P.E.I.'s bill for high profile at NHL's 4-Nations Face-Off topped $500,000, legislature hears
CBC
Although former premier Dennis King suggested the province might be looking to get out of its multimillion-dollar sponsorship agreement with the National Hockey League, the P.E.I. Legislature heard Thursday that the provincial government spent even more money on promotion at a major league event in January.
Hal Perry, who leads the Opposition Liberals, said the $2.5 million per year pricetag for the province's NHL contract did not include the cost of P.E.I.'s relationship with the 4-Nations Face-Off.
That was the NHL's 2025 replacement for its traditional All-Star Game, and featured teams made up of NHL players from Canada, Finland, Sweden and the United States. Canada's team ended up winning the tournament.
The province's partnership with the event cost more than $500,000, according to records tabled by Perry.
The documents showed Tourism P.E.I. spent the following amounts:
"The former premier suggested tearing up the NHL deal when tariffs were announced. Instead, this government doubled down… [and] signed another cheque for another NHL event," Perry said in the legislature.
Minister of Fisheries, Tourism, Sport and Culture Zack Bell replied that the NHL deal is part of a tourism strategy, and was developed in conversation with industry players.
He confirmed that the province did partner with the 4-Nations Face-Off, but said it was in conjunction with the province's earlier deal with the league.
"As part of the NHL contract, we were awarded one tentpole event," he said.
Examples of those high-profile branding events would include the NHL All-Star Game and the NHL Winter Classic, which each feature one game, Bell said.
"With the 4-Nations Cup, we had seven games," he said, adding that the final game between Canada and the U.S. had more than 16 million viewers.
Bell said there is evidence that the NHL promotional ties were working, saying: "Our website stats for 2024 were up 140 per cent… for English, and 79 per cent for French."
But Perry pointed out that the 4-Nations Face-Off was held in January 2025, not in 2024, and said the website traffic data from last year doesn't matter.
"In late January of 2025, [the province] received a bill from the NHL for nearly $300,000, and by mid-February, the minister was flying to Boston with staff to wine and dine yet another NHL event," Perry said.
Gregor Chisholm was a nine-year-old in Saint John when the Toronto Blue Jays won the World Series in 1992, and it had a profound impact on his choice of career.
Leaping out of a plane more than 4,200 metres in the air, Simon-Pierre Bouchard can’t control his excitement as he opens his parachute and wonders if everyone has gotten into place.
The Hudson's Bay Company vanished in June, when the last of its stores ceased operations, but its presence in Winnipeg might never be fully erased.
At a Prince Albert public library branch, the usual quiet is replaced with the sound of children laughing and lining up for autographs as Prince Albert Raiders players settle in for an evening of reading.
When a fire broke out at the Charlottetown Farmers’ Market in the early hours of Christmas Day, John Bell was among the first on scene.
For the first time in 20 years, Edmonton’s police chief is a local hire.
One of the most popular hot springs in northeastern B.C. appears to be cooling off — or at the very least feeling that way — according to First Nations researchers who have been taking the temperature of the popular spot off the Alaska Highway.
No longer do the waves of Lake Timmicaca lap against car bumpers.
Municipal councils across Essex County and in Chatham-Kent and Sarnia have spent this year’s budget season trying to keep tax increases manageable while battling inflation and soaring policing costs and weighing the immediate cost of repairing aging infrastructure against the long-term cost of holding off.
Construction on Marda Loop’s main streets project may have quieted down, but redevelopment work continues at several locations along 34th Avenue. This time, the focus is on preserving the street’s history.
As both the provincial and federal governments hone in on mining opportunities in northern Ontario, supporting local industries and building safer highways are top of mind for regional leaders this year.
Tucked inside Toronto’s leafy, quiet and private residential neighbourhoods are facades that tell the story of another time in the city’s urban planning history.
Ontario’s two main opposition parties will try to turn the page on what was a difficult year, with one rebuilding after an underwhelming leadership vote result and another searching for a new person to take the party helm.