Portage and Main Redesign

No matter what anyone thought who voted in the plebiscite, Portage and Main was always going to come back to city hall. The Concourse is leaking and will become the biggest pothole in North America. The advocates of don't let people cross because the Concourse is sufficient can't very well use that argument given the vapour barrier can only be replaced by removing the road atop it. I'm not sure that happens without closing part of the road and part of the Concourse for lengthy periods. The pictures here are supplied by the city for discussion.

This week some proposals for second floor pathways were proposed. No budget listed for them. No idea what the costs to fix the road. The concrete barriers themselves are built into the superstructure so they have to be demolished too. A good deal of the reason for not opening Portage and Main was because many people thought it would cost money as well as delay traffic. The saving money is out of the question now. As for delaying traffic, the repairs will do that for a few years.

Even if you believe Portage and Main should be closed, I think we can all agree that the walls that divide the sidewalks from the streets are ugly. It is hard to believe that this Soviet design continues to exist and painting rainbow colours does not make it less a Berlin Wall. Can you imagine this design at any other corner? It isn't safe to approach the entry ways to the Concourse. They are blindspots from the road and if you are unlucky, they are closed when you go to them. If you are really unlucky, someone is there is commit a crime against you knowing you have no escape and no one to see you assaulted. 

In some of the pictures they show the use of bollards and railings. Can you imagine how the intersection would look if it was designed with bollards and rails as seen below.

The above is safe in that vehicles cannot pass by bollards as they are anchored to the ground. The railings prevent children and most leashed animals from entering the street. It is high enough to discourage most people from climbing over to enter the street. Traffic planners might prefer higher and thicker walls but then they are in office to keep traffic speeding through and not protecting citizens behind that walls that no one sees scared to walk in peace on the sidewalk. Visibility from the street is an important safety feature.

The debate online has been ferocious and polarized. In some cases people have argued that people should not cross under, through or over as the entire area as it is a crime zone. The only safe place is in your car at high speed running to Saskatoon. I wish that was an exaggeration but often you hear people talk about how they don't go downtown anymore. Mind you, the same people sometimes are strongest for keeping the corner closed.

On the opposite side are those who want Portage and Main opened and lanes on both streets dedicated to bikes. Scramble crossings have been suggested like Shibuya. Thoughts are speeds should be reduced and cars redirected elsewhere. These are the people arguing for dedicated, protected bikes lanes on every street in Winnipeg and reduced speeds as a city-wide mandate.

Now, these two sides have dominated the debate. It doesn't help the many businesses and offices who work in the area including some of Manitoba's biggest need solutions. Presently, they have a leaking underground Concourse that is not open 24 hours anymore. So if someone attends a Jets game and stays at the Fairmont Hotel, they cannot either get to the game/concert or come back from the said events when entryways are closed. If they cross at a light, they have to make a fair detour. The promise that was made when people were diverted to the Concourse is that access would always be there. It isn't.

Many city councillors are likely squirming over the whole issue. They should be. Asset management has been so poor for decades. How they let city owned parkades collapse to dust and city buildings get mismanaged such as Public Safety Building and new police headquarters is enough to shake any faith they can fix this problem. The desperation of many councillors to get billion dollar suburban road projects through with little indication where the money is coming from is downright scary.

Still, the engineers report is indicating they could be in for a big problem if they don't address the issue. The whole of Portage and Main could be affected. Still, you feel they are irritated they have to deal with it and are not prepared to put themselves out on any policy. Lawsuits will abound if the Concourse has to close with no solution of any kind is in site.

A consultation phase is supposed to happen. Some councillors are calling for a plebiscite. Some are wary knowing that plebiscites could easily be asked for on their own projects. Imagine voting on Peguis Trail or Kenaston. Councillors and mayor would hate that. Why elect officials at all if we can have a clicker at home we can press yes or no? You think the British are happy they voted on exiting Europe? Do you think Canada will be happy with another vote on separation? It is an abrogation of responsibility in being elected. People are voting on decision-making borne of policy on persona. It is about acting and not reacting. Duff Roblin did not seek to have a vote on the Red River Floodway. He was voted in to govern, set a policy and it is one we have benefitted in for decades.

There is no substitute for solid policy initiatives backed by data. Some time ago, the sum of $20 million for membrane replacement was tossed around but that seems painfully low. No engineering and design specs were shown. Even a layman can see the walls are crumbling and the road built forty-five years ago in 1978 needs tending to. By the time that actually happens could be as the road nears fifty years old. No mere asphalt is likely to suffice.

Millions have been spent in the last few years by owner bordering Portage and Main. The Richardson have done major work on the street presence, 201 Portage has done work above and below with addition of BMO and 529 still being worked on. And the 42 storey apartment block is complete and starting to lease spaces. Let's not forget Goodlife, Earls and OEM breakfast place. Friskee's has opened in the old Earls. There is a lot riding on making sure the Concourse doesn't reach the point where it is too dangerous to pass through. And no telling what the legal liability is if it isn't. Or what might happen to the road above if there is trouble below.

So whatever people think of the downtown, if the concern is to keep this as major travel route, it is incumbent on the making sure this is dealt with and not to neglect make it as a crisis as we have seen all too often in Winnipeg.

