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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).

鈥淐ertainly 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.

鈥淥riginally as I recall, the City, if it could have its way completely, would 鈥� 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鈥檚 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 鈥� hence the $115 million capital cost, which seemed to be quite high, but that鈥檚 for the construction of two arenas and demolishing one.鈥�

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

鈥淭hey were right. There鈥檚 no question that this was a 鈥� first of all, there were a number of options on the table. The Bid Committee didn鈥檛 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.

鈥淲e 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.鈥�

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鈥檛 necessarily the reason for a fourth ice surface.

鈥淚f 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,鈥� said McDonald. 鈥淎nd 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鈥檚 and women鈥檚 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.鈥�

When asked if he had any regrets for not going with a less elaborate option, like Option 1, McDonald replied 鈥淲e 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.

鈥淭hat was not the only option that was presented to the Canada Games Council and that鈥檚 not the only option that (was) considered by the Canada Games Council 鈥� we didn鈥檛 do an all or nothing kind of bid proposal.鈥�

Regarding the recommendation in the report of Option 4, McDonald said 鈥淭hat was clearly what the hosts seemed to want to address. But I was certainly prepared to say no, that that鈥檚 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.鈥�

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 鈥淚f the Yukon government decided to go with the idea that one more sport could leave Whitehorse 鈥� then apart from the athletes鈥� village, there would be no capital construction requirements.鈥�

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

鈥淧eople were looking at the alternatives. There were alternatives on the table.鈥�

McDonald said he was in favour of such a bid.

鈥淲ell they have already put on the table at least as the hosts that they were prepared to consider other options and that鈥檚 great. Certainly, I think other options should be considered.鈥�

When asked if there was a chance that the Games could still happen in the long run, McDonald replied 鈥淭hat鈥檚 a great question and when you find the answer I鈥檓 looking for, I鈥檓 looking forward to reading all about it.鈥