MLAs on committee aim more questions at P.E.I. premier on controversial NHL deal

Opposition politicians had more questions for P.E.I.'s premier and Department of Tourism Friday at a legislature committee on education and economic growth.

MLAs requested a long list of documents and information related to the province's marketing deal with the National Hockey League, first revealed back in February.

The contract has been controversial — in fact, it was brought up by opposition members every day of the fall sitting of the legislature that wrapped up on Nov. 29 — because the cost to taxpayers has been shrouded in secrecy and the return on investment for the province is unclear. 

"We just need a lot of clarity and I think Islanders are asking for this transparency too, so I think that's the rationale behind getting the full monty of information here," Liberal Robert Henderson said in an interview with CBC News after the committee meeting wrapped up Friday.

He is a former tourism minister and economic development officer, who has been asking many of the questions about the deal in the P.E.I. legislature.

MLAs want documents including travel expenses and receipts, itineraries, emails, hospitality guest lists and detailed receipts and invoices for food, spirits and entertainment.

Many are items that could drive up the taxpayer cost of the province's NHL sponsorship deal beyond the roughly $2.5 million stipulated in the contract — for example, what needs to be spent every time the province sends tourism staff to promote the Island at an NHL game.

"It'll sort of say, did somebody have their hands in the cookie jar? Who all went on this and did it give a good return on investment?" Henderson said of his hopes for the documents he wants to see. 

This is the same committee that ended up issuing a rare parliamentary subpoena to compel Tourism Minister Zack Bell to release an unredacted version of the province's contract with the NHL. This time, the committee is merely asking for the information, rather than legally demanding it, and giving government a deadline to comply of Jan. 10, 2025.

Who paid for tickets?

The premier and staff attended the 2023 NHL awards banquet in Nashville in June 2023 and the 2023 NHL Outdoor Classic game in Boston in January 2023. MLAs have asked repeatedly who paid for tickets and travel for those trips. 

During the fall sitting of the legislature, Premier Dennis King said he didn't know who paid for his tickets and said he would come back with the information, but didn't.

Speaking to reporters last Friday after the close of the legislative sitting, King said there were no tickets for those two events.

"I don't think the two events I went to involved tickets," he said. "We were part of our partnership meetings that we were negotiating to try to get a deal done."

On Friday, Henderson expressed skepticism that it would be possible to attend an NHL game without a ticket. But in any case, he said that if the premier were attending as a guest of the NHL, that should have been declared as a gift or benefit on his public disclosure statement. It was not.

"Somehow he got in," said Henderson. "We don't see anything in the disclosure statements and we also don't see anything in the conflict of interest commissioner's statements on gifts or transactions that occurred as part of your duties."  

MLAs required to report gifts over $200

P.E.I.'s conflict of interest commissioner, Judy Burke, told CBC News that while the province's Conflict of Interest Act "provides very clear definitions and processes to assess and report gifts, it is only a framework until the details of each circumstance are weighed against it."

She said she couldn't comment on hypothetical situations "as the facts in each case are critical to a fair application of the provisions."

MLAs can ask the commissioner to investigate a potential conflict involving another MLA, but Henderson said Friday that he hasn't asked Burke to do that in this case — yet.

The act requires provincial members to disclose gifts worth more than $200 within 30 days of receiving them, and to disclose when they receive multiple gifts over the course of the year from one donor worth that amount.

The act also prohibits an MLA from accepting any "gift or personal benefit that is connected directly or indirectly with the performance of the member's duties of office."