• City of Edmonton considering $69 million for the Oilers

EDMONTON, AB: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is calling on the city of Edmonton to reject a plan to give $69 million in taxpayers’ money to the Edmonton Oilers.

“Hardworking people in Edmonton are getting slapped with a property tax hike this year and taxpayers should never be forced to fund a wealthy corporation,” said Kris Sims, CTF Director, at the hearings at Edmonton City Hall. “Taxpayers expect city hall to keep their streets safe, clean and in good repair.

“They need to focus on fixing that problem instead of forcing taxpayers to give money to a rich hockey team that’s already had an arena built for them on taxpayers’ dime.”

The City of Edmonton is considering a proposal to extend a funding model that’s been earmarked to “revitalize” the downtown core.

The proposal includes giving taxpayers’ money to the Oilers to build an outdoor event park next to their existing arena. The scheme will cost Edmonton taxpayers $69 million. It will cost Alberta taxpayers another $97 million.

The Edmonton hiked property taxes by 5.7 per cent this year while city council took home a pay raise.

The Alberta government is borrowing $5.2 billion this year and the provincial debt is already more than $80 billion. Alberta taxpayers are already paying nearly $3 billion per year in debt interest charges.

“Taxpayers of Edmonton can’t afford to give millions to an NHL team and neither can the taxpayers of Alberta,” said Sims. “If the billionaire owner of one of the wealthiest teams in the NHL wants to operate a new event park, the team should pay for it without squeezing taxpayers.”

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