Charles Adler Returns to Winnipeg as Free Press Columnist

This past week Charles Adler returned to Winnipeg media as a columnist twice weekly. At nearly 70, he could rightly have retired after having worked in broadcasting all across Canada and the U.S. It is very likely he could have retired and lived in several places too. In his opening column, he states as much. But he has said that he found friends and contacts in this city that he found no where else and that hastened his return.

His longest turn was 17 years in the key morning slot on CJOB where he ruled the ratings. In 2015 though the station lost overall first to CBC and laid off people. It seemed a good time to go himself. The Jets 1.0 had left in 1996 and without a major league sport (aside from Bombers and Moose), they focused on their strength in the mornings and Adler came in to replace the legendary Peter Warren. 

Warren had been in the job from 1971 to 1998 as an investigative reporter and broke stories his entire career, It was a hard act to follow even for an Emmy awarded broadcaster. But the ratings held for mornings even without the Jets back till 2011. But chaos in the radio world has been going on for decades. It is possible to make money in it but media empires routinely try to brand everything to squeeze out even higher margins. Eventually, people leave that mediocrity. And it leads to a shuffling of the decks. Winnipeg radio stations often see whole teams swapped and a format change to something called Bill or Sue that is being done in every other city. TV networks in Canada brand everything Global or CTV and try to erase any sense of location. CBC itself is repetitive in a one hour broadcast whether it is local news or national news.

That is not to say there are not great reporters or great reporting happening. There are and there is. There are quite a few who come and go. Oftentimes I wonder about the sausage making of who gets hired, retired or moves on. We don't have much in the way of media analysis here at a granular level. The Free Press publisher does do some informational posts regularly but mostly on data collected by the paper. Sometimes about personal things or upcoming stories.

In choosing Adler, it appears there are three regular male political columnists. There are two guest political contributors, one male and one female, who appear less frequently.  There are two indigenous columnists, one male and one female, who often write on politics but not always. There is a sports columnist. There is one female general columnist. 

There are special sections columnists, freelance ones and syndicated ones as well. The biographies give a general idea of what areas reporters and columnists write about. What would be clearer might be a publisher to explain how the newspaper works and why. Or editors explaining. A general wayfaring would be great. And I don't mean this to be critical. I mean this as a guide as important as an index listing. The reason I ask is because I'm not sure the mandate of the main columnists? Is it city hall, the province, the Feds? Do they have free reign?

I remember when I first heard Charles Adler in 1983 when he was at CKY Radio. The station actually had a news desk back then and he was news director. All of them covered sports and Jets were starting to be part of the daily conversation. But news was also covered by radio, TV and print journalists. It was possible to get a range of coverage from a variety of sources in a variety of mediums. It was the time of no Internet or Smart Phones. Adler was there a while but it was a time when people moved every few years. Eventually, Adler too was off to one of several locations until the pinnacle of radio jobs became available in 1998.

Peter Warren's decision to end his career at CJOB probably generated applications for the job from all over Canada. Spending 35 years at a job as highly rated and as compelling was rare even for the time. A lot of elections federally and provincially were probably won and lost in Winnipeg ridings because of his leader interviews. Who wouldn't want that type of stage or platform? So many great journalist and anchors have gotten a Manitoba start or have been part of the local excellence for years. 

It was no wonder Charles Adler wanted the job and continued to have it from 1998 to 2015. CJOB burned through so many people in the 2000s. Being part of a corporate empire meant counting every penny to pay for massive debt for every acquisition. Meanwhile, CBC Radio which runs without commercials, largely stuck to its knitting with local and national coverage that reached number 1 overall in Winnipeg. Adler, could have likely continued for more years at CJOB but the layoffs in the station and sister stations but have felt toxic and sickening.

Adler, moved out to B.C. where some family was and continued to do work for Corus broadcasters in western Canada in different capacities until 2021. Geoff Currier took over and worked many years until retirement when Hal Anderson took over. Oddly enough, both radio hosts after Adler ran for city office.

It shouldn't come as a surprise that CJOB that many of the broadcasters at CJOB come from admittedly conservative backgrounds. Adler himself has admitted he was a paid member Conservative until Harper. He has probably been more forthcoming than some who came after him but CJOB has never been a FOX acolyte. It has right of centre hosts for its news shows or hosts who are straight news. Lately, they have been more light information which has seen them win one ratings period against CBC but not the most recent one.

Adler defended the CBC is one of his more recent columns when talking about his dad and his appreciation for the network. He mentioned as well that he would have likely voted for Kevin Chief had he been the leader of the NDP. We know he endorsed Glen Murray last election. We are not likely to see that type of column from Tom Broadbeck or Dan Lett who will write opinion but not endorsement. 

It remains to be seen where Adler takes his column. And it is curious to what the expectations are from Free Press management and editors. To the present Conservatives, it probably doesn't matter. They do not like any kind of media as pointed out by Adler. He noted that Filmon and Doer both regularly spoke to media and they expected their ministers to as well. The present elected officials not so much.

