Senators Chair Rod Bryden said yesterday that he is
"prepared to keep the team in Ottawa for however long the
public cost adjustments he is seeking from various levels of
government would remain in place," according to Jeff Blair
of the Toronto GLOBE & MAIL. Bryden: "I would hope that the
government of Canada would at least match the NHL's
contribution in currency equalization." Under this plan,
which has been "reported to be worth" C$24M, the league
would pay eligible Canadian teams between C$3.7-5M a season
"to ease the burden of the lower value of the Canadian
dollar." Bryden: "It is a currency problem at the national
level. It was a currency problem in the NHL. (Currency
equalization) won't offset bad management or small markets,
but they are offsetting the currency problems in the NHL.
... If the government of Canada matched the NHL
contribution, I believe we would have this done."
Currently, the Senators are in line to receive a "reduction"
of the property taxes at the Corel Centre from C$4.6M a year
to C$700,000 due to a recommendation by the Ottawa regional
government budget report. Bryden, on committing the team to
Ottawa: "The only thing I could think of that would cause me
to say I can't give you an unconditional, it-will-never-
happen commitment is if the exchange rate is left floating
as an issue and there is no commitment (by) the government
of Canada to give protection against that." Although it has
been "reported" that Bryden has issued a "drop-dead date" of
December 12 to receive government aid or he will "begin
looking for a new owner," Bryden said he has "never
announced a date." Bryden added he has not begun to "seek
or receive proposals from anybody who had any interest in
moving the team from Ottawa" (Toronto GLOBE & MAIL, 12/1).
While Bryden awaits federal government relief, he also is
seeking to make the Senators exempt from the 10% amusement
tax, which would save the team C$3.5M (OTTAWA SUN, 12/1).
But Ontario Finance Minister Ernie Eves said that he "won't
accept" the plan to establish a team charitable foundation
"in a bid to avoid" C$3.5M a year in provincial
entertainment taxes (Toronto GLOBE & MAIL, 12/1).
