Harold MacKay is back in the beer game. While many Coast readers might recognize his name from a certain concert funding scandal that rocked the city five-plus years ago, beer was his bag way before the Black Eyed Peas. MacKay—who was one of the founders behind long departed Dartmouth brewery, the Maritime Beer Company—opened Downeast […]
Harold MacKay
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How Halifax’s concert scandal played out
Last spring, Halifax’s now-infamous “concert scandal” broke when city staffer Cathie O’Toole revealed that mayor Peter Kelly and the city’s deputy CAO, Wayne Anstey, had improperly extended millions of dollars in loans to concert promoter Harold MacKay’s firm, Power Promotional Events, and that the last two of those loans, totalling $400,000, were not repaid. Anstey […]
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Deal with Harold MacKay makes city look bad, weakens bargaining position with TCL
I was wrong: contrary to my earlier supposition, the payment from Harold MacKay to the city just before the Metallica show was in fact related to the concert loan scandal, and not simply pre-payment for Metallica costs. Council Tuesday released this statement: 13.3 Contractual Matter – Concert Update That Halifax Regional Council approve the settlement […]
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City embarrasses itself with Metallica fiasco
In a bizarre and inexplicable move, this past week the city of Halifax attempted to force the promotion company for the July 14 Metallica concert on Citadel Hill to pay the $359,550 bill for the Common concerts fiasco. With the advice and encouragement of Scott Ferguson, president of provincial crown corporation Trade Centre Limited, Halifax […]
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Possible Metallica cancellation: City picks wrong target in attempt to recoup concert costs
Harold MacKay is right: He doesn’t owe the city of Halifax one cent. But city administrators are demanding $359,550 from his wife’s company, MacKay Entertainment, before agreeing to provide city services to the July 14 Metallica show on Citadel Hill. The city oversees and regulates police, fire, licensing and other aspects of the concert; without […]
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“Third party” impedes Coast request for Common concerts documents
Here we go again. Readers will recall I’ve long argued that ALL city contracts should be a matter of public record, as a matter of course. If the city contracts for services, the contract should simply be posted on the city’s website, with all the particulars spelled out—term, dollar amounts, details. Such a policy would […]
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Parks Canada details charges to Harold MacKay for Metallica show
I just got off the phone with Theresa Bunbury at Parks Canada, who I had called to find out what Harold MacKay of MacKay Entertainment was paying for rental of the Garrison Grounds for the July 14 Metallica show. While Bunbury wouldn’t give me the exact terms of the contract, she did say it was […]
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Merch rep says Harold MacKay still owes $63,000 for Black Eyed Peas show
On Monday it was announced that Metallica will perform on Citadel Hill on July 14. The promoter is none other than Harold MacKay, whose Power Promotional Events company put on the failed Black Eyed Peas show at the heart of the city’s concert loan scandal. Power Promotional Events has since gone out of business; the […]
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Mystery deepens: Metallica to play Halifax, but Molson isn’t presenter
I just got off the phone with Brian Harriman, a vice president for Molson/Coors’ Atlantic division, and he tells me definitively that Molson is not putting on a Metallica show—or any other show for that matter—in Halifax. “Of course we’d like to sell beer there,” he says, “but we’re not a presenter.” This contradicts The […]
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Metallica looking to play Citadel Hill July 14
[image-1] This morning, Cole McLean of Atlantic Canada Rocks announced that Metallica will play Citadel Hill July 14. The group has been touring with Megadeth, Slayer and Anthrax on a the BIG FOUR tour; there’s no word if the other bands will be playing in Halifax. And in the Saint John Times & Transcript, McLean tells us that: What’s perhaps more interesting is that it sounds like Harold MacKay, whose company Power Promotions went bankrupt after a series of outdoor shows in the city, is said to be the promoter behind the potential Metallica date. I called McLean to see
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Where did Harold MacKay get his numbers?
Failed concert promoter Harold MacKay told the Chronicle-Herald that the economic impact for last year’s Black Eyed Peas and Country Rocks shows was worth the loss to the taxpayer: The two shows that we did not make money on, and we lost money on, generated $13 million in economic spinoff,” he said in an interview. […]
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Common concert promoter goes out of business
[image-1] Yesterday, The Coast’s business office received the following email from Harold MacKay, of Power Promotional Events: As you are aware Power Promotional Events Inc, has experienced a significant cash flow shortfall and we have now exhausted all of our efforts to try and resolve this situation. It is therefore with much regret that we inform you that Power Promotional Events Inc. will cease operations and we sincerely apologize for not being able to fulfill our obligations to you. We thank you for your support over the years helping us to try and create Halifax as a destination for major