Consultations included federal, provincial and municipal governments, as well as the teams, the NHL and the NHL Players' Association.
Quebec said it didn't want to take part in a shared solution,
but may act on its own.
"The elements required for a shared solution consisting of
contributions from all the major stakeholders that would ensure the
future economic viability of all six existing Canadian teams cannot
be forged from the current contributions," the report said.
Industry Minister John Manley said avenues seemed to be
exhausted.
Manley had suggested earlier this month that a portion of sports
lottery proceeds be redirected to the teams, but the provinces
rejected the proposal.
"There aren't other stakeholders that are willing to be
involved," Manley said outside the House of Commons.
Rod Bryden, majority owner of the Ottawa Senators, reiterated
his earlier comments that the governments must step in or he will
move his team.
"If that does not happen, then this team, for absolute sure,
will play in some U.S. city shortly," Bryden told CTV News.
But he is still optimistic that the governments will come
through.
"I hope what this report will do is cause the three levels of
government to recognize someone better get off the dime and make
something happen," he said.
Toronto Maple Leafs president Ken Dryden said he wasn't
convinced the door was closed to eventually striking a deal on
providing help to the NHL clubs.
"I haven't seen the report," he said Monday night in Toronto
during the Maple Leafs game against the Dallas Stars. "All I can
say is these kinds of conversations still go on. Some will be
repeated. Some have gone on with Ontario and some have carried on
with Ottawa.
"It sounds like these comments, and I haven't read it, are
fairly definitive and that's not the way I understand it. I think
it's something that will play itself out at some point."
The public policy forum's first exercise was to reunite all the
stakeholders in Canadian NHL hockey at a roundtable meeting in
Toronto in June. The discussion was broad and vague, and no real
commitments were made.
The league has said that between 1996 and 1998, the six Canadian
teams reported combined losses before taxes of more than $170
million.
Part of the problem facing Bryden and other teams is that governments don't find tax breaks politically palatable. Opinion surveys have suggested that Canadians are not keen on the idea of financial support to the clubs.