Advertisement

Why is the Ontario government giving $500,000 to MLSE for an all-star game?

We're all aware that the Province of Ontario is in dire financial straits — right?

Maybe someone should tell Premier Kathleen Wynne.

As explained by the Globe and Mail, Ontario's Liberal government is giving $500,000 to Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment to help secure the 2016 NBA all-star game for Toronto.

This is the same MLSE that owns the Toronto Raptors, the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Toronto FC soccer team, the Air Canada Centre, Leafs TV, NBA TV Canada and GolTV. Their sports franchises alone are worth about $1.5 billion; their empire is worth $2.5 billion.

[ Related: Raptors hire Drake, will host 2016 all-star game ]

The corporate welfare has angered a taxpayer watchdog. Here's a piece of the commentary written by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation's Candice Malcolm.

This is a profitable company; they know how to make money and how to run a successful event. That is why they’re a billion-dollar enterprise. So what on earth are we subsidizing? Ontario taxpayers are simply padding their bottom line.

MLSE doesn’t need this grant. The problem is that this government simply cannot resist handing money out left, right and center.

There isn’t a single sector in the economy where the Wynne government isn’t trying to give our tax dollars away for the sake of a quick photo opportunity and some good publicity.

We know the Wynne government has no shame when it comes to wasting taxpayer’s money. They have no problem using our money to pay for lavish alcohol-filled parties for millionaires and billionaires.

For their part, the Liberals are adamantly defending the expenditure which is part of the province's “Celebrate Ontario Blockbuster” tourism program.

"This is part of what we do as a government to enhance tourism and bring people to the province," Wynne said according to the Globe.

"There are other large events that we support, hockey events, soccer events, that bring tourism to the province, and the all-star game is part of that."

[ Related: Rob Ford focuses on music during trip to Texas, not associate’s drug charges ]

But does MLSE really need the money? The all-star game is something that gets moved around from city to city — Toronto was bound to get it one of these days.

Political consultant Gerry Nicholls says that this is the type of thing that drives voters crazy.

"Not only is it a waste of tax dollars at a time when the government is in debt, but it's giving money to Toronto, a place everyone loves to hate," he told Yahoo Canada News.

[ More Political Points: New survey suggests Canadians’ opinions of non-Christian religions are deteriorating ]

The latest Ontario budget — introduced in May — increased the province's deficit by $2 billion and will increase Ontario's debt to over $270 billion.

And, according to data collated by CBC News, Ontario has one of the worst debt-to-GDP ratios in the country. It also has the second highest per-capita debt burden — each Ontarian now owes over $18,000. In fact, Ontario's debt situation is worse than that of the State of California.

Everybody knows, how bad things are right?

(Photo courtesy of the Canadian Press)

Are you a politics junkie?
Follow @politicalpoints on Twitter!