by Walt Humphries
With an election campaign underway, I thought I would raise an issue, which is dear to my heart: the huge gap between how the city funds sports programs and how it funds other things like the arts, culture, history and heritage.
Let’s look at sports first. The city built and runs several sports facilities. I would like to see a nice chart showing what each facility cost, how much money the city put in to build it, the yearly operating costs, how much revenue in the form of user fees do they recoup and what is the overall usage of the facility? Just so we know.
We have the Ruth Inch Memorial Pool and there is talk of building a new aquatic center with an overall price of $30 to $55 million. There's the arena beside the pool, which some people refer to as the old arena, and attached to it is the curling club. Next, we have the Multiplex with two skating rinks, a gymnasium, the armed forces gym and the gymnastics club, although I believe those latter two groups paid for the privilege. Then we have the Fieldhouse with two soccer pitches and a walking track which I use in the winter.
In addition running these facilities, the city supports hockey, skating, swimming and soccer. The city also has outdoor venues for baseball, soccer, tennis and walking trails. I think it's safe to say that the city thinks sports are a big deal. At least some sports. Other sports groups like the ski club, sailing club and the snowmobile association may get a little help from the city but pretty much must fend for themselves.
Competitive organized sports have a tremendous advantage when it comes to asking for things like arenas because they are organized, competitive and can get lots of people out to bolster their cases. As one former city councilor said, “facing a meeting packed with hockey moms and dads is a daunting experience.”
I am all for physical activity and sports but I’ve started to wonder about the trade-offs we make. Sports infrastructure costs millions of dollars. They also a get a percentage of lottery sales. However, to create healthy people and a healthy society we should try to make people healthy in body, mind and soul. So you also want activities in the arts, humanities, culture, history and heritage. Those things need city support as well.
Tourists flock to museums and art galleries, arts and crafts demonstrations and historical venues. People who learn how to paint, play instruments, write and preform can also make money if they choose. Pablo Picasso said that, “Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.”
It helps people and it can help the city in a whole range of ways.
Personally, I think the arts, culture, history and heritage are as important to people’s health and well-being as sports. So this should be an issue during our municipal election.
A number of candidates have talked about promoting tourism in Yellowknife and a healthy arts and cultural scene would be something a lot of visitors would like to see and might even spend money on.
So while I am all for sports, I would also like to see the city do more in these other fields as well. A little art every day can help keep the doctor away and it is always a way of keeping people busy and out of trouble.