Around 30 N.W.T. athletes without passports as Arctic Winter Games approach

Many Canadian athletes are struggling to get a passport ahead of the 2024 Arctic Winter Games in Alaska next month. CBC reports that around 30 athletes from the Northwest Territories do not yet have a passport. 

Many are from remote areas which do not have passport offices. 

The mother of one of the athletes, Kaylene Mabbit, says one of the biggest obstacles is that they need a commercial photographer to take the passport photo, which is not available where she lives. Flying out to get a passport in time would cost thousands of dollars.

For Mabbitt, the situation reflects the larger issue: the barriers remote communities face in access to sport compared to larger centers like Yellowknife. 

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