Mayor Laura Cabott is back from a trip to lobby federal officials in Ottawa with few specific promises but an abundance of hope.

Cabott spoke to the Star shortly after getting off the plane on Thursday afternoon.

Her trip was all about drumming up more support – particularly financial – for the many issues facing the city, including housing, the landslide problems, and more.

Despite the lack of concrete commitments, Cabott said she thought such meetings – some with ministers – are always worthwhile.

“I think having face time with a minister is always worthwhile,” she said “It was definitely worth going.”

Cabott said she spent some extra time with Sean Fraser, the minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities of Canada, discussing Whitehorse’s housing woes.

“He knows we have a growing population,” Cabott said. “There was a positive response.”

Cabott said there might be something to announce in a week or two, but didn’t elaborate further.

The mayor said she also broached infrastructure funding with various ministers.

The city has $250 million of such projects on the wish list over the next several years, and is looking for help funding them.

She said she made sure to emphasize that Whitehorse has approximately 70 per cent of the Yukon population – but only receives about 10 per cent of infrastructure money.

That’s simply not enough for the city’s needs, Cabott said.

She said she was given assurances the Canada Community Building Fund, otherwise known as the gas tax fund, would continue.

“We like that one,” Cabott said.

According to the federal website, the Canada Community-Building Fund is a “permanent source of funding provided up front, twice a year, to provinces and territories, which in turn flow this funding to their municipalities to support local infrastructure priorities.

“Municipalities can pool, bank and borrow against this funding, providing significant financial flexibility.”

Despite that, Cabott said a number of ministers told her “money is tight.”

That means the city will have to look for alternate ways to fund some of those projects, including dipping further into the “city’s coffers.”

Cabott said she also spoke to various federal officials about high-profile items such as wildfires, and was encouraged by what she heard.

As for the problems with landslides along Robert Service Way and elsewhere on the clay cliffs, Cabott said, “I spoke to almost every minister about it.”

The city has put in an application for federal assistance, she said, and the people she spoke with were very familiar with the submission.

“I’m hopeful we could get some of that money,” Cabott said, but noted that “many communities” have applied as well.

She added the city “can’t keep going year to year” with the landslide problems staring it in the face. (Major slides occurred in the springs of 2022 and 2023, closing Robert Service Way for several weeks each time.)

That’s likely going to be another issue Whitehorse will have to become inventive at: finding other sources of funding, although she didn’t define what those could be.

There’s also a new version of the Innovative Communities Fund program in the works, Cabott said, that she has some hopes for, but no details are available.

That’s a program previously restricted to the Atlantic provinces.