Arctic Winter Games works to accommodate athletes who need Canadian passports
Registration deadline for Alaska event pushed back as Nunavut athletes, others work through passport application process
Athletes compete in the snowshoe races at the Arctic Winter Games in Wood Buffalo, Alta., in February 2023. This year’s Games open March 10 in Alaska. (File photo by Madalyn Howitt)
Arctic Winter Games organizers say they’re working to accommodate some Canadian athletes who are still trying to secure their passports in time to travel to Alaska.
The Games, which open March 10, have moved the deadline to register to Feb. 21 after an extension was requested by Team Nunavut chef de mission Mariele DePeuter.
“If the passports do not arrive by this date, changes to participant registration details will need to be made by a staff member but they will not be excluded from participation once the new deadline is reached,” said Emerald Kroeker, a spokesperson for the Games, in an email to Nunatsiaq News.
The Arctic Winter Games run from March 10 to 16 in Alaska’s Mat-Su Valley, near Anchorage. All Canadian athletes and team staff will need passports to cross the Canada-U.S. border.
Currently, at least 60 Team Nunavut athletes are still without passports and trying to obtain them, out of the 291 athletes selected for the team.
Last week, Nunavut MP Lori Idlout raised the issue in the House of Commons. In question period, she highlighted the challenges Nunavut team members face in obtaining passports.
In an interview, DePeuter said varying circumstances affect the athletes as they navigate through the process to get their passports.
That includes language barriers for those whose first language is Inuktitut, the distance to a Service Canada outlet in some communities, limited access to photographers who can take passport photos, lack of valid photo identification, and limited access to someone qualified to check over applications to ensure everything is filed correctly.
“There’s so many different agencies and points of contacts that we need to go through just to be able to apply for the passport. And then the length of time it takes for the turnaround, it’s definitely impacting us right now,” said DePeuter.
“Once the application is received by one of Service Canada’s processing centres, it’s another two to four weeks before we actually get the passport.”
In response, Service Canada has assigned a team of staff members to help all Arctic Winter Games athletes through the passport process.
The team is specifically focused on quickly responding to communications with the athletes to address any issues, said Teodor Gaspar, a spokesperson for federal Citizens’ Services of Canada Minister Terry Beech.
Athletes will still follow the same protocols as other applicants, Gaspar said, but the Service Canada team is focusing on ensuring issues are responded to as quickly as possible.
“We understand that the situation for people who apply for passports up North is very different than the realities of people who apply here [in southern Canada]” Gaspar said.
“My understanding is there was this surge of demand because of all the people preparing for the Games, which is atypical for the number of people who apply at the same time from these regions.”
The Arctic Winter Games will bring together Indigenous athletes aged 18 and younger from Nunavut, Nunavik, the Northwest Territories, Yukon, Alaska, Greenland, northern Alberta and Sápmi, the traditional homeland of the Sámi people, in what’s now Scandinavia.
“That includes language barriers for those whose first language is Inuktitut”
…This excuse is getting old
National news over 60 parents who can’t figure out a passport photo app or government forms that explain how to fill them out at a grade 5 level. It’s amazing throughout this that there is not a single mention of taking personal responsibility. It is always someone else’s fault. What IQ principle is this attitude tied to?
Why take personal responsibility when you can just blame the invisible boogeyman Colonialism for all your problems, then wait for the inevitable bail out.
All of the armchair quarterbacks on here have no empathy for these athletes. I am a coach, and it would be awesome that all these players have technology, support, and the ability to complete all these things. Unfortunately, you have no understanding of what some of these players go through, and they still strive to be the best they can, I applaud the GN for everything they are doing, they know how important these games are to the athletes, and about how important this is to their mental health. All the folks poking holes and slinging mud, should never never coach, volunteer, or take on a role where you have no comprehension of the people you are trying to serve. Selfish fools, Sport and Recreation, RPAN, is the single most positive influencer of youth in Nunavut, no question, and again, they are stepping up as they have always done! A shining light in the services that are provided to our youth.
There is nothing wrong is participating, training and excelling in sports. This is wonderful for all, students and adults alike.
However, stating that there are no technology or support is BS. Participants were asked long ago to apply for their passports. Even if the selection process took longer, there is no excuse that this wasn’t completed. There are three (unless we still have 4) official languages in Nunavut, and saying the forms are not written in Inuktuk is a poor excuse as well. Coaches, parents and students, get your shit together. After all you are a team and by failing to be prepared does not just hurt you, it creates a disadvantage to the whole team.
As if every single one of these athletes is not on instagram, tiktok, facebook etc. Utter nonsense. The days of blaming no technology are slipping away: government gives every kid a laptop for school. Starlink has made high speed internet available in the most remote corners of Nunavut. Anyone who wanted a passport in September 2023 had everything they needed to complete the process. This is an example showing that if everything is provided that northerners will still skirt responsibility..
Why does the school system in Nunavut not have these 4 things as a pre-requisite for any student 15yrs or older:
Passport
Learners Drivers License
Bank Account
Social Insurance Number
If the school would just intergrade this into their studies rather then these wasted teacher-student challenge days kids would come out farther ahead.
I don’t understand how any person older then this doesn’t have these things. It’s just dumb.
To all the negative comments which are giving out their opinions… you have no idea what it is like to get a passport when living in a small community in Nunavut or even in Iqaluit. It is so difficult. You have no clue what barriers are faced when trying to get a passport.
Instead of blaming the athletes or making judgements, ask why the federal government isn’t providing travelling passport services in Nunavut communities. The federal government has done this in the past, yet this has not happened. Service Canada was informed over a year ago that they must assist Nunavummiut for the Arctic Winter Games. The federal government and Services Canada have known about this and provided lip service, saying they will help. But it’s all talk from the federal government.
To give a specific example, this happened to me: 1st attempt – Service Canada lost my passport application; 2nd attempt – Service Canada told me to apply for a particular application, which I did. It was rejected because it was the wrong application. I was also denied on my third attempt because the passport photo was terrible; on the 4th attempt, I complained and finally received my passport six months later. During this process, I was told by Service Canada that if I wanted it done, I would have to apply in person at the Winnipeg office. I told them it would cost over $4000 to do that.
The jurisdiction and responsibility of receiving a passport is the federal government.
The ignorance from the comments is disgusting.
Don’t forget that not everyone has credit card to pay for the fees. In that case, they have to get money order. That money order has to be mailed, and it takes weeks for it to reach its destination, not including weather delays.
Until these commenter’s truly realize how hard it is to get things done up here, they will always assume it’s easy to get stuff done same as Southern Canada.
I am 99% sure you can buy a prepaid visa at northern, coop or post office. I mean it is also 2024 and if you’re an adult without a basic credit card with a $250 limit i have to wonder about your capacity to cover expenses going to AWG 1000s of KM away in Alaska
.
Sorry to the other that the passport app was lost, it happens everywhere, the rest of the issues seem to be due to your errors and don’t have anything to do with being in Nunavut or the south.
This is totally false. The money order (or credit card authorization) has to be mailed out as part of the passport application package. So there is no added delay, regardless of payment method.
This is the only prerequisite for working with the GN. Be late or do not show up consistently at all… blame something/someone and carry on. AWG you are preparing Nunavummiut for their real world… and for that I applaud you.