Sitting in the cozy - and stable - confines of the Otway Nordic Ski Centre, Bal Gosal remembers his first, tentative strides into the world of winter and play.
His intial taste of Canada had been Quesnel and Prince George but it would be years later in Brampton, Ontario when he would strap on skates and step on the ice for the first time in earnest to learn with his children Jasmine, Sanjot, and Priya. Gosal had been raised in India, where hockey is played on grass and the national sporting obsession in cricket; until that point in Brampton, his life as a sportsman mainly revolved around frustrating opposing strikers as a goalkeeper for a Quesnel men's soccer squad that traveled around B.C.
As a result, Gosal said those first moments on blades required a lot of trust.
"It was a bit scary," said Gosal. "You got used to it after awhile - with the kids, with the little chair."
"I still have my pair of skates but it's been a long time since I've put them on," he laughed.
Ghosal and his kids managed to learn to skate on their own; he's likewise been something of a quick study when it comes to politics. The rookie MP edged out veteran Liberal Gurbax Singh Malhi to take the Ontario riding of Bramalea-Gore-Malton for the Tories in 2011 and shortly thereafter made it to the front benches as the Minister of State (Sport).
He's been the face of the government in the absence of Prime Minister Stephen Harper during the 2015 Canada Winter Games in Prince George. While the prime minister's no-show during the Games has raised eyebrows in some quarters, the federal government's contribution to the event has been significant - according to the Games, the federal government committed to providing $11.1 million to the event.
"Sports is something that creates healthy communities, sports is something that unites communities," said Gosal. "It's very important for kids to get involved in sports and physical activity. When you build these facilities and have these Games, the legacy that's left behind and the inspiration that's given to the local athletes, kids, to get involved in physical activity... you're going to save that money on health care costs. And truly, kids that get involved in sports and physical activity, they excel in education."
In terms of legacies beyond the Games, Gosal said the government will work community and Games organizers to sustain the facilities that have been built and insure area residents enjoy them. Gosal pointed to Whitehorse, the 2007 Winter Games host, as an example of those legacies in action - and cited the Otway Nordic Ski Center as a facility that could provide similar dividends for the region.
"(Whitehorse) is a 30,000 (population) community and 3,000 every day use (its Canada Games Centre)," said Gosal. "That 2007 Games, the legacy that it left, this year Yukon won some medals in the Games which they didn't do before.
"(At Otway) there are 50 kilometres of trails, snowsnowing, crosscountry, biathlon; in the summer they said they had walking trails, running trails. It's an amazing facility. When you host a Canada Games, other provinces come and it's the next step toward hosting some international events."
