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Whitehorse Mayor Laura Cabott says she has received notification that the Canada Games Council is moving on from the Whitehorse bid.

In an interview with the Star this morning Cabott said 鈥淭he Canada Games Council advised the two hosts, us and YG, that they needed to hear from us as of Monday (Dec. 5). What they needed was a resolution from the territorial government that they were going to support the Games, that they were going to host the Games and then a co-written letter from both of us. So again, City of Whitehorse has done everything. We鈥檝e identified how much we鈥檙e going to pay. YG has never done that. We passed a Council resolution saying we鈥檙e in. YG hasn鈥檛 done that.

鈥淪o what鈥檚 happened is that date has now passed. And we were notified by the Canada Games Council as of yesterday that the Games 鈥� that they鈥檙e moving on.

鈥淭here will be no games here in 2027. And it will be two or three decades before we鈥檒l get a chance to ever host the games again because it goes on a rotational basis. And the next time that we鈥檙e up for an opportunity to bid 鈥� the rules change. We鈥檙e going to have to bid with the other smaller jurisdictions. So Newfoundland, P.E.I., Nova Scotia 鈥� as opposed to in the rotation right now, we would have had to bid with the other two territories and so we鈥檙e out for a very, very long time.鈥�

When it was mentioned that Yukon government Minister of Community Services Richard Mostyn had said in an interview with the Star Monday that the city and YG had until the end of the week to respond to the Canada Games Council as to what their plans were, Cabott said 鈥淐anada Games Council was very clear on this. They鈥檝e given extensions a few times now. On December 5, we needed to provide them 鈥� it鈥檚 in their correspondence to us.鈥�

Cabott then read the notification from the Canada Games Council to the City of Whitehorse.

鈥淚n terms of clarifying approaches, the Canada Games Council would request the following by Dec. 5: One: a letter from the two host governments confirming their acceptance of the conditions and Two: a territorial resolution from the Yukon government including all required elements in Schedule A.鈥�

Cabott then said 鈥淭hat didn鈥檛 happen. The city received a letter from Yukon saying they would host it but no legacy piece to us, not even the upgrades.

鈥淎gain, we responded saying 鈥楲ook, we鈥檙e 鈥� all along, we鈥檝e had discussions, we鈥檝e been open to alternatives. We have never said that we don鈥檛 want to host the Games. We have never called this off. We have facilitated meetings with the feds, with CYFN, with the Bid Committee, we facilitated those meetings in the last couple of weeks to see if we can get this thing happening.鈥�

鈥淏ut after we received a letter from government on Dec. 5 saying basically 鈥榃ill you host without a municipal legacy piece鈥�, we basically responded back and said it was very frustrating and unfortunately it doesn鈥檛 appear that we鈥檙e aligned in pursuit of the Games 鈥� and we鈥檝e said that it鈥檚 always an option for the Yukon government to host on their own so we鈥檝e said if you don鈥檛 like what we need to host this, to be an official partner, then you can host it and that we would certainly support them in some way. But without that key legacy infrastructure for our citizens, it just wouldn鈥檛 be a responsible decision of taxpayers dollars.鈥�

In an interview Monday with the Star, Minister of Community Services Richard Mostyn revealed that the Canada Games Council relaxed their conditions for hosting the Games about two weeks ago.

Since then, the city and YG had been having discussions about how to proceed, including putting forth a scaled-down bid.

Mostyn was asked why Option 4 in the 2027 Canada Winter Games Arena Assessment 鈥� the most extravagant one, was the recommended option in the assessment.

鈥淚 think it was cheaper to run in the long term 鈥� as soon as you open up a building to construction you have to deal with all the existing problems. Possible asbestos, all that stuff has to be remediated 鈥� I think the difference in cost between the two proposals, say, was about $6 million 鈥� and you wind up with a brand new facility built to modern standards meeting modern environmental codes, a much more efficient building. And the difference in price wasn鈥檛 that much 鈥� as well the O and M (Operations and Maintenance) was a lot cheaper going forward. So it pays for itself certainly over a 40 -year life lifespan. It certainly is cheaper to run and you end up with a building that lasts a lot longer. City of Whitehorse, as a co-host and partner, wanted a legacy asset and we worked hard. We collaborated and explored all options, including building a standalone arena. None of the options, with the exception of the selected option, met the needs of the City. We just didn鈥檛 proceed with them 鈥� Option 4 was the one that best met the needs of the city as it identified. The City of Whitehorse 鈥� has to meet the needs of its citizens as well. And this is what they said met the needs of their citizens.鈥�

Mostyn said they didn鈥檛 consider Option 1, which involved expanding the Takhini Arena and adding a second sheet of ice.

