Even in the rebuilding phase, when the Canadiens have been losing steadily for the past two years, ticket prices at the Bell Centre continue to rise. There's a tendency to think that the pandemic has something to do with it, and to put the blame on ticket buyers, who shouldn't be paying these prices. In any case, according to Geoff Molson, it's the same everywhere. <q> The increase in ticket prices is not unique to Montreal. It's the same everywhere, in every league. We're no better or worse than anyone else. - Geoff Molson</q> This statement has enraged many of the team's fans, who can no longer afford tickets. Pierre-Yves McSween, a well-known Quebec economist, gave the best explanation for the increase, the one that makes the most sense. It's interesting to have such a concrete, well-explained answer. <q>What fills Canadian arenas, it must be said, is businesses. Companies buy a season ticket for 10-12 thousand dollars, deduct that, bring their friends and say they're employees or customers. But sometimes, it's even the owner of the single SME who pays for it. After that, he goes on Kijiji and sells the rest of the tickets there and cashes in personally. So basically, he deducts 50% from the company, then collects it personally. It's a way, not of laundering, but of defiscalizing money that should be taxed. The important thing here is not the taxes saved or the taxes saved [by the company], but the personal tax [...] You don't pay the corporate tax, but you don't pay the personal tax you should pay. If hockey tickets are too expensive, it's because they're fiscally subsidized by the population as a whole. If you stop subsidizing that, I guarantee that ticket prices will go down. - Pierre-Yves McSween</q> In other words, part of the ticket price goes to pay taxes that are not paid by business owners, according to McSween. <div align='center'><blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'><a href='https://twitter.com/JeremyFilosa/status/1701220520610426948?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1701220520610426948%7Ctwgr%5E4ffbfeadc6dfbf8a947d8fe125ac095ed5691243%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.habsetlnh.com%2FDeclaration-controversee-de-Geoff-Molson-une-nouvelle-proposition-fait-surface-et-pourrait-tout-changer-275102'> </a></blockquote></div>