There have been quite a lot of reporting changes at the Free Press. It sometimes pays to have a veteran presence to give context to what ahs happened in previous years. Goods as some reporters are, having institutional knowledge is effective in contrasting present issues.

Pierre Poilevere To End CBC If Elected

By Manning Centre c/o: Jake Wright - Flickr, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=32870907

The leader of the Official Opposition has made it is mission to defund the CBC. For his base supporters, this has been an objective for decades. In actuality, he wants to defund English CBC while keeping Radio-Canada which would require a change to the Broadcast Act. And likely an explanation why Canadian taxpayers should support one over the other.

The defund the CBC platform is right on the Conservative website. But why not Radio-Canada in Quebec? The answer is votes in Quebec. The Conservatives need to find votes there or some way to win a majority. The big question is whether Quebecers will believe that Conservatives would actually stop defunding at English CBC and not continue to gut the whole corporation.

Outside of the Conservative party, it is unclear whether is support for ending CBC. In recent weeks, Poilevere has been trying get Twitter to classify CBC, among others, as government funded. He succeeded in doing so and says this is evidence of the network being a propaganda arm of the Trudeau government. This is an accusation he has made against all forms of media in Canada for twenty years. It is a dubious accusation because he has never able to show marching orders coming from the Liberal government to slant stories. His argument is that it is self evident which requires no proof. This may be adequate for the base but to win an election on this will require a little more substance.

People will want to know what actually happens if the CBC is actually closed. Does it include radio? Does it include northern Canada? Will assets be sold to the private sector? Will Hockey Night in Canada have less of a reach in the country where some places won't be able to get it without difficulty? Will government support also be dropped for other print, radio and TV. Will Canadian content guidelines and ownership rules be eliminated?

One question leads to another and even some who might be allies ideologically with the Conservatives might come to realize implications beyond a victory of seeing the CBC ended. The big companies that own the media, including the Sun and Postmedia, also receive money from the government. Ending the CBC doesn't necessarily help if it ends their supports too. And if their supports remain, the base of the Tory party might ask why. Quite simply, the Conservatives will have to explain why they pick winners and losers for support. Keep in mind the Winnipeg Free Press, Winnipeg Sun and all the private stations including CJOB receive some sort of government money, protection or support. Does everyone get cut off? And if they do and news rooms shut down around the country, does this serve the nation well?

As for cozying up to Elon Musk and Twitter, it seems seeking legitimacy in someone who receives government money for Tesla as well as SpaceX while devaluing his overpaid asset in Twitter, is shortsighted. I left Twitter some time ago. I'm not sure what the future is there and who knows if anything will survive AI. Even Elon Musk is afraid of AI because the veracity of real human beings on the site is near impossible. A blue check make might not keep AI from flooding a site like Twitter with inhuman conversations.

But back to CBC. it seems to generate the same hatred in the far right that Trudeau does. It is a deep and ferocious anger that is slightly deranged which is ironic because that is what they often accuse the left of in terms political leaders on the right. One wonders what happens if they truly get their wish and end CBC's existence if that will make them happy. Or will they be like the dog chasing bumpers finally catching one and then not knowing what to do with themselves after as in the case of conservatives defeating Roe v Wade in the U.S.

In the case of the U.S, some Republican are wondering now that they have achieved their goal on abortion, how do they win elections after if the feeling is that they are the wrong side of how Americans actually think? For Conservatives in Canada, if they achieve a majority and end the CBC, do they find that the decision produces another majority or makes them a one term government? Do they care? I suppose they should because as demonstrated by south of the border, elections have consequences. And if your record is one of competent governance, fighting culture battles seems a waste of time and energy.

The $1.2 billion in government funds and the $500 million of commercial revenues helps run a coast to coast to coast network. Eliminating English CBC means that Radio-Canada won't have source material to provide nation-wide information in Quebec. Presently, no other network does that. And in the north, will resources still be left if place there for non-English and French programming? Or do they only get information from the south...in non-native languages? 

If Conservatives become the government, actual legislation has to be introduced to indicate what the plan is. Will the network be sold? Will assets be sold? Will the government allow international players to come in buy CBC, other Canadian networks? Will they eliminate Canadian content regulations? Will they eliminate Canadian ownership rules? It is can of worms where the outcome is unknown. Will it end up with U.S. owned media that eliminates all news in Canada and even hockey coverage because there is no mandate to produce content made in Canada?

While it might appear to be controversial bringing attention to this policy of Pierre Poilevere, it is something that he brings up in every speech. Not Ukraine, but this. He wants his policy to be known and in the absence of a defined way a Conservative government achieves this, we can envision almost anything. It is no wonder that Conservative MPS in Quebec don't want to say anything on this. They are literally hiding under their desks as Radio-Canada remains popular in Quebec. Even if this branch of CBC is preserved, questions about what changes to the Broadcast act and budget will invariably have to be discussed. 

It is possible the Conservatives believe they lost the last elections, including the one when Harper was prime minister, because of the CBC and the media. His supporters seems to think so and it isn't likely anyone can convince them otherwise. It is not much different than Republicans believing the election results were altered and instigating an insurrection. This belief that media is for the left flies in the face of print media across Canada endorsing Conservatives pretty much across the board. As for TV, they don't do editorial endorsement and every news show have Conservatives on their panels to explain policy.

