When an NHL team returns to Winnipeg (yes, that’s a confident “when” not an “if”) many will wonder if a team will be able to survive this time.
 
In fact, some have already speculated as to what financial assistance government (i.e. taxpayers) could provide to help a team stay afloat. While giving tax dollars to private, for-profit businesses is inappropriate, there are some taxpayer-friendly things the government could do to support an NHL return.
 
As with many things in life, it comes down to money. The first big question is - will people in a city known for its thriftiness be willing or able to reach into their pockets to pay $60 a seat for an NHL game on a regular basis? Certainly more taxpayers would be willing and able to buy tickets if the government didn’t take so much of our money in the first place.
 
If you go on Ernst and Young’s online income tax calculator, you can plug-in an income level, and see how much you would pay in income taxes in each province. Unfortunately, you’ll find Manitobans pay some of the highest income taxes in the country.
 
Yes, all those new government buildings and social programs around the province come with a price tag – high taxes.
 
After a decade of growing spending at more than double the rate of inflation and population growth, couldn’t the government finally curtail its spending increases and leave more money in taxpayers’ pockets?
 
Of course it could. In fact, Saskatchewan actually cut total spending a couple years ago. If Manitoba merely froze expenditures at last year’s budget forecast, it could have balanced the budget this year and still had funds to increase health care spending and reduce taxes.
 
By reducing income taxes, it could not only leave Manitobans with more money to spend on NHL tickets (or whatever else they may please), it could help spur economic growth and might actually increase government revenues.
 
After all, every dollar left in peoples’ pockets is a dollar they could use to start-up a business or put towards making that invention idea into a reality.
 
On the business side, the government could also start to chip away at the dreaded payroll tax. For those who aren’t familiar with it, businesses in Manitoba are unique in Western Canada in that they have to pay a “bonus” tax once their company’s payroll surpasses $1.25 million. Would you want to invest in a province with a bonus payroll tax?
 
Reducing the tax would help the entire business community, including a new NHL team; which would also have a payroll over $1.25 million.
 
To help find savings, the government should start with a spending review. It could uncover some of the same type of waste the Canadian Taxpayers Federation has uncovered over the past couple years; employees getting bonuses merely for showing up for work, tax dollars being spent on rooftop barbecues, bureaucrats getting manicures and tarot readings  and employees getting paid time off to go Christmas shopping during the work day to name a few examples.
 
One thing is for certain, moderate government spending and lower taxes could help make an NHL viable and even help those who could care less.