The McGill Tribune Vol. 17 Issue 10

Page 1

T

H

P u b lis h e d b y th e S tu d e n ts ’ S o c ie ty o f M c G ill U n iv e rs ity

E

h ttp://w w w .tribune.m ontreal.qc.ca

4 N ovem ber 1997

Volum e 17 Issue 10

Alouettes’ venture to Molson Stadium a great success B y Pa u l C o n n e r

, , , , M ike P ringle leads Alouettes to victory over Lions a t M olson S ta d iu m

Rebecca Catching

What is the sound of over 16,000 pairs of hands clap p in g at M o lso n S tad iu m ? U n til Sunday, this was one of life’s imponderables. But after the CFL game between the Montreal Alouettes and the B.C. Lions, Molson Stadium may be able to recapture some o f the former glory it held over a quarter-century ago. Displaced from their customary home at the Olympic Stadium because of a U2 concert on the sam e day, the A louettes found them ­ selves with the opportunity to test the viability of downtown, outdoor football in Montreal by h o stin g th e ir d iv is io n se m i-fin a l gam e at M cG ill. T he re su lt w as the te a m ’s la rg e st crowd of the season and an atmosphere unheard of at the cavernous Big O. Chants of DE-fence brought normally dor­ mant Alouettes fans to their feet. W hen the BC L io n s’ fie ld g o als lan d ed in the en d -z o n e stands, the crowd cried for the ball to be thrown back — a tradition borrowed from baseball’s Wrigley Field. As the game ended, a chorus of “hey hey hey, good-bye” erupted; for once, it was not drowned out by the rumbling echoes of the Big O. F o rm e r Q u e e n ’s G o ld e n G ael an d A louettes receiver Jock Clim e expressed the feel of the game in terms of university football. “ ‘K ill M c G ill’ w as p ro b ab ly the m ost exciting football event of the year,” said Clime about his playing days at Queen’s. “W e would come down here to Molson Stadium and bring 15 to 20 busloads of screaming purple students with us and the whole idea was to try to have

more fans here than McGill had. That was a lot of fun. This reminded me of that a lot, looking up an d se e in g th e v ery h ig h e n e rg y , fu ll stands.” S un d ay ’s p lay o ff gam e, w hich finished with a score 45-35 for Montreal over B.C., was o f secondary significance for the A louettes franchise. M ore im portantly, the event served as a testing ground for the future o f the CFL in C a n ad a’s th ird la rg e st city. It is g en erally agreed that the A louettes cannot survive in Montreal at the Olympic Stadium. With a sea­ son ticket base of 2,800 and poor walk-up totals all year until this last game, the team expects to lose several million dollars this season. And this loss of cash revenue gave further importance to the game played at McGill. Five hundred surveys w ere passed out during the event for fans to evaluate the venue in compari­ son to the Olympic Stadium. W hile the results o f the questionnaire will not be know n for a few days, it is safe to say that the response will be largely in favour of the downtown site. The prim ary appeal of M olson Stadium, however, is not its central location. The Big O was designed to host track and field, not foot­ ball. The seats are far away from the action in football and provide no sense of com m unity among the fans. In contrast, Molson Stadium, with its present capacity o f ju st over 19,000, was a venue designed primarily for football. All of the seats are near the field. There are no poor sight lines; the stands are so steep that the last row is not that far from the field.

Continued on page 2

Feds prepare to tax commerce on internet By C

h r is

could potentially avoid paying the PST which would be applicable if the softw are were pur­ chased at a store in Quebec. International purchases are another headache for governments. In the Netherlands, for instance, many people buy CD s over the Internet from small foreign companies in tax havens. The CDs are cheaper as these com panies do not charge sales tax. Without actually opening every package that enters the country, customs officials cannot keep up with growing sales over the Net. B ut Revenue C anada plans to take action soon. It set up an advisory committee on electron­ ic commerce last April. “The overall objective for the Committee is to ensure that Revenue Canada is able to collect appropriate revenues from domestic and interna­ tional electronic commerce activities,” said a rep­ resentative from Revenue Canada. The committee is set to report in the next six weeks. In the United States, just as there is a large body of citizens against censorship of the Internet, a growing number of people want it to be tax-free as w ell. A c c o rd in g ly , th e H o u se o f Representatives is examining legislation to pre­

A lle n

Internet commerce is skyrocketing. The vol­ um e o f elec tro n ic tra n sa c tio n s is in c re asin g roughly ten-fold each year. Consumers are buying more software, books, CDs and adult content over the Internet than ever before. As time goes on, more products will be available and electronic paym ent system s like smart cards will facilitate consumption. With no paper trail to check, tax authorities are not sure how to keep track of each purchase. T h e h allm ark o f th e In te rn e t lies in the anonymity of its users. Rather than being identi­ fied by full name, street address and telephone number, net surfers use generic usernames and passwords to get around. This opens up opportu­ nities to exploit tax differences between high-tax and low-tax states, or to dodge taxes completely. Suppose, for exam ple, that a custom er in Quebec buys software over the Internet from a company in Toronto. The customer downloads it from a server located in Alberta. Which province, if any, has jurisdiction to tax the sale? As Alberta does not have any sales tax, the Quebec resident

Î 2 CANDINE for"! $ 4 .9 9 * , * includes two flame-broiled Whopper* sandwiches and two medium fries. Please present this coupon before ordering. N ot valid with any other offer. No cash value. Applicable taxes payable by bearer. Valid only at 2001 University, McGill Metro. Expiry Daté: Nov. 30/97

| | K ■ ^ I

vent the introduction of any new taxes on Internet commerce. A c c o rd in g to A rth u r C o rd e ll, S p ecial A dvisor on Inform ation Technology Policy at Industry Canada, the complexity of the problems posed by Internet technology may call for radical­ ly new kinds of economic policy. “W hat is appropriate for the new economy cannot be found in the ways of the old economy. The new wealth o f nations is in the trillions of digital bits of information pulsing through global networks,” he said. Accordingly, Cordell proposes a “bit-tax” on all interactive digital transactions. Rather than tax Internet purchases, the underlying flow of infor­ mation itself would be taxed. Digital bits of infor­ m ation are sent back and fo rth by sw itch es. Governments would simply use existing software as an electronic counter on Internet sw itches. Taxes would be levied based on individual, local, regional or even provincial usage. Cordell likens his suggestion to a toll-gate

4

.

9

QPIRG Week highlights twelve working group projects.............Pg. 2 Tribune Online: Web version gets a new look...................... Pg. 7 U rin e : Body's own wonder drug?............................. Pg. 9 Folk music: Montreal's Yellow Door........ .................... Pg. 14 Men's Soccer: Moves on to nation­ als in Halifax.................. Pg. 19 What's On listings............ Pg. 23 New s:

Continued on page 9

2 C A N D IN EfO R

$

F ea t u r ed I n sid e

9

*

T h i s o f f e r v a li d o n l y a t:

BURGER KING 2 0 0 1 U n iv e r s ity • M c G ill M e t r o

includes two flame broiled Whopper* sandwiches and two medium

2 CANDINE FOR | $ 4 .9 9

* includes two flame-broiled Whopper* sandwiches and two medium fries. Please present this coupon before ordering. Not valid with any other offer. No cash value. Applicable taxes payable by bearer. Valid only at 2001 University, McGill Metro. Expiry Date: Nov. 30/97


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.
The McGill Tribune Vol. 17 Issue 10 by The Tribune - Issuu