Sadly, many government and opposition parties are frequently avoiding media and are more reluctant to share any information or take questions. Case in point is Joe Biden has down fewer news conferences than Ronald Reagan. This is deliberate on his part. Canada's House of Commons makes it more difficult to hide from questions. However, Question Period is a poor format for information and is more about talking points. It is why journalism can be so effective. It is this journalism that Poilevere depended on this week to reveal Prime Minister Trudeau's visit to Jamaica to a billionaire's house.

Poilevere reaching out to Twitter feels childish and angry. Elon Musk is pushing all the buttons there while the adults in business are heading for the doors. There has to be some serious concern with Conservatives being a freaking train wreck firing Bank of Canada Governor, ending the CBC and ending all the carbon taxes in the first 100 days and watching some serious responses. Not all of it will come from Canada. Much of it will come from world markets. 

It isn't entirely clear that Poilevere can pivot from Opposition to Government. His permanent campaign of anger and accusation that nothing is working means his approach might be a bull in china shop. It also doesn't bode well for letting his cabinet operate independently. It could very well be him in the Prime Minister's Office not telling anyone what he is doing akin to Brian Pallister. Except, you can expect it to be more of a disaster than a premier ditching WWII ceremonies to go on a tour of Europe and visit businesses without their staff.

If the Conservatives expect to win the next election, they need to look less unhinged. They really don't appear to be able to show they are competent enough to take over for a government that walks into rakes all too regularly. It doesn't look great that they walk into rakes just as much.

David's Bridal Goes Bankrupt. May Close all 12 Stores in Canada

For the second time David's Bridal has gone bankrupt in North America and has secured only enough money to fulfill bridal gowns already in the system. The 300 stores including the 12 in Canada are for sale and if a buyer is not found in the next weeks, the company will begin a shutdown by July.

It is unclear why the company with a rebounding wedding market is struggling so badly. It is another example of a U.S. company that might close their Canadian unit with no attempt to find a buyer in Canada. This was how Sears did it in Canada and so many others.

David's Bridal has been in Winnipeg since the early 2000s when Kenaston Common was built as the anchor Costco went up. With a jeweler in the same cluster of businesses, it seemed a can't lose location for a bridal shop.

There has been quite a lot of retail chaos going on. Even online retailers are reducing workforces. Still, it seems that wedding spending has recovered and this shouldn't be happening. This leads back to management. It feel likes management has not managed things well. Still, David's Bridal sells one out of four dresses in the U.S. Imagine the panic about wedding this spring.

There are many independent wedding retailers out there and they have been competing against this giant for some time. They also seem to be able to take the pulse of what is wanted out there. It isn't impossible for this store to recover but it is just as likely they cut all Canada out no matter what happens in the U.S.

New Hampton Inn By Hilton to Open Fall 2023

The former Charter House and a Best Western Plus since 2002 is under construction and adding two more floors. This picture in 2022 shows the work in progress and opening is scheduled for September 23, 2023. The entire interior was gutted for a completely new configuration. There will be a change in branding too from Best Western to Hampton Inn by Hilton.  This will be a return of Hampton Inn to downtown as the Humphrey Inn used to be a Hampton. An increase from 87 rooms to 134 will make it easy for convention groups in town can stay in one hotel. The former seven conference rooms will be reduced to two. There will continue to be balconies on the west side continuing a tradition of hotels in town. Yes, it's true. 

The old hotel with the Rib Room and Tivoli Cafe was a popular destination  for the business and lawyer crowd for years. The hotel was originally built in 1959 and had additional floor built in 1960 and for a time had 96 rooms. It also had one of the first patios and a swimming pool. Built as a motor hotel, it served the car traveller coming to town for leisure and business. In 1960, Winnipeg's downtown was hopping with business, shopping and entertainment.

Above is the supplied picture of what the new hotel will look like. It is not the only hotel is progress right now. It seems that work by the Sandman has been going on for years. The Windsor, the Pembina and the Cambridge all gone. The Marlborough is for sale. If one had to guess, it would not be too far fetched to think it might be a candidate for conversion to apartments.

While downtown Winnipeg is not the shopping mecca it once was when the original Charter House Hotel went up, the expanded RBC Winnipeg Convention Centre and the Canada Life Centre are quite close by for out of town guests in for a hockey game, concert or a convention. Some who live in the city might question those outside of Winnipeg about the hotels they choose to stay in but consider this: If you are coming in for an Eagles concert from Dryden, you might want to stay downtown to avoid having to find a place to park your car if you had stayed in the airport hotel area. Likewise, if you are attending Ai-kon over three days the RBC, you might want a hotel close by to go back and forth in your anime costume. 

The entertainment district being built piece since the 1975 construction of the convention centre has accelerated in recent years. The new arena downtown was built in 2004 connected the two buildings via skywalk system. The doubling of the convention space by 2015 has triggered a long awaited hotel and condo complex. True North has also added and continues to add office, residential and event space in the former parking lots that had marked the area for decades.

