NORTHWEST TERRITORIES
Here's what we do know about the state of sport program funding in the NWT: the Sport North Federation, the territory's primary promotional and development vehicle for amateur sporting activities, is about to take a major hit.

John Francis of Fort McPherson heads upfield with the ball during the boys U15 A final of Diavik Senior Super Soccer in Yellowknife in 2014. Sporting events like Super Soccer could change once the new funding deal being planned by the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs (MACA) goes through on April 1, 2017. - NNSL file photo

Here's what we don't know: what effect those cuts will have on it.

The territorial government will be taking over the funding of territorial sport organizations in the NWT beginning April 1, 2017. Currently, all of the funding for sport and recreation in the NWT comes from lottery proceeds which was administered by the Sport and Recreation Council (SRC), which distributes funding to the various recreation organizations in the NWT, which includes Sport North.

The federation in turn is responsible for doling out the money to 30 territorial sports organizations (TSOs) across the territory.

Ian Legaree, director of sport, recreation and youth with the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs, said the big reason why the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs (MACA) taking over the funding is because of a threat that the lottery money could be taxed by the Canada Revenue Agency if left in the hands of a non-government agency.

Sport North is in the final year of a three-year funding agreement with the Sport and Recreation Council (SRC), which provided an average annual allotment of approximately $1.9 million. Beginning in the next fiscal year, Sport North will receive $900,000 in the next fiscal year, which is expected to cover all administrative and programming funding.

The program funding includes coaching development, awards, scholarships and athlete development.

Maureen Miller, president of Sport North, said the federation has yet to be consulted on how the $900,000 figure came about.

"If the government decides it wants to embrace this and roll it out and not have a conversation with the collective organization, it will mean problems," she said. "Our biggest fear is that we will see such a drastic change to sport that it won't have the positive repercussions that, at first glance, appears may come as a result of this new deal."

Miller said what Sport North will look like in the months to come isn't yet known and discussions are ongoing about the future.

Nearly all of the NWT's sports organizations joined in on a meeting organized by Sport North on Sept. 7 to discuss how to move forward once MACA begins funding the TSOs itself beginning in the new fiscal year, something Legaree said is on schedule to happen.

"Our decision-making process hasn't changed on this," he said. "We think it could be run more efficiently if we're working with TSOs directly."

Miller said the meeting had the desired effect of getting the sports organizations and the federation itself together and re-affirm its belief that Sport North has a vested interest in the issue.

"Sport North belongs to the TSOs and I assume they made the motion to carry on with it," she said.

The motion Miller speaks of came during Sport North's annual general meeting earlier this year.

Sports organizations were presented with a series of recommendations delivered by Judy Sutcliffe, a consultant out of Ontario, the summary of which was delivered to the groups at the annual general meeting. The recommendation about the change in core funding provided plenty of discussion and from that discussion, the organizations unanimously passed a motion stating that the TSOs have one funder for sport programming and that it be Sport North.

As it stands, each of the 30 groups receives funding based on the criteria it meets, which includes the number of communities it had a presence in, participation in various events such as the Arctic Winter Games and Canada Games and providing leadership and skill development programs. Regardless of what a TSO offers, the base funding is $1,500.

MACA, though, is planning on changing all of that and having the groups apply for funding directly through its Sport, Recreation and Youth division. The funding will be for a term of three years and each TSO will be required to submit a three-year business plan in order to access their core funding and provide standardized reporting to maintain its funding levels. It isn't just the sports organizations that will be required to submit business plans as Sport North must also do the same thing.

Miller added some organizations around the country have used the same model being proposed by MACA and they are now struggling, especially the smaller sport organizations.

"We aren't worried about the larger TSOs with a sizable base of volunteers but there are a lot of small TSOs who are going to suffer through this," she said.

More than one sports group at the meeting indicated they had regrets about the motion which had been passed at the annual general meeting but Miller said she wasn't surprised that some attitudes have changed.

"The point of the meeting was to allow everyone to say what they needed to say," she said. "We're their federation so we need to do whatever we can to assist all of them and we need to keep the global picture of the federation in mind. I wasn't shocked to hear some people say based on what they learned that it could be beneficial to their organization."

Some sports groups have already met with MACA to discuss how to draw up their three-year plans. The original deadline was Oct. 19 to have those plans submitted.

But Legaree said that date has been pushed back to Nov. 1 to allow for some TSOs to get their affairs in order.

"We realize that some TSOs still have to have annual general meetings and such so we made the decision to give them some extra time," he said. "From the meetings we've had so far, they've been generally positive in nature and I foresee that continuing."

Miller said she appreciated the extension but said some organizations will still have difficulty meeting the new deadline.

"It's great that they heard the concerns of some and the accommodation is wonderful but there's a concern about what not meeting the deadline will do to those smaller TSOs," she said.

There was also a suggestion of having the new funding model be put off for a year to allow them the chance to figure out what they need to do in order to meet the requirements but Legaree said that option isn't on the table.

"Our (former) minister announced this on Aug. 19 and we're proceeding with a start date of April 1," he said.

Moving ahead, Miller said Sport North will continue to talk with MACA to see what other options are available.