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

There were more questions in the Prince Edward Island legislature Friday about the costs associated with the province's deal with the National Hockey League, with Opposition Leader Hal Perry blasting some "incredibly expensive parties" that were involved. 

Perry tabled invoices from events the governing Progressive Conservatives held in New York in 2023 in the lead-up to signing a contract that saw the Island branded as the NHL's official travel destination. 

There were bills for consultants, entertainment, catering and a photo booth rental, among other things — all adding up to more than 100,000 of Island taxpayers' dollars. 

"What did we get out of these incredibly expensive parties in New York?" Perry asked Tourism Minister Zack Bell during question period. 

The contract with the league shows that the province will pay between $7.5 million and $8.4 million in direct costs to the NHL over the course of three years in exchange for access to the league's marketing machine.

The Opposition Liberals have been hounding the PCs to scrap the deal in light of the trade war with the United States that has many Canadians reconsidering their investments in American companies. 

Bell, who was not the tourism minister at the time of the government officials' trip and did not attend, said the partnership could generate an estimated $34-million return on investment for P.E.I. 

That figure comes from a presentation that provincial tourism officials made to a standing committee last fall, and is a projection of combined marketing value and tourism spending.

Tourism P.E.I. said it hired an outside firm to calculate the value the province is receiving for its marketing dollars, and it's confident the returns have been worth the cost to Island taxpayers.

Province tried to 'create buzz'

Bell said the 2023 event in New York and the costs associated with it were meant to get the province on the NHL's radar. 

"Anytime that staff or anytime that ministers meet with any individuals, the goal is always to promote Prince Edward Island," Bell said in the legislature Friday. "You try to… step outside the box to try to create a buzz, try to create some awareness of… what you offer and try to attract people to come."

The invoices for the New York trip tabled by Perry include, in Canadian dollars, $3,000 for entertainment, nearly $7,500 for the photo booth rental, and almost $16,500 to a catering company. 

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

On another note Friday, Bell said the province has  hired a consultant to evaluate the success of government officials' trip to the NHL's 4-Nations Face-Off earlier this year. 

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

The province's partnership with the event, separate from the travel destination contract, cost more than $500,000, according to records previously tabled by the Liberals.

Perry asked how much the latest consultant will cost, but Bell did not have an immediate dollar figure. 

The Opposition leader suggested the whole file should be examined by the province's auditor general.