In a race against the federal election clock, some Yukon political leaders and tourism and business people are celebrating after Prime Minister Mark Carney signed off on tens of millions of federal dollars for a new Yukon convention centre.
At a press conference on March 22, the federal and Yukon governments announced a combined $75 million towards the project, which Canyon City Construction LP said in a Facebook update on March 19 had been postponed due to a lack of funding.
The people behind the project confirmed it is back on track with the funding secured.
"We found out yesterday morning that the prime minister signed off on the submission to make sure this was going through before the election call," Premier Ranj Pillai told reporters following the announcement.
While Pillai said he didn’t have a list of demands for Carney, the premier joked to the News that he was going to bring a lawn chair to the prime minister’s office until he got a signature on this matter.
“It'll be ambitious, but I think that's where we have to be, and that's how we've been all along on this project,” Pillai told reporters.
“Thirty-six months from now, we're going to be in a position where we can see a tremendous amount of Canadians and international guests come here and spend time and spend money in our communities.”
Pillai said in 2022 that his government is “extremely bullish” on making this new convention centre happen to fill the void left by the closing of the old convention centre in Whitehorse.
“As the community is growing, we needed another space for Yukoners to be able to come together,” he said during the press conference on March 22.
“That's something that Yukoners wanted, and this space will do just that. It'll be a place for all of us to come together for all the most incredible, important moments that happen in our territory and in our lives, collectively as Yukoners.”
Yukon government cabinet communications told the News by text that a new central Whitehorse-based venue twice the size of the old convention centre is estimated to double the economic impact of conference centre business to $13 million a year.
Pillai suggested Yukoners will get thinking about more hotels to accommodate the demand that the new development drives.
"I've had more contact, more communication with the new prime minister since he's taken the job than I did with the previous prime minister in two years. And we have moved more important things for Yukoners this week than we have seen in the last year," Pillai said.
The funding for the new centre breaks down as follows: $56.25 million from the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency and $18.75 million from the Yukon government.
The new convention centre project, known as the Yukon Gathering Place, is led by Chu Níikwän LP, Kwanlin Dün First Nation’s development corporation. As noted in a press release, it will be owned by Kwanlin Dün First Nation and operated by the First Nation and its development corp.
“I've worked with many partners in the Yukon to champion this project in Ottawa and have brought it to every ear I could possibly think of in Ottawa to make it a reality,” Yukon MP Brendan Hanley told press conference attendees.
“Our territory is a dream destination, and soon we'll have the kind of facility that we need to put the Yukon firmly on the global map.”
Whitehorse city council heard about the development corporation’s plans for the “Yukon’s first purpose-built convention centre” last summer.
Upon being questioned about the status of funding by Yukon Party tourism critic Geraldine Van Bibber in the legislature on March 20, Tourism and Culture Minister John Streicker reaffirmed the convention centre project is a priority for his government, and he had indicated that to the feds. He didn’t mention that it’s built into his mandate letter, which sets out the premier’s priorities for cabinet members.
Streicker told MLAs a convention centre is the next step, but he didn’t have an announcement to make that day on the floor of the legislative assembly.
Streicker told the News on March 22 that the numbers that he just got crunched show the Yukon government’s tourism spending in 2024 is up 25 per cent over 2023.
The proposed centre is planned for the Whitehorse waterfront at the north end of the Kwanlin Dün Cultural Centre. The location of the meeting place by the Yukon River is considered culturally significant.
Kwanlin Dün First Nation Chief Sean Uyenets'echᶖa Smith highlighted the spot as a gathering point for harvesting salmon and medicines and sharing stories for thousands of years.
“This was a very, very special place,” Smith said.
Construction hasn’t begun.
— With files from Jim Elliot
Contact Dana Hatherly at dana.hatherly@yukon-news.com
