Graham still anxious over Games’ cost

Whitehorse city councillor Doug Graham doesn't argue there's a value to hosting the Arctic Winter Games (AWG).

Whitehorse city councillor Doug Graham doesn’t argue there’s a value to hosting the Arctic Winter Games (AWG).

“Nothing could be further from the truth,” he said at Monday night’s city council meeting.

Graham joined the rest of council in voting to go ahead with establishing a committee to prepare a bid for the city to host the 2012 Games.

Before he did, however, Graham reiterated his concerns about the costs. He also responded to a letter published as a full-page advertisement in last Friday’s Star from Gerry Thick, president of the AWG International Committee, over the councillor’s earlier comments.

“My question again is: who should pay for the Games?” Graham said.

When the proposal for the city to put in the bid was first brought forward, the councillor argued the city can’t afford the $500,000 price tag he believes would come with the sporting event.

While he agreed the Games should be hosted here, with 2012 being the territory’s turn to be host, he also argued it should be the Yukon government that acts as host rather than the city.

Currently, it must be a municipality, rather than a territory or province that submits any bids.

Community Services Minister Archie Lang provided a letter of support to the city stating the government would be a “full partner” for the Games.

However, Lang didn’t specify what sort of financial contribution it would make to deliver the Games.

Thick’s ad pointed to the social and economic benefits of the international northern sporting event. They range from the money it brings in to the local economy ($6 for every $1 of government funds invested in the 2000 AWG) to athletic and cultural development.

Thick, himself a former city councillor, also expressed disappointment and frustration over what he argued are some people questioning the value of the Games.

“We should not be debating whether we want to maintain our commitment to our Arctic Winter Games family as a founding member and partner in the Arctic Winter Games,” he wrote.

The letter, Graham said, made many of his own points on the history and value of the Games “over and over again.

“I agree with that and I believe that’s why we have to look at a different funding arrangement,” he said, reminding his colleagues that property taxes in the city have jumped 15.4 per cent in the last five years.

If the city sticks to its planned increases in the next two years, it means taxes will have risen by 25.9 per cent over a seven-year period, he said.

If the territory hadn’t picked up much of the hefty bill for the 2007 Canada Winter Games hosted by the city, taxes would have likely jumped even more, Graham suggested.

“And that’s my concern for taxpayers; that’s my problem,” he said. “And if I can be blamed for that with a full-page ad in the newspapers for being concerned about taxpayers, I don’t mind because I’m very concerned, especially for those folks that are on fixed incomes, single parents, anyone else who has trouble meeting the bills on a week-to-week basis.”

The city budget is already stretched to the limit, Graham stressed.

What’s even more concerning to the city councillor though is the “over-reaction” to his statements with the ad.

“That kind of a reaction to a new concept just completely astounds me,” he said. “And I’m really concerned that one person’s, or a number of persons’, apparent refusal to look at anything in the way of new concepts or a new way of doing things is really scary.”

Just because the current rules state a municipality must host the Games doesn’t mean the city can’t go to the AWG’s International Committee and propose a change that provinces or territories be permitted to bid, he said.

Along with arguing the letter is an over-reaction, Graham also took issue with Thick noting Graham and his family have had the opportunity to be part of past AWGs.

“Take shots at me all you want because I’m a big boy now and I can take it, but to bring family into it is a little bit tacky and completely unnecessary,” he said.

Despite Graham’s issue over the cost, he voted in favour of moving ahead with the bid, stating the funding matter can be dealt with down the road.

As Coun. Jeanine Myhre said, there will be lots of time to deal with funding arrangements and debate whether to submit the bid when it is complete and brought forward to council.

Other council members voiced their support for the Games. Coun. Dave Stockdale argued the benefits far outweigh the costs of hosting.

While voting with the rest of council in favour of moving forward with the bid, Coun. Florence Roberts expressed concerns over the price tag too.

“We’ve got to look at the funding arrangement,” she said.

In an interview this morning, Thick said he’s pleased with council’s vote and happy Graham opted to support moving ahead.

While he stands by the letter he wrote last week, Thick also said he’s sorry if he offended Graham by including his family in it and, in retrospect, likely wouldn’t include that part if he was to write it again.

The document was written as an open letter to council to address “misinformation” in the public over the Games, he explained.

Had he simply delivered it to the city, council would have the choice to do what they want with it. Publishing it as a full-page ad ensured the letter was available to the public.

While Thick acknowledged the letter didn’t fully address what the 2012 Games might cost the city, he also said the situation is different for each host municipality.

Most can expect to pay between $400,000 and $500,000 though, and given the benefits, they should be contributing something.

“There’s not an absolute need to raise taxes,” he said.

Normally, there’s no tax boost from hosting the Games, Thick said.

Where there are, it’s generally due to the operation of new facilities built for the event rather than the actual cost of hosting.

In Whitehorse’s case, it won’t likely need to build any new facilities, with many of the city’s newest recreational sites built or improved for the 2007 Canada Winter Games, he said.

With the AWG still four years away, the city could set aside a certain amount each year to put toward the event, he suggested.

He hasn’t given a lot of thought to the possibility of the territory playing host rather than the city. However, he noted the rule of municipalities being host is standard for any major sporting event as it’s the individual community that largely benefits.

The 2010 Olympics, for example, are being hosted by Vancouver.

Although the 2009 Canada Summer Games will take place throughout Prince Edward Island, the bid came in as a joint submission by municipalities in the province, Thick said.

While the Games normally have two or three communities bidding from the host region, in the Yukon’s case, Whitehorse is the only community large enough to play host, he explained.

With council’s vote Monday night, work will now begin on organizing a bid committee to come up with the document.

Thick said he expects the bid can be put together fairly quickly, with the committee able to draw from the last bid it drafted before hosting the AWG in 2000.

The AWG have been held in Whitehorse five times.