Madam Speaker, I am very pleased to rise to debate this particular topic. I would like to completely change the tone of where we have been.
I would first like to recognize the dedication of the member for Broadview—Greenwood to this particular topic and commend him for having made the effort to bring focus to the issue, which is indeed a very important issue here in Canada.
The member made an intervention earlier and he is correct when he states that the report does examine all aspects of sport. He will also recall that as the heritage critic for the Reform Party at the time, I chose to boycott the hearings. Unfortunately, the reason I chose to boycott the hearings, has been borne out. I say this in all sincerity, but I never believed there was a commitment on the part of the Liberal government to do anything with the report.
The report itself is an excellent report. The work of the people involved in generating the report is good. The determination of the member to make this happen was also good. Unfortunately, there never was a commitment on the part of the heritage minister or on the part of the government to ever do anything with the report.
At the time, I called it the hockey report because I predicted, unfortunately correctly, that it would deteriorate into a discussion about the NHL and about hockey. It has deteriorated into a worthy discussion about taxes, particularly taxes as compared to U.S. jurisdictions. Indeed, all Canadians and all businesses are looking for relief from the government at some future point in time for at least a recognition of how the Canadian tax level puts us at such a severe disadvantage against the U.S.
I note that the Minister of Industry is going to be proceeding with a summit of the mayors and all the people involved with the NHL teams in Canada, I believe in the next couple of weeks. Certainly that side of the issue has received the high priority that I predicted it would receive.
There have been some good suggestions. Ron Bremner, the president of the Calgary Flames, has suggested that there are lotteries that relate to the scores that happen in the NHL. He wonders why the NHL cannot get some proceeds from those lotteries. That is worthy of consideration.
I note that when the Edmonton franchise was in deep trouble it ended up giving $2 million of concession fees; that is, earnings from concession sales in the Northlands Coliseum to the new group. That, by the way, was just fine by me because the Edmonton Ice, the junior team that was there at the time, was looking for a home. They ended up in my home in Cranbrook, B.C. and are now the Kootenay Ice. So there was a concession there.
One of the things that was not covered, which was because it was an all-encompassing report, was that it would have been helpful to have noted that the NHL Players' Association also gains great revenue with tens of millions of dollars of merchandise sales that goes into the players' association pocket. There is a lot of money within the system as it presently sits.
I also note that the issue of taxation is not just a federal taxation issue. The Molson Centre, as I understand it, is hit with a bill of some $12 million annually in municipal taxes. That is more than all the other franchises pay in all of the United States.
Finally, there is the Canadian exchange rate which, of course, is another function of how the government continues to mismanage the Canadian economy vis-à-vis the U.S. economy.
The point is that this was, unfortunately, all predictable. Hockey is a high profile issue. It is, after all, our Canadian sport. I cannot think of another country where there is as much attention paid to any individual sport as there is here in Canada as far as ice hockey and the NHL are concerned.
What is missed and what is essential in the report is the whole issue of a discussion moving toward a commitment by the government to coaching programs and to facilities. I look at the Canada Games as being a good thing that the government is continuing to carry on. If the Reform Party was government, we would carry on the whole idea of the Canada Games because that is where we are involved with facilities, national organizations and national coaching programs.
An unfortunate fact of life and politics is that all these things end up leading inexorably toward things like the Olympics and very high profile issues like that which again become a financial commitment from the government. There seems to be a lack of understanding on the part of the government that it is the amateurs and amateur sport that ultimately feed into the Olympic program and, for that matter, even into the NHL.
I believe, and I know my party believes, that it is very important for kids to be active in amateur sport. This is a way in which kids can be focused. This is a way in which we can build our society. This is a very healthy outlet for young people today.
We have to re-establish our priorities for amateur sports without a doubt and I have indicated the two areas. Number one, because of the high profile of the NHL, we knew that it was going to fall off the track and become a hockey report. Number two, because of the high profile of international sports like the Olympics, again we end up focusing on events like that.
There does not seem to be any recognition of the travel expenses or any kind of tax relief for people who are involved in making sure that their kids have an opportunity to take part in sports or, for that matter, in cultural events. There is just a total lack of recognition, a complete void of any attention to the many, many dollars and hours that parents, guardians and team adults put into amateur sports.
In that respect I agree with the motion of the Bloc. I agree that there has to be more attention. As I said at the outset, I have already commended the member for Broadview—Greenwood for having brought forward this report, but where is the commitment of the government to the report? Where is the commitment of the government to enact the necessary things that are required in the report?
Unfortunately, we may have to re-invent the wheel. In other words, at a time when the government finally gets serious about amateur sport, about seeing tax relief and support for parents and guardians, and the community, who are attempting to support children who are involved in sports or in cultural events, at that point, unfortunately, although this report will act as an excellent template, an excellent starting point, I would see it probably being done all over again. That is really unfortunate considering the amount of hard work that the member and the committee put into it.
Canada is a compilation of all of us, all of us in the House and the people watching this debate; all Canadians. Part of who we are is how we interact with and react to each other. Amateur sport plays a very important part in how we relate to each other. It brings us together in good, healthy competition and camaraderie around events. I would commend to the government of the day that it take another look at this whole issue and finally get serious about enhancing amateur sport in Canada.