Preparations for the 2026 Arctic Winter Games are beginning. Or at least they would’ve been had they still been scheduled for the Russian region of Yamal.
We know that’s not happening because of reasons we keep seeing and hearing about on a regular basis and that’s meant a change in scenery. The only question left to answer about that is whether the scenery the AWG International Committee is hoping for will actually be the canvas.
City council has spoken on what it will contribute to a potential 2026 AWG in the capital. That was confirmed at Tuesday evening’s council meeting when councillors unanimously passed a motion committing the following: allocating staff resources in an advisory capacity on the bid committee; providing a letter of support indicating the city will offer its facilities at no charge to the Games and; an allocation of staff resources in an advisory capacity on the host committee.
That’s great, but there’s something rather glaring that you don’t see: money. Not one mention of one dime being spent on behalf of the city. Essentially, city council told the GNWT that its support will be of an in-kind nature — you can have all the facilities you want and we’ll even throw in some of our human resources to help with dotting the T’s and crossing the I’s. You just won’t get any money.
When the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs (MACA) went to city hall to make its case in January, Gary Schauerte, MACA’s director of sport, recreation and youth, said that Yellowknife was the only community being considered. He also said the NWT would only agree to move up in the hosting rotation schedule if Yellowknife agreed to host. As it stands, the NWT is scheduled to host next in 2028.
Schauerte said an appropriate amount of support on a financial level from the city would be $500,000, a number confirmed on Wednesday by Jay Boast, MACA’s senior communications and planning advisor, in response to my question about council’s motion.
That seems rather low, considering the amount it’s probably going to cost to host. Take the 2023 AWG in Wood Buffalo, Alta., for example. That was an estimated $13 million adventure, of which the municipality pumped in $5.4 million. During that initial meeting, Mayor Rebecca Alty surmised that $5 million would most likely be the amount needed from the city to make it work. And in order to make that work, she said, there would probably have to be a property tax hike.
The 2018 AWG in Hay River/Fort Smith received $3.5 million in funding from the GNWT and Schauerte indicated that would be the starting point in any negotiations between the city and the GNWT. Okay, fine. So let’s take that as a starting point. Oh, and there was $1 million of in-kind support given by the GNWT to Greg Rowe and Kevin Smith and the whole crew in the South Slave.
The federal government has usually kicked in anywhere between $2 million to $3 million whenever the AWG has been held in Canada. Let’s take the top end of that and add it up. That’s $3.5 million plus $3 million plus $1 million, which makes $7.5 million. At least that’s what it was the last time I took Grade 5 math. The way math is taught these days, 2+2=potato.
Well, there’s corporate sponsorship also, right, James? Sure, there is. And just where do you think that’s going to come from? The diamond mines are on their way out in the next few years. They may throw a bit into the kitty, but it won’t be the big donations they gave back in 2008 — the last time Yellowknife hosted — or even in 2018. NorthwesTel already sponsors the Team N(W)T uniforms and you can bet they’ll be heavily involved should the city host in 2026, but it probably won’t want to do the heavy lifting.
The business community will no doubt be asked to get on board, but the most you can expect from businesses here in town would be in-kind donations. There aren’t many businesses who would be willing to throw in a pile of cash to make things work, but they’d be happy to offer up some services, much like the city has done. And besides, the last time the business community was approached to help out for a major games, those in charge of the bid did a bang-up job of making sure the business community was insulted in the home stretch.
There’s fundraising possible within the community, which was very well-organized for the 2008 AWG. David Gilday and a host of people did a fantastic job selling raffle tickets for some rather lofty prizes. And let’s not forget the tourism sector. People can fly again now that Covid-19 is no longer an issue and you can bet some parents or family members will want to come and see what their young athlete is up to. The only problem with that is you won’t see the benefit until after it’s all over.
According to the economic impact assessment published following the 2008 AWG in Yellowknife, the net gross domestic product (money made) was $3.5 million. That’s not bad, but again, that’s after the fact. I’m sure someone will come out and say that the benefit for the local economy is there, but in order to make money on something like this, you have to spend money. And the city doesn’t appear willing to spend the money this time like it did in 2008.
So here’s where we’re at: the city seems to want to be involved, but not financially. The GNWT wants the city to host and is willing to help pay for it, but wanted the city to put up some of its own funds. If negotiations take place, it’s going to be interesting to see what exactly will be on the table. Nothing has been confirmed financially from the GNWT, but there’s a long way to go and the window is getting perilously short.