After appearing to avoid the media on Wednesday, mayor Denis Coderre spoke to reporters Thursday about news that nearly half of the tickets for July's Formula E race were given away.
He had long avoided the question of how many tickets were actually sold, but on Wednesday the promoter of the race released the figures: 25,000 were sold and the other 20,000 were given away.
Many of those which were sold were bought by corporations, who in turn may have given them away to others. One reports suggests that as few as 5,000 tickets — out of 45,000 — were paid for by individuals.
On Thursday, Coderre apologized for not releasing the numbers sooner, adding there was pressure from the promoters to put the best possible spin on the event.
"We apologize. When you recognize there was a mistake, there was a mistake," Coderre told reporters.
Coderre, meanwhile, is still calling the race a great success, saying that the criticism and bickering over ticket sales amounted to “splitting hairs.”
“45,000 people. And the people, even, when we gave them tickets, they came. It means a lot. You know, there are major events that exist and when we’re providing tickets, they’re not even showing up. When, in soccer, events – when you want to start a team, of course you find the best way to make sure you get people to know about that event, so no – it’s good,” he said.
On the campaign trail on Wednesday, his main rival, Valerie Plante, called the ticket sales "embarrassing."