Keith Hobbs to keep pushing for Thunder Bay event centre in 2016

Keith Hobbs told CBC Newshe wants to give the new federal government time to find its feet. But he's hopeful that funding will eventually be delivered.

"Every politician I've talked to are excited about the project. The province is waiting for the feds, and so I'm going to say to the province, maybe if you take the lead, the feds will come on board."

Hobbs said he has also spoken to Thunder Bay's two new Liberal MPs about the matter. He said he still believes the event centre has huge economic development potential.

The project stumbled in 2015 when agreements with a development consortium expired, and a deal to have an AHL team anchor the facility fell through.

Thunder Bay city council voted earlier this year to continue to push the event centre forward, even without a professional hockey team.