Sport, Culture and Heritage Minister Rochelle Squires as well as Thompson MLA Kelly Bindle and Mayor Dennis Fenske were on hand at Deerwood School yesterday morning for the official announcement that Thompson is hosting the 2018 Manitoba Power Smart Winter Games.  Squires spoke about how important it is to have the games come back to the north. She says we know that sports can unify a community, build pride and build spirit as well as the athletic development and the interest.  She adds these kids are going to have a wonderful opportunity, maybe some of them will have friends or family competing in the games and maybe they’ll set some goals for themselves and they’re going to have a really great experience with building community spirit.

Events taking place will include hockey, curling, badminton, swimming and for the first time speed skating.  This is the second time Thompson has hosted the Manitoba Games, the first was in 1994.

Flin Flon Parks and Recreation has applied to host the 2020 Manitoba Power Smart Summer Games.