It is easy to see why two floors was being added to a hotel only steps away from the arena and convention centre. The business actually sees quite a future ahead. They are also trying to get work done before Sussex Place Hotel and condos are complete to re-establish their bonifides for the motoring crowd who have stayed there since the 1960s. 

There has been tens years of construction in this area, seven towers, a double sized convention centre and coming out on the other side from the pandemic. Expect to see more business announcement i the surrounding area as Portage Place, The Bay and Portage and Main begin their construction phase.

George's Burger and Subs Coming to Tuxedo

 

Tuxedo Village Restaurant has had a few owners over the years. River Heights and Tuxedo suffer from a lack of restaurants. Lots of houses but not a lot of places to hang out, talk with folks and get a meal from breakfast to dinner. The closure of the Sal's where the present Liquor Mart is was particularly effective in removing a place that seniors to students used 24 hours. While I agreed a liquor store was well suited for the mall, Sal's disappeared. The nearest liquor store prior for River Heights and Tuxedo was some blocks away.

A Timothy's and a Starbucks are opposite each other on this stretch of Corydon and of course there is Rumor's which has been around since the very early 1980s. However, a family restaurant is something every neighbourhood needs. It is tasty, covers the whole day for offerings, isn't overly pricey and knows the whole family.  A lot of families drive out of the neighbourhood to find that because it isn't in their area.

Tuxedo Village Restaurant was that place for many years. With the big grocery across the street, recreational facilities next door and the intersection of Tuxedo and Corydon right there, it was and still is the perfect location. Passing from owner to owner, it ought to have been an institution to last decades but alas, it wasn't.

The last owners took over in 2018. Even before the pandemic started something appeared off. Rumours of employee and owner friction abounded. Some of these comments found their way to social media just as when Stella's went through its dark period. It isn't easy to run a restaurant at the best of times but how workers are treated eventually gets out. The pandemic brought a new response from owners when they made it clear they were going to ignore restrictions. However, commentary on Jews, blacks and indigenous also crept up in media as well as social media commentary by employees. The fines piled up and while it seemed support from those chafing at rules was filling seats, the aftermath was that locals stayed away. And kept staying away.

The past owners put the business up for sale and in the windows now are signs in the windows for George's Burger and Subs. The windows are papered over and a makeover inside is taking place that will probably last into the fall. George's has been around since 1975 and has five other locations in the city and two outside of it.

The menu varies between George's. Many serve affordable breakfasts, have hours that go into the the evenings and have a few items for those not wanting to eat a Fat Boy every meal. Since a Greek family is behind it, imagine a few Greek dishes as well as everything in between. Seating is likely to be around the same at 40 seats, 15 to 20 staff and new signage. Many local businesses and residents are greatly looking forward to the return of a restaurant on the spot.

The neighbourhood restaurant is always going to be a community centre of family talks, gossip and opinion. People should feel safe there in terms of hygiene and food, building safety, pest control and yes, a pandemic. They should also feel they are not subject to bigotry in all its forms. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion but rules on safety and the treatment of people have been put in place because of past experience. For example, we know that pests can can cause foodborne and airborne illness and death. It is why restaurants are required to submit to inspections and can be closed till the problem is corrected. It isn't the woke crowd trying to persecute. 

Many restaurants did their best in compliance these past years. Some did not survive while others deserve your patronage and respect as they try to re-build in these next several months. We all deserve neighbourhood restaurants who nourish our bodies and souls. It is very likely George's will receive a warm welcome from Tuxedo, River Heights and Charleswood in the days ahead.

Prairie Public Television in Manitoba 1975

The year 1975 was an important year for television in Manitoba. Cable came to Winnipeg in 1968 and over the next few years more and more people in the city were starting to sign up for it. The first station in Winnipeg was a bilingual CBWT in 1954 and for the first two years it had affiliations with the Paramount Network in Los Angeles which meant Winnipeggers first exposure to wrestling on TV was Hollywood Wrestling. The below map is from Wikipedia listing on the defunct Paramount network.

CBC began to scale up year by year. News was just a weekly affair Tuesday in 1959. By 1960, the CBC was split into an English channel and French channel. In 1961, Winnipeg was home to a third channel of the  eventual CTV network. CJAY (later CKY by 1973) and the two CBC channels were the only channels picked up over the air. It wasn't always easy to pick up the French channel in our family home in River Heights even with rabbit ears.

With no cable most of the 1960s, Winnipeg made do with three channels with a fourth KCND beaming in from Pembina, North Dakota. This station, the smallest in the United States, carried NBC and ABC programming and was strictly set up as a pirate station for the Winnipeg market. Reception wasn't always great so the broadcaster actually sold antennas in Winnipeg because profitability depended on Canadian businesses buying commercials. We never did get an antenna but many home owners in the city did. The way, the C in  KCND stood for Canada. The above was the full page ad published in Winnipeg Free Press on August 29. 1975 when KCND shut down and moved to Canada. Below unsourced picture of KCND. Unknown date. The View from Seven has a wonderful backgrounder on the race for KCND and CJAY to get on the air. https://theviewfromseven.wordpress.com/tag/cjay/

Colour TV broadcasts in Canada did not start till 1966. Even though U.S. broadcasts were being produced for some time in colour, Canada was slow to adopt. In Winnipeg, it was not more common until 1969. This was probably directly related to cable first coming to the city in 1968 and the availability of so much colour programming from ABC, CBS and NBC. Still, it was not till 1974 that full-time colour programming came to Canada. It was a slow rollout to say the least. Kind of like Hi Def from Standard Def which seems like it has taken even more time.

