Speed skaters may have to compete off-Island if P.E.I. hosts 2023 Canada Games

Speed Skate PEI is asking the City of Charlottetown to build an Olympic-size ice surface so the province can host short track speedskating at the 2023 Canada Games.

And the bid committee for the 2023 games supports the idea of building an Olympic-size surface, which at 100 by 200 feet is larger than existing rinks in the province.

"One of the main purposes that you would host is to leave legacies for sport in the province so we would be generally supportive of that," said Brian McFeely, co-chair of P.E.I.'s bid committee.

"We're certainly supportive of any venue that would allow us to host a competition in the province and presently without the 100 by 200 venue for short track speed skating, we would need to do that out of province."

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The speed skating organization is part of a coalition of minor sport user groups that have raised concerns about Charlottetown's plans for revamping its community rinks.

A task force made recommendations in December for, among other things, a new multi-use sports centre, tearing down two rinks and constructing two new ones.

But they would only be NHL size, smaller than an Olympic-ice surface.

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"One is the safety and security of our athletes so as they train and get faster, the size of the ice really can make a difference and second is for competitions," said Dawn Binns, a volunteer with Speed Skate PEI.

"We're restricted in the ones we can do by the size of the rink."

That includes not being able to host short track speed skating events at the 2023 Games, which P.E.I. is expecting to host.

"I can certainly say they'd be disappointed, you lose that experience just by not being at the main venue," Binns said.

"We've had top five, top 10 finishes and it would be rather disappointing to see a medal won in a place other than Prince Edward Island."

Binns points out that other new rink facilities in the region have all added Olympic-size surfaces.

"Halifax, when they hosted Canada Games a number of years ago, built a new facility which included Olympic ice and has been used since then, Dartmouth also built a fourplex, they included Olympic ice," Binns said.

Fredericton and Dieppe in New Brunswick also have Olympic-size surfaces.

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Dieppe isthe most likely place to host short track speed skating in 2023 if a large ice surface is not built on P.E.I.

But Binns said if new arenas are are going to be built in Charlottetown, it makes sense to make one of them Olympic size.

"We're not exactly sure what the price difference would be but we know it's incremental and for the benefit that it would bring everyone, it would be a small incremental cost as we're building new facilities," she said.

McFeely said P.E.I. has benefited from facilities built with Canada Games funding in 1991 and 2009, and the bid committee would like to see that happen again in 2023.

"We want to have that discussion particularly if the decision was made to go with a 100 by 200 foot arena," McFeely said.

"We very much respect the process that Charlottetown is going through and understand that they need to go through that process before they make a decision on what's appropriate for Charlottetown."

If the city decides to stick with two NHL size surfaces, McFeely said that will be a different conversation.

"It's certainly a different discussion than if it's meeting a need that we have," he said.

"We can host the Canada Games presently with the existing facilities so we would want to have a discussion on, is it a better situation for athletes as a result of a new facility?"

McFeely said the bid needs to go to cabinet for approval before being submitted to the Canada Games Council by Aug. 30.

As it stands now, the bid will propose hosting short track speed skating off Island, but McFeely said that could change if the city decides an Olympic-size surface will be part of its new facility.

"Obviously they're building a facility for 40 or 50 years use and they need to have a business case that allows that operation to be successful," he said.

"The host society and the games would be a tenant for one or two weeks of the life cycle of that facility. It's Charlottetown's decision to make."

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