Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are addressed to the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs. I’d like to follow up on a statement that I made a little while ago with regard to some sports being dropped from the 2016 Arctic Winter Games. At the time, the Minister had just come back from a meeting with some of his other counterparts. He had met with the Arctic Winter Games International Committee. There was a certain amount of publicity around the whole dropping of sports issue, and there was publicity in the media as well.
I would like to know from the Minister at this point, considering there was publicity, considering it is an issue that is of concern to quite a few Northerners, I would like to know if the Minister has heard from the sport governing bodies, the territorial sport organizations for the five sports that were dropped for 2016.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. Robert McLeod.
We had the opportunity to meet with the presidents of the affected sports organizations. It was a very productive meeting. They had expressed their concerns on the sports that were excluded from the games. We had committed to them that we were going to have a meeting again with the Arctic Winter Games International Committee again this spring to look at the options that the Arctic Winter Games International Committee has come up with, and compare them to our options to see if we can find some common ground. It was a very productive meeting, and they had many good suggestions from the territorial sports organizations.
Thanks to the Minister for the information. I guess I would like to know, and I imagine many of the people who might hear this, our conversations in the House, would also like to know, what some of the options are that have been presented by these sports to give their kids, their athletes an opportunity for a major event in 2016.
Due to the lack of facilities in the host community in 2016, the six sports that were dropped, some of the options that we came up with – and it’s a discussion we had with the Arctic Winter Games International Committee – is possibly having a satellite location where these six affected sports would have an opportunity to compete as Arctic Winter Games athletes, and flying the Arctic Winter Games colours and using the Arctic Winter Games uniforms. The TSOs had suggested that would be their main priority, is to ensure our kids have the Arctic Winter Games experience and that’s one that we will be presenting to the Arctic Winter Games International Committee. They are aware of that and they are following up with that, also, to see if there’s some way we can make it happen.
Thanks to the Minister. That’s really good to hear. I think the sports that have been dropped, that they have an opportunity to be a part of the Arctic Winter Games, even if it’s in a different jurisdiction, is a great thing. I hope the Minister follows up and pushes for that, which I think is what I’m hearing from him.
My question goes to the hockey that’s going to be held in 2016. At the moment, from what I understand, there will be two divisions of hockey held in Iqaluit. Midget hockey will be held maybe someplace else. I’d like to ask the Minister if it’s on the radar for the sports Ministers that hockey, all three divisions, be held in the same place or are they going to keep them split.
The bantam hockey and female hockey will be held in Iqaluit. That was an agreement that the host society had made with Iqaluit. One of the suggestions that we made during our meeting with the TSOs is if we were to have hockey as part of our satellite games, then we would like to see all divisions of hockey, whether it be in Iqaluit or any other jurisdiction, but we would like to see all divisions of hockey be held at the same time as the other sports that have been excluded. They’re very receptive to that, and that would be their preference also.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final supplementary, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thanks to the Minister. I’m really glad to hear that hockey will be all together. I think that only makes sense.
My last question is a statement, I suppose, a comment to the Minister. I hope that he will keep the pressure on, and with the other sports Ministers that he’s already working with that he will keep the pressure on the Arctic Winter Games International Committee, and I would ask him if he could keep us up to date as things progress in the spring.
One of the concerns we heard from the TSOs was the fact that they’d be losing almost six years of development as far as our young athletes go. This may affect some of their funding also. We have to recognize that and we have to ensure that we don’t lose this group of athletes.
As far as the hockey goes, they have an agreement with Iqaluit to host those two events. We would like to have all hockey events in the same location if we do have a satellite game. We are in regular contact with our counterparts in Nunavut and the Yukon. They have the same concerns we have. Alaska and Northern Alberta have the same concerns we have.
I have committed to the TSOs that I would like to meet with them again before my spring meeting and after my spring meeting, and I will continue to keep Members of the House updated as to the discussions that we have.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The Member for the Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