Cable TV was an improvement on choice of channels for people in Winnipeg. However, reception continued to be a problem in the warmer months. A bad thunderstorm and the picture might be unwatchable. Even the French channel in the last 1970s and early 1980s could fuzz out, The racy weekend fare of the French channel was usually what was the least consistent in reception. The complaints on reception on every U.S. came in every year for more than 15 years.

The offerings of KCND made people in Winnipeg crave more of the offerings it had, especially older movies and past TV series. Even kids, who had plenty of material from the U.S. networks such as Saturday cartoons knew that there was programming they would never find on those stations. For example, I saw the animated Star Trek before the original series. I missed out on the the first 1960s run of the show as I was too young.

Our family travelled to U.S. on long camping trips and to Grand Forks or Fargo for weekend trips starting in the 1970s. Every now and then we'd stay in motels on the long trips and there is when we first encountered PBS, the U.S. public broadcaster. We were already familiar with Sesame Street which CBC showed with Canadian segments in 1972, three years after it started in the U.S. Sesame Street actually preceded PBS' origins. The kids show started in 1969 whereas PBS started in 1970.

I remember in 1973 when in the States during a long weekend seeing PBS on a hotel TV doing gavel to gavel coverage of the Watergate hearings. It was the first network to actually show it on primetime. Remember my parents being rather horrified and my dad saying that my grandfather had thought Richard Nixon had been a good president. My brother and sister were not so interested but none of us were unware of how tense things were in the U.S. with the Vietnam War and Watergate going on. It was much easier to seek refuge in Sesame Street although in those early years our parents were wondering if we learning too much Spanish rather than French. The CBC segments removed the Spanish content over the years for French or unique Canadian segments. Many were filmed right in Winnipeg.

August 30, 1975, Winnipeg Free Press

It is quite extraordinary that although TV in Manitoba began in 1954 (first stations for Canada in Toronto and Montreal in 1952), it took some time for the country to develop infrastructure to support additional channels. By the end of the 1950s, 9 out of 10 families in Canada had a black and white TV. And although there was a hunger for Canadian content, there was so little of it. And in some cases, no motivation to create it by the private sector. By 1958, there was a recognition that for English Canada in particular, reliance on the United States entirely for content was not in the self interest of the country. By 1968, that came with a real mission to support Canadian content.

It came just in time because cable television really exposed all of Canada to huge amounts of U.S. product. They very culture of Canada came into question on whether our ability to stand as nation was strong enough to survive. We had just become an independent nation and that need to make our own way was strong but it didn't come without support. Some critics to this very day want to end that support but have never indicated how they expect culture and business to flourish in such an environment. In some cases, it seems to suggest we should be part of the U.S. which I don't see wide support of.

By 1975, people in Winnipeg were hankering for a third station based in Winnipeg. CBC and CTV were accepted well enough. In fact, the two networks were helping to entrench professional sport in Canada by covering the NHL and CFL. For the NHL, there was nearly no interest in the broadcast side of things south of the border. Likewise, curling would never have generated interest in the U.S. It was ownership and content rules that made that possible. Left to their own ends, the stations would have become affiliates of U.S. networks and done none of those things.

By the mid 1970s, it became untenable for KCND on the border beaming into Winnipeg, especially when the Canadian government was about to license a new local station built around somewhat around the same format. That set the stage for one of the most unique broadcasting sales and relocations in North America history where KCND became CKND and moved from Pembina to Winnipeg with a change to Canadian ownership.

But this isn't about that change in 1975 TV in Winnipeg as significant as it was. This is about the coming of Prairie Public Television and PBS to the Winnipeg market. The Public Broadcast System was new to North Dakota even though educational TV went back further historically in the State. By 1970, PBS bought the public system and in 1974 the Prairie Public Television network was official in name and title. This happened the same year as KGFE was established in Grand Forks, North Dakota which made it possible to for a signal to be picked up and put on Winnipeg's cable line-up.

It is safe to say that the arrival of CKND and Prairie Public TV in 1975 was a game changer for television in Winnipeg. CKND replicated the old movies and series that made KCND popular while fulfilling their CRTC mandate of local news and sports that made the local market truly competitive for the next two decades. The first broadcasts of the Winnipeg Jets began on CKND in their WHA days. However, they did meaningful work in indigenous and Metis reporting and had the Ray St. Germaine Show. Not mention talks shows and kid shows.

Meanwhile, Prairie Public TV which was only five years as a PBS station when it joined the Winnipeg cable line-up probably had no idea how much support financially Canadians would put into their public TV enterprise, The small curtained studio during pledge week would have phones ringing off the hook for movies and other programs. The production values were quaint but when the host read off the pledges, more than half of them were from Manitobans. Other PBS stations have run afoul with with Canadian Revenue Agency over the years but not Prairie Public. It created a clear division and board of directors for Manitoba and they made their own decisions including funding programs made locally for Prairie Public.

