The Yukon’s hopes for hosting the 2027 Canada Winter Games stand all but dead today.

“The Government of Yukon has determined it can no longer proceed with the bid to host the 2027 Canada Winter Games due to a lack of federal support,” Community Services Minister Richard Mostyn announced this morning.

“The Government of Canada has indicated that it is only willing to provide a total of $16.75 million towards the games, including only $3 million in capital funding – the standard amount provided to any small jurisdiction hosting the games.

“This is less than three per cent of the requested contribution from Canada and less than the $11 million in capital funding the City of Whitehorse has already signaled it would contribute to the games.”

This means there is no funding to support the necessary projects that would have made the Games a success “and left a lasting legacy in Whitehorse, including a modern arena complex and infrastructure to incorporate Arctic and Dene sports into the games for the first time,” the minister added.

“We did not make this decision lightly, and we are extremely disappointed that we cannot proceed with this bid.

“Hosting the 2027 Games in Whitehorse would have been an historic opportunity to advance reconciliation and bring the highest level of sport in the country back to Canada’s North.

“We made it clear from the outset that substantial contributions would need to be made by all levels of government, including our federal and municipal partners, for this bid to succeed,” Mostyn added.

“Without any meaningful contribution from the federal government to support these Games, we were left with no other option.”

With the capital costs of hosting the 2027 Games estimated to be in excess of $185 million, and contributions from partners totalling less than $15 million, the minister said, “it is simply not feasible for the Government of Yukon to proceed with the bid at a cost of $160 million.

“Our government has a responsibility to manage taxpayers’ money responsibly. At this time, it is clear that the territory’s resources must be focused on housing, health care, education and tackling climate change for the benefit of all Yukoners.”

He thanked Piers McDonald, the chair of the 2027 Canada Winter Games Bid Committee, “and his exceptional team for all their hard work over the past 18 months.”

He also thanked the City of Whitehorse for its role in pursuing the Games.

“While this was not the outcome any of us had hoped for, I look forward to continuing to work with our partners to increase recreational infrastructure and support the development of sport throughout the territory in the coming years.”

Speaking to the Star late this morning, McDonald said that on behalf of the committee, he is “very disappointed that the bid to host the Canada Games will not proceed.

“I think a lot of people put in a lot of good effort to try to put together a bid proposal that would have been very good for the Yukon community and certainly as planned it was meant to be a reconciliation event, a partnership with First Nations in ways that had not been experienced before by a Canada Games movement ….

“It depends of course on the support of the hosts, particularly the Yukon government and the federal government in terms of providing for the facilities portion of the proposal and that’s their call, obviously. I respect that very much.”

He was asked if he felt blindsided by the decision.

“Like a lot of people, I had some wishful thinking going on that there were a number of alternatives and that one would be found to proceed, but I guess, weighing everything in the balance, the people who were making the actual call felt that they couldn’t proceed at this time with the new hockey infrastructure, the arenas, so they obviously have put an end to the process as a result.”

“If you ask me if I saw this coming, nobody singled that this was going to be an outcome, but I certainly understand the implications of what had probably gone into the decision-making … I’m prepared to move on.

“I guess it wasn’t meant to be in the end.”

McDonald confirmed today’s announcement effectively ends the Yukon’s bid for the Games.

“Oh, yes. I think the Canada Games Council at this point is going to be turning on the jets to find an alternative for Yukon’s hosting,” he said.

“They typically will go to – there’s a rotational schedule. They’ll go to the next people on the schedule – I can’t remember who that is– they’ll probably look to find a community that has all the infrastructure in place so there’s no need to worry about timing to build infrastructure,” McDonald said.

“So it’ll probably be a larger community within the next jurisdiction and they will negotiate and decide whether they can award it to someone else.”

He was also asked if there’s any chance the bid could be resurrected.

“Not without some sort of commitments to meeting the basic requirements,” McDonald replied.

“The alternative, of course, to building an arena is not to build an arena but move one more sport to another community like Fort St. John (B.C).”

McDonald reiterated that the bid committee had proposed to move long track speed skating to Fort St. John and had confirmed that opportunity with officials there.

“The next opportunity would have been to host a sport like ringette in Fort St. John and not build any new arenas in Whitehorse. Just fix up the Takhini Arena and do whatever we need to do.

“But in the end the hosts, the people in charge, determined that couldn’t realize some physical facilities and they didn’t see it worth the communities’ while to put in the effort for the Games themselves.”

McDonald said there’s little chance the feds might reconsider their decision.

“At this point, I doubt it … I’m sure the (Yukon) government has tested the position of the federal government many different ways and for the federal government to reverse itself would be astonishing.

“Not to say it wouldn’t happen, but I doubt that it would.”

McDonald added, “I’m disappointed, of course and I feel for all the people who put so much effort into the planning to date … it was a pleasure working with them and hopefully some new opportunities come forward before too long.”

Mayor Laura Cabott said early this afternoon that pulling the bid is a huge disappointment.

Aside from showcasing the city and bringing in tourism dollars, she said the biggest losses will be funding for infrastructure that would have lasted well beyond the games: housing and much-needed upgrades to – or the replacement of – the 36-year-old Takhini Arena.

Had the federal government committed enough funding, Cabott said $60 million to $65 million would have gone toward housing for athletes.

Just like the housing built for the 2007 Games, those residences would have become housing for Yukoners afterward, bringing welcome relief to the city’s housing crisis.

Cabott couldn’t confirm if any money the city or territory had set aside for the Games would now be spent on housing, but said housing is still a huge issue for her government.

Additionally, she said the Takhini Arena could have benefited immensely from federal funding.

Beyond necessary upgrades to the aging infrastructure, federal money would have allowed the arena to add more seats. Currently, it only holds 1,500.

“You can’t hold a concert, you can’t hold a big event, you can’t host major hockey tournaments, whether that’s a junior hockey (tournament) or women’s International World Championships.”

She said she’d hoped new infrastructure would have benefited the city like the Canada Games Centre did in 2007.

She called that facility a “gamechanger” for Whitehorse, offering new athletic infrastructure for competition and recreation that’s still used by about 3,000 people a day in the winter 15 years later.

But the lack of funding means those lasting benefits won’t be coming to Whitehorse, she said.

“I haven’t had an opportunity to speak with council yet,” she said.

“But I think it would be highly unlikely that the city would be able to host these Games on our own just considering the costs.”

– With files from Morris Prokop and Ethan Lycan-Lang.