NAIG host waits for election results for federal financing

The summer of 2017 may seem far away, but not for officials from the Aboriginal Sport and Wellness Council of Ontario (ASWCO) who needs to prepare numerous details in order to host the North American Indigenous Games (NAIG) that year.

This past June, the NAIG Board of Directors awarded the 2017 Games to Toronto, in a bid that was led by ASWCO and the Mississaugas of New Credit First Nation.

ASWCO president Marc Laliberte said there is still plenty of work to do, even now, to prepare for the Games.

The Number 1 priority for organizers is to firm up some funding. Organizers believe it will cost $10 million to properly run the Games.

So far the Ontario government has offered $3.5 million in funding, but that’s only if this amount will be matched, preferably, by the federal government.

ASWCO officials find themselves in a holding position in their attempt to secure funding from the Canadian government.

“We’re in the middle of a federal election year so we don’t know who we will be dealing with (after the Oct. 19 election),” Laliberte said.

The Canadian government had provided $3.5 million in funding for both the 2008 and 2014 NAIG, which were held in Cowichan, B.C. and Regina, respectively. This funding was matched by the B.C. and Saskatchewan governments when the games were in their province.

The NAIG are supposed to rotate between Canada and the U.S. every three years. But since an American bid was not submitted, AWSCO decided to step up and submit a bid for 2017.

There is a funding framework in place which sees the federal government matching provincial figures for NAIG. But since the next Canadian games were originally supposed to be staged in 2020, ASWCO officials have made a special request seeking federal funding earlier than anticipated.

“We can’t afford not to have these Games,” Laliberte said. “If we don’t host it, nobody else will step up to do it.”

ASWCO officials are hoping to have some answers soon after the federal election.

“We do have 22 months (before the Games are held) but we need to show that we have our funding in place by the new year,” Laliberte said.

The Mississaugas of New Credit First Nation will also be providing some funding for the Games. But the amount has yet to be finalized.

One of the most positive things going for those running the 2017 NAIG is that the Pan American and Parapan American Games were held in Toronto and surrounding communities this summer. Several new facilities were built for those Games.

And the plan is to utilize a number of these venues for the NAIG.

“These will be some of the best facilities these young athletes will ever be exposed to,” Laliberte said.

Scott McRoberts, who is part of the NAIG planning committee and is spearheading the logistics and operations components, agrees.

“They’re going to be treated like world-class athletes,” he said. “And they deserve to be treated like that.”

The 2017 NAIG will mark the first time the event has been staged in an eastern Canadian city. Numerous regional qualifiers are expected to be held throughout 2016 and in the early portions of 2017 to determine the participants.

“They know the Games are coming,” McRoberts said of Canadian and American athletes who are eligible to take part. “But I don’t think they know the spectacular facilities we’ll have here.”

Toronto was the only city looking to host the 2017 NAIG.

“It was not a rubberstamp,” Laliberte said of Toronto’s bid presentation, which was held in front of NAIG Council members in June in Vancouver. “We needed to present our plan.”

Besides lining up some additional funding, organizers must also soon start hiring some people. To start off with, three key individuals need to be brought on board.

Positions that must be filled include an executive director for the Games. An executive assistant and a chief of operations must also be hired.

“We hope to have them in place by this winter,” Laliberte said. “We’re not formally posting yet but we’re looking at some names.”

There will eventually be between 30 to 40 people who will be on staff for the 2017 NAIG. Some of these jobs will be filled in closer to the start of the Games. But it’s never too early to start thinking ahead.

“Twenty-two months is not that far away,” Laliberte said.

Photo caption: (left to right) Mekwan Tulpin, Rob Lackie, Marcia Trudeau, Marc Laliberte, Chief M. Bryan LaForme, Scott McRoberts