In the beginning Saskatchewan was part of Prairie Public but for many years have received their signal from Detroit PBS. Winnipeg also receives a signal from Detroit on cable but it is not on HD. Since 1982, around 20% of Canadian households get their PBS from Detroit. The thing is that that Detroit does not issue Canadian tax receipts nor has a group in Canada that does what Prairie Public does. Occasionally, I have watched a pledge drive by Detroit PBS and it is quite striking the amount of callers from Saskatchewan and Manitoba calling to make pledges. Nearly 2.5 million Canadians get Detroit PBS in their homes. That is actually more than in Detroit itself.

Even with a station in Grand Forks, hot summers and a storm could zap the signal. I remember watching Where Eagles Dare with my parents in the late 1970s starring Clint Eastwood and Richard Burton. First time for any in the family to watch this 1968 movie set in WWII and it was a real corker. It was down to the last few minute and the big reveal was about to be made when the worsening storm outside and all the way down to the Dakotas took the show off the air. It was replaced by static while I screamed nooo for at least 10 minutes. Went to bed not knowing how it ended and it would take a number of years to watch it again to the end. 

It is easy to imagine this type of loss of signal from a lot of the North Dakota stations led to the 1986 decision by cable companies in Manitoba and Saskatchewan dropping a number of stations. Winnipeg dropped the NBC and CBS Fargo stations for Detroit. While the signal was better, the news in metro market there was a far cry much more peaceful North Dakota. A move to Toledo stations was not much better. The last move to Minneapolis stations was much better accepted.

Throughout this time, cable continued to carry WDAZ (ABC) and Prairie Public in Manitoba. While WDAZ in Devil's Lake/Grand Forks lost its station, the signal and all its commercial inserts from the city remain except where Canadian commercial substitution is in effect. The near Manitoba death experience saw the two stations boost their signal strength and they have been a fixture of our insight into North Dakota ever since. Not to be outdone, CBC has been a fixture of Grand Forks cable stations since the 1980s as well. 

Former stations in Fargo of KXJB (CBS) and KTHI (ABC and later NBC)  were delisted with the switch to NBC and CBS signals from Detroit and then later to Toledo and Minneapolis. The two stations had the distinction of having the tallest towers in the world for their antennas. KTHI is now KVLY and KXJB became KRDK. The new KLVY keeps on the KXJB name and call sign as well as the CBS affiliation under one roof. They share the same news crews and studios.

Digital has changed how local stations are in the United States. Every one of them has several split off from their signal. Even Prairie Public Television has four different offerings. In Manitoba, we receive only the main channel but there is also PBS Kids, World, Lifelong and MN Ch. Manitobans who donate to Prairie Public get Passport access to content online. 

The relationship between Manitoba and North Dakota's Prairie Public Television has been a healthy one that has been good for both countries. Canadian Revenue Agency has been fully supportive of organization in Manitoba that supports Prairie Public unlike some other groups in Canada. The reason, in short, is that Manitoba keeps a separate board of directors and actually creates award winning programming that has viewers both sides of the border. Canadian viewers also get to support Prairie Public in getting top flight programming that includes Frontline and Masterpiece as well as unique documentaries and dramas. 

It is a shame that Saskatchewan had to go Detroit in 1986. Any contribution they make does not get a tax receipt in Canada and no unique Canadian programming that is from Saskatchewan ever airs in Detroit and never will.

In two years, it will be 50 years of Prairie Public TV in Manitoba. In that time we have seen them grow from that tiny pledge TV studio to a professional operation that contributes unique programming to the prairies. In a digital world, it is hard to see where broadcasting will be in the future but the links between North Dakota and Manitoba ought to be stronger, not weaker. 

Certainly when 1975 hit with two new TV stations for the Winnipeg market, it was as exciting as you can imagine. Both CKND and Prairie Public TV were about as different as can be but both enriched the province with both local, North American and international fare.

Original Joe's Closes St. Vital Location

Original Joes's built their first restaurant in River Heights at the corner of Grant and Kenaston in 2010. It was the old location of Grapes which had lasted for decades until it fell out of fashion. They built their next one beside St. Vital Centre two years later. And a third one opened out on west Portage at Unicity in 2020.

The restaurant group started in 1998 and is presently part of the Recipe Unlimited colossus that might employ the most employees in the business in Winnipeg. They also own The Keg, Montana's, New York Fries and many more. In recent years, this company has closed all their Kelsey's in Winnipeg.

In the last week they shuttered the Original Joe's at St. Vital. Details of why were not revealed but as a best guess, it might be because it was harder to get to than one might think. There was no direct route back and forth between the mall and the restaurant.

Over the years, it has become more and more apparent that getting into St. Vital Centre when rush hours or holidays are around is not as easy feat. It gets harder each year as more traffic head both south and east to growing suburbs beyond but also use the mall as their central shopping area.

It is highly likely another restaurant group will take a chance on this locations if given a chance. When Recipe Unlimited closed Kelsey's in Winnipeg, many were taken over by restaurants like Smitty's. The fact that a patio is already in place has to be a selling point.

