The Star spoke with Bid Committee chair Piers McDonald Thursday regarding the 2027 Canada Winter Games Arena Assessment. He offered his insight into why the Bid Committee moved on from Option 1 (expansion of the Takhini Arena site).

“Certainly the City was advocating for facilities that would meet what they knew were their existing tasks. They indicated that court space was the biggest demand, so if there was a sportsplex built then they would prefer to see courts and other things placed within the precincts.

“Originally as I recall, the City, if it could have its way completely, would – it indicated that Takhini Arena was coming to the end of its shelf life and that they would like to see a replacement of the facility. And they preferred the site that it’s on right now. They were less enthusiastic about renovating Takhini Arena largely because they felt it was going to have to be replaced sooner than later. They would be on their own if there was no Canada Games around. So they were advocating that the Takhini Arena should be replaced … hence the $115 million capital cost, which seemed to be quite high, but that’s for the construction of two arenas and demolishing one.”

McDonald agreed with the Canada Games Council’s assessment that the bid proposal was a little more extravagant than necessary to secure the Games.

“They were right. There’s no question that this was a – first of all, there were a number of options on the table. The Bid Committee didn’t stop at one option. There was an option for just the upgrade of Takhini Arena and no new arena that would have involved the moving of one sport on an ice hockey surface to another community. So that was tried with the Canada Games Council and they said yes, they would permit such a thing.

“We thought that if one were to remove ringette outside of the city precincts to Dawson City or Fort St. John, then there would be no need for a fourth arena for the Games. That option was well-known to the government.”

Fort St. John officials had already agreed to hold the long track speed skating for the Games in that B.C. city, which has a world-class speed skating facility.

Ringette wasn’t necessarily the reason for a fourth ice surface.

“If you add up all the sports and you look at what is required by their standards we theoretically require the use of five arenas, including one for practice,” said McDonald. “And one had to be an Olympic sized arena which is wider and longer. And that was for short track speed skating and for figure skating. So for men’s and women’s hockey, ringette and all the ice sports there was a need for the three arenas unless we can move at least one sport out, in which case it would be a little jammed for the remaining sports in Whitehorse but we could still do it. You would provide some relief by moving one sport to another community.”

When asked if he had any regrets for not going with a less elaborate option, like Option 1, McDonald replied “We went with all the options. The option that was most broadly reported was the one that we felt was the one that the hosts preferred.

“That was not the only option that was presented to the Canada Games Council and that’s not the only option that (was) considered by the Canada Games Council … we didn’t do an all or nothing kind of bid proposal.”

Regarding the recommendation in the report of Option 4, McDonald said “That was clearly what the hosts seemed to want to address. But I was certainly prepared to say no, that that’s the preferred option and that was what people wanted to see done. And was the best option for legacy facilities in Whitehorse and in Yukon.”

McDonald was asked if he thought that the Yukon government may still be looking at holding the Games if they had gone with a scaled-back bid. He replied “If the Yukon government decided to go with the idea that one more sport could leave Whitehorse … then apart from the athletes’ village, there would be no capital construction requirements.”

Regarding the City’s scaled-back bid which surfaced recently, McDonald said he had seen it.

“People were looking at the alternatives. There were alternatives on the table.”

McDonald said he was in favour of such a bid.

“Well they have already put on the table at least as the hosts that they were prepared to consider other options and that’s great. Certainly, I think other options should be considered.”

When asked if there was a chance that the Games could still happen in the long run, McDonald replied “That’s a great question and when you find the answer I’m looking for, I’m looking forward to reading all about it.”