Whitehorse Coun. Ranj Pillai has the backing of city council to fly to Ontario later this month for Hockey Day in Canada, to find out how to bring the annual event to the Yukon capital next year.

Pillai will fly to Stratford, Ont., for the Tim Hortons Hockey Day in Canada celebrations on Jan. 30. The all-day event will be shown on CBC Television.

At Monday night's council meeting, Mayor Bev Buckway and council voted to pay for Pillai's trip to Stratford.

Pillai said that with his 15 years of experience in event management and 10 years of experience in sports marketing, he's qualified enough to help Whitehorse bid for the 2011 Hockey Day in Canada.

He said he plans to volunteer in Stratford, and hopefully gain insight on what it will take for Whitehorse to bring the high-profile televised event north.

"I think it's making sure that the right stakeholders come to the table so you can execute the event effectively," Pillai said Monday.

"That's more or less the sort of feel that I want to get, or the information I want to get from the people involved, and also figure out what were the catalysts the municipality used to pull off such an event.

Pillai said he hopes Whitehorse will bid later this year to host the next Hockey Day in Canada event.