Mike Pemberton, the chair of the Whitehorse Chamber of Commerce, says it’s still too early to know the full economic impacts of the Arctic Winter Games’ cancellation, and meetings are ongoing to address the issue.

“The sky is not falling; we are moving forward,” Pemberton told the Star Tuesday.

“It’s business as usual – Yukon is open for business.”

The cancellation, announced last Saturday, will not see the Games rescheduled for Whitehorse in 2021 nor 2022.

Pemberton took part in a series of meetings on Monday with the premier, the ministers of tourism and economic development, and the Yukon’s three chambers of commerce.

He said more meetings are planned for this week to further assess the impacts.

On Monday, the Star reported some of the significant effects of the cancellation on local businesses.

Air North is looking down the barrel of an estimated $750,000 in lost revenue from the charter flights it had planned for athletes and coaches, while the Westmark Whitehorse Hotel has seen 320 room cancellations.

Luke Legault of The Wandering Bison catering company described losing bookings at which he’d planned to serve about 800 meals.

Pemberton said a strong community response will be required to overcome the downturn for businesses.

While Monday’s meeting was mostly about information-sharing, the territory’s leaders are committed to developing an action plan.

“We’re going to do our damnedest to find the best approach to recovering from this, and show not only the rest of the country, but internationally show that we are Yukon strong,” Pemberton said.

There was a large number of community sponsors involved in the games, all of which will be impacted on some level, he added.

Pemberton said it will be important for businesses to support each other in weathering the storm.

“Businesses can work together and co-sponsor each other and help each other to promote,” he said.

The chamber is encouraging Yukoners to shop local while businesses regroup.

“Let’s have a look at having a staycation, let’s look at spending some time in the outdoors of our beautiful territory,” Pemberton said.

The business community, in general, is understanding that the decision to ice the games was necessary, Pemberton said.

He is optimistic that by the end of the week, there will be a better sense of the ramifications and actions that need to be taken.

He said some “great ideas” are already percolating, and more information will be shared with the community later this week.

“As soon as the cancellation was announced, members reached out through social media and phone calls to ask what could be done to pull together and make something good happen for our community and for our local businesses,” said Susan Simpson, the chamber’s executive director.

“We appreciate their leadership and community spirit.”

Allison Camenzulli, who chairs the chamber’s tourism committee, confirmed the organization has heard from members that there have been effects on the local tourism industry in relation to their expected visitor numbers for the remainder of this winter.

“We will be reaching out to hear more from our membership and partners in the coming days and weeks to assess this impact,” said Camenzulli.

“We are working in tandem with government officials, the Whitehorse business community and industry partners to discuss what can be done to mitigate impacts on athletes, artists and performers, the local business community and the community at large.”

The Yukon Chamber of Commerce issued a statement Tuesday that echoed Pemberton’s assessment of the current situation and actions from here.

“We were in meetings much of (Monday) with the Yukon government, members of the Yukon business community, and representatives of various chambers and industry partner organizations, to discuss the economic impacts of the decision, and strategies to help mitigate those impacts,” the release stated.

“We expect to share further details in the next couple of days.”

The chamber is inviting Yukoners to submit their ideas for recouping losses via email to office@yukonchamber.com.

Work is being done with the government to source information for employers on best practices associated with business operations regarding COVID-19, the release stated.