Charlottetown, PE – Yesterday during debate in the Legislature, Leader of the Third Party Karla Bernard asked Minister of Fisheries, Tourism, Sport and Culture Zack Bell about the terms of the NHL contract, including costs associated with the agreement, and what the status was on the option to extend the agreement into a second and third year.
Minister Bell, during an interview following question period, told Islanders that his department is still evaluating how the first year of the contract went, and that they are still going through each aspect of the contract to make sure that Islanders are getting the “best bang for their buck.”
It turns out, now that a redacted version of the contract has been tabled, that government is already in the second year of the contract, which started on July 1st of this year. In other words, government is already more than 4 months into the second year of the deal.
The Minister either does not understand his own contract or is choosing to mislead in order to avoid having to share an unredacted version of the contract and tell Islanders how many taxpayer dollars are going towards year two.
“You have to wonder what is going on with this Minister and his department,” said Bernard. “Government transparency is a huge concern to Islanders right now, and he won’t release any of the financial details.”
So many questions arise from this government’s secrecy.
Did government actually sign on for a second year? If so, how much did that extension cost Islanders? If government paid $2.5 million for the first year (which was in reality a six month term from Jan 1st 2024 to June 30th 2024), does that mean that a full year will cost Islanders $5 million? If government didn’t sign up for a second year, were there financial penalties charged to the province?
“It's time for this Minister to stop ragging the puck and come clean with Islanders on where we stand with this unbudgeted deal with the NHL, and how much Islanders are paying for the Premier and his Cabinet’s dream of being part of the NHL,” said Bernard.
