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With the Canadian dollar buffeted by economic storms, which threaten the well-being of professional sports franchises, outgoing Toronto Blue Jays president Paul Godfrey dusted off an idea he floated in the past and which is used in some states south of the border — taxing visiting professional athletes.

Godfrey, speaking yesterday at a sports-management conference in Toronto, previously suggested this idea in 2004, when the Canadian dollar was worth about 70 cents U.S.

Under the plan, all professional athletes who come to Canada to play against Canadian-based teams would pay a percentage of the income they earned during the visit to the province in question and receive a tax credit for the same amount from the jurisdiction in which they live.

This time, Godfrey added a twist: The money would not only help professional teams, struggling because most of their revenue is in Canadian dollars and their expenses are in U.S. dollars, it would be shared with Canadian amateur sports groups.

"The provinces could share the revenue received, yes with the professional Canadian sports teams, as well as at least 50 per cent of it with the amateur sports in this country," Godfrey said.

"The sports industry is not going away. But with the weak Canadian dollar, and if it continues to waver, then a lot of [teams] are going to need assistance and they are not going to be able to compete [with U.S.-based teams]."

Godfrey argued the measure would not mean athletes pay more taxes because of the tax credit they would receive from their home state or province.

"The players would do a [tax] filing in Ontario, for instance, and they would deduct the amount of tax they pay from [income tax] in their home jurisdiction," he said. "That happens in several states in America today."

However, Godfrey's proposal was met with skepticism from Gil Scott, a Toronto player agent with clients in the NHL, CFL and NFL.

His NFL clients already pay the same kind of tax in several states and cities in the United States. Scott said some of their home jurisdictions do not give them a full credit for the tax paid elsewhere, so it does act as an extra tax on the player.

"It's not a 100-per-cent credit everywhere," Scott said. "If they're not getting that, it's more tax. Also, their tax returns get more and more complex because of that."

There is a precedent for the tax in Canada.

Alberta introduced a variation in 2002, under then-premier Ralph Klein. Its purpose was to help the NHL's Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers, who were hit hard by the exchange rate on the Canadian dollar. It was eliminated on Dec. 31, 2006, because the NHL had introduced a salary cap by then and the dollar was much stronger.

During the five years it was in place, the Alberta tax was estimated to have raised about $13-million for the Flames and Oilers.

When Godfrey raised the idea in 2004, a University of Waterloo accounting professor estimated a 15-per-cent tax on visiting athletes could bring Ontario $13-million a year.

Alan Macnaughton told the Kitchener-Waterloo Record his study showed a total of $20-million a year could be taken in by the four provinces with major-league teams, Ontario, Quebec, Alberta and British Columbia. Since Ontario has the most major-league sports teams — four — it would take in the most money.

The amounts raised in the United States vary with the size of the state or city and how many professional leagues and teams are involved.

The Abilene Reporter-News in Texas reported that the California tax board estimates it takes in $100-million (U.S.) per year from the "jock tax," as it is known.

But in Indiana, where there are just two major professional teams, the Indianapolis Star recently estimated visiting NFL players paid about $492,000 to the state in 2007.