SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Impassioned pleas, including a last ditch effort by Finance Minister Robert C. McLeod, were not enough to convince even one city councillor Monday night to support a bid to bring the 2023 Canada Winter Games to Yellowknife.

NWT Finance Minister Robert C. McLeod implores city council to support a bid for the 2023 Canada Winter Games at Monday night's council meeting. Despite his plea and from others who wanted the Games, council voted down the proposed bid 8-0, citing a lack of community support. It is unlikely the city will get another chance to host the Games before 2037. - John McFadden/NNSL photo

All eight councillors voted against the city hosting the Games at the council meeting, citing uncertainty about the costs but mainly a lack of support from the community.

"It would be amazing to host the Games but we have so many uncertainties," said Coun. Linda Bussey. "There is a risk of impacting an already existing tourism industry by competing for hotel space during a peak period. I want to share a comment a Canada Winter Games committee member in Whitehorse shared with me, 'The glow of the Canada Winter Games disappears after the event but the costs remain."

A poll released by the city last month shows 211 stated they didn't think the city should host the Games out of the 335 people who responded. The lack of a firm commitment from the territorial government to help fund the $70 million Games likely didn't help.

McLeod, who in recent weeks has been stressing publicly about the need for the GNWT to rein in spending, insists he was committed to backing the city's bid but admitted territorial funding for it would still have to be approved by cabinet and the legislative assembly as a whole.

The GNWT did propose it would contribute $26 million toward the construction of a $37 million athletes' village that could be later converted into seniors' or low-income housing but that guarantee was contingent upon council accepting the bid.

Now that the proposal is off the table, McLeod said a new plan will have to be devised for future public housing needs in the city.

"I will have to go back and speak with my colleagues at NWT Housing and see where we go from there," said McLeod.

"We do recognize that it is a need for the city and we're probably planning to address that through the regular infrastructure budget session."

Sue Hylland, president and CEO of the Canada Games Council, called council's rejection a lost opportunity for the city but didn't criticize it. She said if the city was not ready to host the games then council did the right thing by rejecting the bid.

"We've been working with the territories since about 2012 to make sure that they understood what was needed to deliver and then they had to do their own due diligence with the territorial government and the city to put all of this into place," said Hylland.

"People have put in some great effort and I'm sure it was a hard day for those people."

She said it's not clear yet which community will take Yellowknife's place in hosting the Games in 2023.

It's unlikely the city will get another chance to host the games before 2037, said Hylland.

Mayor Mark Heyck insisted after the vote he was not disappointed by the outcome.

"Council has spoken and I certainly respect their decision and I don't intend to second guess that

decision," said Heyck.

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