Opposition questions who paid for government's NHL tickets — and whether it's a conflict of interest

P.E.I. government MLAs could have breached the Conflict of Interest Act if they accepted tickets to NHL games or other gifts without claiming them on their public disclosure statements, opposition MLAs charged in the legislature Wednesday.

The Conflict of Interest Act says all MLAs have to declare any gifts worth $200 or more, and they can't accept any gifts or personal benefits "connected directly or indirectly with the performance of the member's duties of office."

The issue was raised as the provincial government continued to defend the three-year, multimillion-dollar contract it signed with the NHL last winter to make Prince Edward Island the league's "official travel destination."

The deal has sparked heated debate in the P.E.I. Legislature this week as questions swirled about who paid for MLAs' tickets to games and functions, along with the overall cost of deal.

Zack Bell, who was not the tourism minister when the deal was signed last January but holds the job now, tabled a copy of the deal last week — with all of the costs redacted, due to a confidentiality clause.

But that has only fuelled more questions as opposition parties accused the government of not being transparent.

In a rare move, the province's Standing Committee on Education and Economic Growth issued a subpoena Tuesday giving the tourism minister until Thursday to deliver an unredacted copy of the contract.

Bell said Wednesdsay he would "follow the rules of the legislature."

Back in February, the province said back deal would cost $2.5 million in the first year, on top of the $5.5 million overall budget for tourism marketing.

No figures have been released regarding the costs of the deal for 2025 or 2026. The redacted copy of the contract also suggests there are different costs based on whether or not Charlottetown is chosen as host city for the NHL awards, along with a cost for the province to exit the deal.

Green Party MLA Peter Bevan-Baker said that is one of the reasons the committee issued the subpoena.

"We don't know how much money is involved here. If it's going to be $5 million for the subsequent years, we're looking at $12 million, $13 million, $15 million over the time of the contract. For a tourism budget, that's a huge amount of money."

Bell has said the contract's first year expires at the end of December, but hasn't said whether government will renew it.

On Wednesday, Interim Liberal Leader Hal Perry questioned the need for government officials to travel to NHL events at taxpayer expense.