Yellowknife mulls hosting $36M 2023 Canada Winter Games

Yellowknife city councillors are still debating whether or not to submit a bid for the 2023 Canada Winter Games. So far, some remain skeptical of both the costs and the benefits.

In a presentation to council yesterday, city administrators estimated hosting the games would cost $36 million, with Yellowknife contributing $10.9 million and the federal and territorial governments picking up the rest.

Councillor Niels Konge said the presentation left many question unanswered.

"My worry is, hosting an event like this, while it's not going to bankrupt Yellowknife per say, it is going to increase the costs."

Councillors were also worried that the games would cost much more than $36 million.

A different scenario presented to council two weeks ago estimated the games would cost $52 million. The latest scenario brings that number down by not including a permanent athlete's village. 

The 2007 games in Whitehorse cost $120 million, but city administrators said that figure included funding that was outside the games themselves.

While administration estimates that facilities in town would require $3.6 million in upgrades to host the games, Konge suggests the cost to maintain those facilities would also go up — something administrators didn’t take into account.

At last night’s council meeting, a motion was tabled to create a reserve fund to help pay for the games starting in 2015. 

Councillor Cory Vanthuyne expressed concerns about that idea.

“Because I don't think we have done our part to get community buy-in.”

Other councillors want a task force to find out the real cost to host the games.

"It would be easy to get excited about these games, but it would have to be a low cost to no cost, or minimal cost to the city,” said councillor Linda Bussey.

The money for the games would either come from a budget surplus or a tax increase. 

Yellowknife's senior administration officer says the cost to host the games will pay off over time.

"If you look at the biathlon and the cross country skiing, that's about $1 million that would be put into a facility that would reap benefits in the future,” said Dennis Kefalas. “We could hold western Canadian events and encourage future Olympians."

Yellowknife city council has asked city administration to create a working group to look into the feasibility of hosting the 2023 Canada Winter Games and seek community input.