Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in my Member's statement I referenced a news article which found that 71 percent of athletes were from Yellowknife alone. Does the Minister find that statistic concerning given that the NWT is home to 33 communities in total? Mahsi.
Thank you, Member for Deh Cho. Minister responsible for MACA.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Canada Games are a unique multisport competition that brings together the very talented athletes in the country, and many of which go on to represent Canada at the national and international level. There is more to be developed where athletes and coaches in all 33 communities, and I agree with the Member on that. But this is more than just funding; it's also about developing coaches, officials, and organization, and it's about communities and schools keeping facilities open so that our athletes have a place to train and develop. With Canada Games, it is one opportunity for northern athletes.
I can confirm that Team NWT is attending the North American Indigenous Games this summer, and I can also confirm that 100 percent of these athletes from the NWT attending this event are Indigenous. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mahsi to the Minister for that. In my statement, I also referenced another article. The executive director of Sport North was interviewed and stated that they didn't track the athletes' ethnicities so therefore, they did not know the number of Indigenous athletes. Does the Minister find that concerning given that the NWT is home to about 50 percent of Indigenous peoples? Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, earlier this year MACA undertook engagement with many stakeholders on a renewed sport and recreation and physical activity framework. Engagement included sessions with many partners, such as sport and recreation organizations, Indigenous governments and organizations, diverse and inclusive organizations, community representatives including coaches and athletes in territorial sport organizations. But also we worked with the Aboriginal Sports Circle as part of their work with the national framework that they're working on. As part of this engagement, we also work on the development of an evaluation framework which may include both performance indicators, monitoring as well as potential for evaluation of different programs and services. MACA is interested in tracking different performance measures such as gender equity, community participation and Indigenous participation, and we will be tracking this data in the near future. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. That's twice now that the Minister had made reference that Indigenous athletes, you know, aren't very welcomed into the Canada games fold since he's deferred them over to NAG and the Aboriginal Sports Circle.
Mr. Speaker, can the Minister explain what the GNWT is doing to increase both the Indigenous participation in small community athlete participation when it comes to major sporting events, such as the Canada Winter Games and the Canada Summer Games? Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to correct the Member. I did not say our Indigenous athletes cannot go to the Canada games, Arctic Winter Games. I'm just telling you this is where our athletes go or where they're able to go. So I respectfully disagree with the Member.
In regards to his question, in the NWT we continue to see that smaller communities continue to face challenges and barriers with capacity building at the community level to have more sports development locally and the number of volunteers and sports leaders in every community needs to increase to young athletes to develop.
Municipal and Community Affairs is providing funding to the Sport North Federation to sport coaching development and to the Aboriginal Sports Circle of the NWT for leadership development. All community governments are funded to support recreation programs and the sport and recreation infrastructure development. Municipal and Community Affairs and the sport rec partners continue to invest in training and development of local recreation leaders. Combine all of these investments support athletes and support development in the Northwest Territories, and government must continue to work with stakeholders so that we are using this investment as strategically as possible to support athletes in all our communities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Deh Cho.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker, and mahsi to the Minister for that answer. Numerous times I've asked the department to send their expertise, their staff into the communities and, you know, to get out of Yellowknife, not just sitting on their thrones here. And you know, they really need to get out there because we get changeover in rec directors in our small communities and they've got limited training and everything. So they really need that extra assistance.
Mr. Speaker, the Yukon seems to host large events such as the Canada Winter Games, the world men's fastball and world junior men's fastball tournaments. Of course, they may have engaged many major sponsors, including the Yukon government. I understand it takes a lot of effort to host a major event, gather and organize the volunteer base. Hay River and Fort Smith cohosted in 2018 so it can be done by putting on the thinking caps.
Mr. Speaker, I understand Yellowknife turned down the offer to host the next Arctic Winter Games. Can the Minister provide some details as to why and what could the department have done to entice the offer? Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, first and foremost, the 2026 Arctic Winter Games, because of the situation in Ukraine, Yamale wasn't going to be hosting the games. So the international committee came to the Northwest Territories to see if we could move up our request. We're supposed to be doing the 2028 games.
So, Mr. Speaker, the Member is correct that the NWT has considered hosting these games in Yellowknife, and I can confirm that the GNWT has communicated to the Arctic Winter Games International Committee that it's not proceeding with hosting the Arctic Winter Games in 2026. We're not moving up in the schedule. MACA has provided information to the city about the benefits of hosting, including the budget from previous host societies and economic and social benefit studies that the Arctic Winter Games International Committee has commissioned over the years. Ultimately, the decision was the City of Yellowknife's to make, and I respect their decision. While this is a difficult decision, no successful Arctic Winter Games has ever happened without enthusiastic and committed community governments. While we were not successful with the 2026 Arctic Winter Games, I remain supportive of these games, and I know that the Arctic Winter Games International Committee has continued to clarify the future hosting rotation of the Arctic Winter Games, including when the NWT next to be considered.
Again, Mr. Speaker, we're working together on it. They asked us to move it up. We worked with the City of Yellowknife to see if we can host it. They came back and said they couldn't with the parameters that we were asking for. So 2028 Arctic Winter Games is supposed to be scheduled for the Northwest Territories, and that's what we're looking forward to. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