鈥�(The) design team wasn鈥檛 even given the instructions to revisit Option 1 at all. Option one was rejected by the City of Whitehorse 鈥� it wouldn鈥檛 maximize use of the site 鈥� You then have to have duplicate infrastructure. To run both arenas in terms of staff, Zambonis, all this stuff would have to be duplicated. It just wasn鈥檛 a good use of resources.

And then the second site, to have a second arena built at that site.

鈥淪o we chose option four. Which considered a lot of factors including legacy requirements for the City of Whitehorse using the ice surface鈥檚 seating during the opening and closing ceremony, so 鈥� we could have actually accommodated many more than 2,800 people in that facility if we used the ice surface鈥檚 seating space as well. So if you鈥檙e using it as a performance space, you can actually get a lot more people into the facility.

鈥淎nd the age and orientation of the existing arena. Takhini Arena was built in 鈥�84. It鈥檚 an old building anyway. When you open up the envelope of that building, you have to bring up the modern building code standards. There鈥檚 a certain cost implicit in that anyway and it鈥檚 not sited on the land very well. So if we tore it down and rebuilt you could actually maximize use of the land a lot better than you could if we just had a second arena plunked in that area.鈥�

As mentioned, the Canada Games Council informed the potential partners that conditions were being relaxed. 鈥淚 believe it was about two weeks ago,鈥� recalled Mostyn. 鈥淲e got a letter. So it was fairly recent that we got written notification of this.鈥�

Mostyn was asked if it was his intention to push the issue to try to get the bid moving forward again.

鈥淲as I intending personally to push this to a new stage? No, I was making a responsible decision based on the bid that we had pulled together over 18 months together in partnership with the Canada Games Council, meeting their requirements and meeting the requirements that the City of Whitehorse needed for their citizens,鈥� he replied.

YG and the City reopened discussions after the CGC relaxed their conditions.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 right,鈥� confirmed Mostyn. 鈥淚t also changes the whole calculus but you know 鈥� this is difficult 鈥� we鈥檙e involving a lot of players in this decision-making. And it鈥檚 all good and we have a good working relationship but with the new conditions, of course we鈥檙e going to talk about that and see what it is. Because the ground has shifted a bit. But, in the end, the City of Whitehorse does need legacy infrastructure for its citizens and to date we have not gotten a firm financial commitment from Ottawa for any recreational infrastructure in the city.

鈥淵ou talk about doing anything to Takhini Arena. I have no idea what that costs. I don鈥檛 know what that looks like. And it took us 18 months to get the bid in last time. So that鈥檚 what we鈥檙e doing. We鈥檙e looking at this thing and trying to figure out whether or not we host a scaled-back version of the Games with no infrastructure.鈥�

Mostyn didn鈥檛 directly answer the question of whether it鈥檚 possible to have a legacy piece with a scaled-down bid, only saying 鈥淲ell, we鈥檙e working on that now.鈥�

It was pretty well the same when he was asked if there鈥檚 any chance of a scaled-down bid being resurrected.

鈥淲e鈥檝e just got this new information and of course we鈥檙e discussing this with our co-hosts.鈥�

As for his personal feeling of the potential for a successful bid to come out of this new process, Mostyn responded 鈥淚t鈥檚 not about my own personal opinion on this. We鈥檙e working with our partners with all the information and skill that we can bring to this to see what鈥檚 possible and we鈥檒l make a decision with our partners.鈥�

He was willing to advise what the timeline for the latest talks is.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 have a firm timeline at this stage. I think the time鈥檚 a-wasting. We really have to come up with a decision because the Canada Games Council deserves a decision and so we鈥檙e working on this as quickly as we can to find out if anything鈥檚 possible.

鈥淎t the moment the Canada Games Council wants to know whether we鈥檙e proceeding on this this week. So the timeline is looming. So we鈥檙e working to that timeline. We鈥檒l see what happens.鈥�

Mostyn added 鈥淚t鈥檚 a big commitment for the City of Whitehorse. It鈥檚 a small jurisdiction, one of the smallest sporting jurisdictions in the country and hosting a national event like this is a very big commitment for both the City of Whitehorse and the Yukon government and given the state of the world right now, it has complicated this bid enormously for both co-hosts and the federal government too. None of the decisions we鈥檝e taken so far have been easy and I don鈥檛 think the hard decisions are over yet.鈥�

Mostyn asserted that their decision will be revealed soon.

鈥淥nce a decision is made, we will certainly communicate. We don鈥檛 make decisions in secrecy here. This is not something we won鈥檛 communicate once a decision is made.鈥�

It now appears that a decision has been made for them, and the 2027 Canada Winter Games bid is now officially dead in the water.