P.E.I. government grilled over $100,000 spent on New York trip before NHL partnership was struck

Stephen Brun · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 04, 2025 5:34 PM EDT | Last Updated: 3 minutes ago

There were much questions successful the Prince Edward Island legislature Friday astir the costs associated with the province's woody with the National Hockey League, with Opposition Leader Hal Perry blasting immoderate "incredibly costly parties" that were involved. 

Perry tabled invoices from events the governing Progressive Conservatives held successful New York successful 2023 successful the lead-up to signing a declaration that saw the Island branded arsenic the NHL's authoritative question destination. 

There were bills for consultants, entertainment, catering and a photograph booth rental, among different things — each adding up to much than 100,000 of Island taxpayers' dollars. 

"What did we get retired of these incredibly costly parties successful New York?" Perry asked Tourism Minister Zack Bell during question period. 

The declaration with the league shows that the state volition wage betwixt $7.5 cardinal and $8.4 cardinal successful nonstop costs to the NHL implicit the people of 3 years successful speech for entree to the league's selling machine.

The Opposition Liberals person been hounding the PCs to scrap the woody successful airy of the commercialized warfare with the United States that has galore Canadians reconsidering their investments successful American companies. 

Bell, who was not the tourism curate astatine the clip of the authorities officials' travel and did not attend, said the concern could make an estimated $34-million instrumentality connected concern for P.E.I. 

That fig comes from a presumption that provincial tourism officials made to a lasting committee past fall, and is simply a projection of combined selling worth and tourism spending.

Tourism P.E.I. said it hired an extracurricular steadfast to cipher the worth the state is receiving for its selling dollars, and it's assured the returns person been worthy the outgo to Island taxpayers.

Province tried to 'create buzz'

Bell said the 2023 lawsuit successful New York and the costs associated with it were meant to get the state connected the NHL's radar. 

"Anytime that unit oregon anytime that ministers conscionable with immoderate individuals, the extremity is ever to beforehand Prince Edward Island," Bell said successful the legislature Friday. "You effort to… measurement extracurricular the container to effort to make a buzz, effort to make immoderate consciousness of… what you connection and effort to pull radical to come."

The invoices for the New York travel tabled by Perry include, successful Canadian dollars, $3,000 for entertainment, astir $7,500 for the photograph booth rental, and astir $16,500 to a catering company. 

The documents besides amusement Tourism P.E.I. paid implicit $56,000 to a New York-based advisor from July to December 2023 for the "planning and execution of tourism meetings" — what Perry said amounted to a glorified "party planner." 

On different enactment Friday, Bell said the state has  hired a advisor to measure the occurrence of authorities officials' travel to the NHL's 4-Nations Face-Off earlier this year. 

That was the NHL's replacement for its accepted All-Star Game, and featured teams made up of players from Canada, Finland, Sweden and the United States. (Canada won.)

The province's concern with the event, abstracted from the question destination contract, outgo much than $500,000, according to records previously tabled by the Liberals.

Perry asked however overmuch the latest advisor volition cost, but Bell did not person an contiguous dollar figure. 

The Opposition person suggested the full record should beryllium examined by the province's auditor general.