It is a tough time running a restaurant at the best of times. Many have struggled terribly with staffing even as minimum wages have gone up. Immigration is increasing but the rate of people retiring and leaving the job market seems to rising even fast. The increase in inflation and interest rates could also mean mean people are more likely to cut dining out. It is a difficult market to assess. Nevertheless, it will be interesting to see if something new comes to this location.

More Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women?

The question has to be asked: Are bodies being disposed to dump areas around Winnipeg because the belief is that they won't be found and won't be subject to a search even if there is a suspicion a victim might be there?

A 33 year indigenous mother of four was discovered by city workers on Monday and today police have identified her as Linda Mary Beardy of Lake St. Martin First Nation. Were it not for keen eyed city workers, it may have been another family in Winnipeg with no answers.

There is a lot to wait for in terms of police work to do. So far they haven't ruled the death as a homicide. What the investigation will reveal is still unknown. The danger for many people is probably overwhelming.

It is not normal for this to be happening. Not surprisingly, it is news nationally and internationally in that it falls into the most horrific category of crimes against persons.

The snow that is falling today could have easily hidden that a person was present at the Brady Road dumpsite. The police should be very concerned that people are ending up there. More needs to be done to track loads that end up at the site. Brady Road has some good tracking. Other sites next to nothing. Nevertheless, even with tracking, Brady Road is a massive place and busy at all times. Given how many times police have been called to the place makes one wonder how longer the status quo can continue.

The police chief Danny Smyth might have unwittingly given comfort to those seeking to hide their crimes to use dumpsites more often. It is no different than our rivers which only when more routine dragging of the rivers took place gave those second thoughts about using it for such purposes.

Winnipeg is a diverse and vital community but has also had a reputation from its origin as a tough and violent place. There has always been a vulnerable population that has struggled with less and had less supports of having a home, health, job and those who care and watch out for them.  The faith in police, justice and government are frail.

Safety is first and foremost in the mind of those in the city and province. If the feeling is that searches won't be done, it only undermines the sense that justice can be done. It only comforts those who commit awful acts that they will remain free.

It can't go on and it shouldn't go on.

Deepest of sadness to the family and all those who suffer not knowing. We have to make it our mission to end this.

Edit: It appears that the woman is question climbed into the bin. There may be more to the story and police are open to more information. This is a tragic situation. Full credit to the Brady Road staff for being on top of things. We can only imagine the desperate search if they hadn't reported in.

Birks Jewellers Closes in Winnipeg

 

Known now as Maison Birks, it generally is called Birks Jewellers in Winnipeg. This past week the company said it is closing the last store in Winnipeg at 191 Lombard across from the Richardson Building. It has been at that location for 15 years. At the time of their move from Polo Park from a very prominent location, it seemed counter-intuitive to re-locate back downtown from the most popular mall in the province. However, Birks said that it was more profitable since they didn't have to pay a percentage to the mall owners as they did at their last location.

Generations of Winnipeggers were patrons of Birks from 1903 till 2023. Occupying the former YMCA building next to Eaton's for decades, it was a fairly massive presence over three floors. In 1987, as Portage Place was going up, they leapfrogged to center court of Polo Park for that mall's expansion. The beautiful old location of Birks became Musiplex on Portage Avenue.

While Polo Park seemed less glorious the three floor posh Portage Avenue location, the trade-off was the huge foot traffic. And Birks maintained an exclusive look and feel than other jewelry stores in the mall. It always felt like a place where you'd need an appointment to discuss the family jewels. And surely, it must have been like that for generations. It is the place your great grandparents came to from the turn of the century.

By all accounts Birks did well for the next few decades at Polo Park. The late 1980s expansion of Polo Park had put new life in the place even when anchors like Eaton's closed, they were replaced with stores like The Bay. By 2000, the largest movie complex in the province was built on the site and it seemed all the major retailers had to be at the mall.. 

The latest earning report from Maison Birks was not great. Many jewelers have been hit hard by synthetic diamonds lowering overall price. It could be that the new generation are less likely to have gold plated this or that or a silver tea service. It is unclear exactly why Birks closed. They opened a store in the CF Chinook mall the same week. Perhaps they should have never left CF Polo Park to begin with.

The now closed Maison Birks in the Union Tower on the first floor looks out to Portage and Main. Just across the street is Hy's new patio and the Richardson Building. Kitty corner the Bank of Montreal has been under renovation for months. A branch of 529 Steakhouse will be set up there. One wonders if Birks had held on, would their business have improved at the corner?

We'll never know. The space left by Birks departure is a marquee space and hopefully, it won't stay empty long. Over the last few years there has been an increase in residential units on Waterfront Drive and along Main Street. Office conversions to residential and warehouse to residential along with new builds continue to take place but it is a slow process. And with 500,000 people a year moving to Canada including 20,000 or so per year to Manitoba, we have to quicken the pace.

The Associated Press is reporting that more companies are pursuing the wealthy shopper who continues to spend even in the face of inflation. For sure this might make Birks think they should have waited. It also might mean they come back. Still, it is the end of an era as a jewelry store that served generations of Winnipeg is no longer part of the Winnipeg landscape.