According to a Southam News poll, the government should watch out because 71% of Canadians are not in favour of using tax dollars to help professional teams.
If assistance is provided for hockey, what about other professional sports, such as soccer, baseball, and football, which all have the same money problems?
Once again, I beg this government to spend money on amateur sport rather than professional sport.