Games in Yellowknife still possible
NWT switches spots with P.E.I. on hosting schedule, will now get to bid in 2031
James McCarthy
Northern News Services
Wednesday, September 21, 2016
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The 2023 Canada Winter Games bid process provided plenty of opinion among many in the sport and bureaucratic sectors last year but in the end, city council decided it wasn't worth the risk.
Hay River's Andrew Lirette leads Team NWT into the Canada Winter Games opening ceremony as the flag bearer on Feb. 13. - Bobbi Carpino/Canada Winter Games photo |
If you thought we wouldn't hear about another bid for many years to come, think again.
The NWT and P.E.I. governments have agreed to swap their places on the bid schedule, meaning the island province has jumped in to host the 2023 Canada Winter Games in place of the NWT. The change now means the NWT will have the chance to bid on the games in 2031, which was originally P.E.I.'s bid year.
In a news release issued by the Canada Games Council on Sept. 15, Municipal and Community Affairs (MACA) Minister Caroline Cochrane stated the GNWT was still "fully committed to the Canada Games movement."
"The switch in hosting years provides an opportunity for the GNWT to complete research on new and innovating hosting formats for consideration by Yellowknife and other NWT communities who may be interested in being part of the Games," she said.
Ian Legaree, MACA's director of sport, recreation and youth, said once Yellowknife decided it didn't want to move ahead with a bid for 2023, it went back to the Conference of Federal-Provincial-Territorial Ministers responsible for Sport, Physical Activity and Recreation on how to proceed.
"Some discussions happened and it came out from their last meeting that P.E.I. wanted to host so it worked out best to flip our date with them," he said. "We just weren't ready to host at the time so now we have the new timeline to work on a new bid. We learned from the experience and talked to some of the smaller cities that have hosted, such as Whitehorse, and got their thoughts."
As for a timeline on when the bid process will ramp up again, Legaree said things won't materialize for at least the next four years.
"It's not at the top of our list right now," he said. "It will probably enter the plans in about four to five years from now but we have some notes and it also depends on what the leadership looks like at that time."
While the GNWT may be fully committed, it will take a lot of selling to city council to make it a reality. When the final vote came in February on whether Yellowknife should take the plunge and bid to host the 2023 Games, councillors voted unanimously against moving ahead with the bid.
The cost to bid for the 2023 Games came in with a price tag of $50.3 million, which broke down into capital costs of $14 million and operating costs of $36.3 million. The city's contribution was estimated to be $15.96 million but there was also the issue of the Ruth Inch Memorial Pool and whether it would have been ready in time to host synchronized swimming, which is part of the program.
Leading up to the final decision, the city's Canada Winter Games Working Committee produced a report which said hosting the games was "feasible," even with several items identified as risky, including a lack of hotel rooms, recruiting enough volunteers and the lack of a firm commitment from the GNWT to help pay for the athlete's village, which came at an estimated price tag of $26 million, even though the GNWT offered to share the costs of the proposed athlete's village at the 11th hour.
Coun. Steve Payne said having a later date is something that could work for him but everything needs to be lined up.
"It's still too far away to give a definitive answer but if there's a good plan and the economy is good and we have the pool ready, I would support it," he said. "I think those who put the bid together last time learned a lot because people demand transparency. You need to tell them exactly what's contained in the bid and you can't hide any dollar amounts whatsoever. People can handle the truth so long as you're honest and up front with them from the start."
Sport North was one group in favour of having the Games held in Yellowknife in 2023 and it's still in favour this time around as well.
Doug Rentmeister, its executive director, said he's still excited about the prospect of having the Games come to the NWT but he knows there are still some who aren't in favour of another bid.
"There needs to be information that's informed and we need to ensure people aren't swayed by misinformation," he said.
"One of those facts is that every host committee has made money from the Games and that's why you see communities bidding to host."
Rentmeister isn't wrong.
According to the Canada Games Council, five sets of Games between 2005 and 2013, both winter and summer, have seen net surpluses of between $1 million and $3.5 million.
When it comes to the innovating Cochrane spoke of, Rentmeister said he doesn't exactly know what that means yet but what he does know is it can't be left to Yellowknife to pick up the entire price tag, whatever that number turns out to be.
