Last year, just as provincial crown corporation Trade Centre Limited was losing $159,550 loaned to a concert promoter in Halifax, the federal crown corporation Enterprise Cape Breton Corporation was propping up a promoter in Sydney with a $145,000 loan and a $36,000 grant.
ECBC, which falls under the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, gave the money to Captive Communications and Promotions to put put on the Snoop Dogg concert on the Sydney waterfront last August 8. The loan was issued July 28, 2010, and the grant was issued July 30, 2010.
The $36,000 was used to buy radio ads in Moncton, Halifax and Newfoundland, says Stephen Tobin of Captive. The $145,000 loan was working capital, and was paid back the night of the concert. About 6,000 people attended the show, says Tobin.
The ill-fated Black Eyed Peas and Alan Jackson shows in Halifax were held July 24 and August 7, respectively.
“I don’t agree that the government shouldn’t be involved [with concerts],” says Tobin. “I think there is a role for government to play. I don’t think it has to be as significant an allocation as we saw in Halifax.”
ECBC claims the Snoop Dogg concert brought an economic impact of exactly $1 million, but has not provided any documentation for that claim. “ECBC has not provided assistance to other major concerts in the area or for the upcoming Elton John concert,” says communication director D.A. Landry.
This article appears in Jul 21-27, 2011.
If each person in attendance paid $166.66 or more for the entire event (ticket, travel, food), then 1 million isn’t a far off claim. But, do I think people paid this… Not likely.
ACOA gives money away for everything. Have a look at their website. It’s sick.
I believe that Tobin had never promoted a concert before in his life prior to this and yet he received a huge loan and a big government handout.
If people can’t afford to be paying deposits on artists and vendors then the government sure as heck should not be propping them up and underwriting their profit making businesses. This is absurd.
It’s just not comparable to what happened here in Halifax. Our local government bulldozed ahead with handouts for multiple years despite the fact that each and every concert was a failure. This particular concert was a success. 6,000 people in downtown Sydney to see a rap concert is pretty darn impressive.
$1M buys a lot of weed