The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is pressing federal, provincial and municipal leaders to refuse taxpayer funding for a proposed new Ottawa Senators arena.Noah Jarvis, CTF Ontario Director, said politicians need to stand up for taxpayers and tell the Senators’ lobbyists no.“Prime Minister Mark Carney, Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe all need to publicly reject giving taxpayers’ money to the owners of the Ottawa Senators.”The Ottawa Citizen recently reported the Senators have a team lobbying federal and provincial governments for financial assistance to help cover the cost of a new arena. While the team has said it does not intend to request city funds, owner Michael Andlauer is reportedly seeking a funding structure similar to Calgary’s arena deal, which included municipal subsidies..Forbes valued the Ottawa Senators at just under $1.2 billion as of December 2024. Meanwhile, both the federal and Ontario governments are deep in debt, with the federal deficit projected at $1.35 trillion and Ontario’s at $459 billion. Ottawa city council is considering a 3.75% property tax increase in 2026.“Governments are up to their eyeballs in debt and taxpayers shouldn’t be forced to fund a brand-new fancy arena for a professional sports team,” said Franco Terrazzano, CTF Federal Director. “If the owners of the Ottawa Senators want to build a fancy new arena, then they should be forced to fund it with ticket sales not tax hikes.”
