What happened to summer?

School is back after the Labour Day long weekend. I can well imagine that the streets are going to be choked with parents, students and teachers. This problem is likely to be compounded by delayed road construction this year. The wet months early in the summer saw quite a few days of cancelled infrastructure repair.

City councillor Scott Fielding has been championing longer hours for the workers involved in construction but has run into resistance at City Hall. It seems Calgary can do it but Winnipeg can't for whatever reason.

It seems there is a lack of imagination at city hall.

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Winnipeg is to have the first 24 Wal-Mart in Canada. The big retailer has been experimenting with the concept over the last two years in Canada over Christmas holidays. I'm not surprised they picked Winnipeg as the first city to try it and it has always been something of a test market for new concepts.

There are only a few 24 places in the city. There are a couple of restaurants, a Shoppers Drug Mart or two but to date, no major retailer has taken the plunge. By contrast, travellers to North Dakota will find a number of 24 hour Wal-Marts.

Some will say this is a bad thing for people. I don't. Stores like Superstore and Wal-Mart already stock shelves all night. Now, they can simply open the doors and let people shop at the same time.

There are thousands of shift workers in Winnipeg. They are ones who will benefit most from this.




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