You know with a huge event such as the Arctic Winter Games, there’s bound to be an element of very important people who will be on hand for the occasion.
One of those very important people is Municipal and Community Affairs Minister Vince McKay, who will be leading the GNWT delegation to Mat-Su Borough, Alaska for the big show which gets underway on Sunday with the opening ceremony in Mat-Su Borough, Alaska.
McKay said he’s excited to have the chance to represent the territory on the political side.
“I’ve been to a few of these before, but it’s my first time going on the political side and I’m getting excited,” he told NNSL Media on Tuesday morning.
Not only will be McKay be going in a political sense, but he’s also going as a dad. His daughter, Helene McKay-Ivanko, will be playing with the U19 girls hockey team in what will be her final appearance as an athlete in hockey.
“That’s one of the unique things about going in terms of myself: I’m both a minister and a father,” said McKay. “Hopefully, I’ll get to catch some of her games, but I’m going to be busy trying to watch all of the other sports where the NWT is going to be competing.”
Team NT has athletes in every single sport except alpine skiing; the longest trip McKay will be making from home base in Wasilla, Alaska is to Anchorage, which is where the biathlon will be taking place. That’s a one-hour drive.
“I have some constituents involved in biathlon, so I should really go,” he joked.
One of the big debates surrounding the Arctic Winter Games is the future of the event itself. The next AWG in 2026 were originally scheduled to be hosted by Yamal in Russia, but the country’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 meant that the team was suspended indefinitely by the AWG International Committee and the region was stripped of the hosting responsibilities.
Yellowknife was asked to assume the role, but that didn’t materialize as city council balked at the financial contribution needed. That meant the Games will now be in Whitehorse.
McKay, who was part of Hay River’s town council when the AWG were held in the South Slave in 2018, said one of the issues surrounding the AWG is the size, especially when it comes to smaller locales being able to host.
“The fear is that it’s getting past the capacity of smaller areas to be able to host,” he said. “I certainly don’t want it to die off or become a thing of the past because of the lack of interest in hosting. I think we need to look at ways to make it more attractive or easier to host.”
A past suggestion from Lorne Kusugak, a cabinet minister in Nunavut, was to split things into a winter and summer version. Some sports currently in the winter edition could be transferred to a summer edition with some extra sports added to each.
McKay admitted he’d never heard of that idea before, but isn’t totally sold on it.
“That’s a quick turnaround if it happens every year,” he said. “I don’t know if the capacity would be there in terms of volunteers. Volunteers are a big part of making these events successful.”
But in terms of this year’s AWG, McKay said he’s looking forward to seeing the athletes doing good things and hitting the top of the podium.
“I’m hoping they’ll all bring home gold, but it’s all about having a good time and having fun doing it,” he said.