General

Hey Bill, let’s go to the Ex

Marquee tourism money buys fairground address by former US president Bill Clinton

In an exclusive report, the Globe and Mail reveals that federal tourism dollars will be footing the bill when former U.S. president Bill Clinton drops by the Canadian National Exhibition later this month for what the Globe describes as “Clinton-for-the-masses.” Next week, Natural Resources Minister Lisa Raitt is expected to announce that The Ex will receive a total of $3 million from the Marquee Tourism Events Program, of which several hundreds of thousands of dollars are earmarked for the Clinton address. CNE organizers are hoping the speech will bring as many as 25,000 visitors out to BMO Field to hear what the former president has to say. There’s no word on how much the Clinton surcharge will be, but according to the Globe, it will cost “considerably less” than his last Toronto event—a joint event with fellow former president George Bush—which sold out in minutes despite ticket prices that ran from $200 to $2,500.

The Globe and Mail

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