The Winter Fire Season

Imagine an encampment going up on the riverbank by the Human Rights Museum. It is a possible that one is already there. Or more. Do you think the city, the province or Feds would accept that?  It was a lovely weekend but last year this time we had snow. And all along the river and elsewhere in Winnipeg we have encampments that seem more spread out and numerous this year. Reports are made regularly about tents, shelters and all sorts of items brought to various areas. None of those things can help people get warm unless there is fire.

It is getting colder despite these gorgeous days. And the reports of encampment fires grow and and a sense of desperation in the outdoor communities grows. It is the winter fire season. It happens every year and every year there are fatalities. The social agencies seem to fight about getting people moved to safer housing while others support keeping encampments as they are. There are now fires every other day.

There was a considerable amount of housing approved and building is taking place all over the city. It will take considerable effort here and all through North America to turn the ship around. Poverty, addictions, mental health and homelessness are all connected. The government is reducing immigration and work visas which may or may not help with housing. Even when immigration was lower, there were issues in all of the above noted concerns. 

It isn't just encampments on fire that are a concern. Any unoccupied property is vulnerable to fire. This can include construction sites. They likely are not warm enough in the coldest of winter and invariably a fire might be set. Arsons are still a very large problem whatever the reason they are set. Some properties are seen to by fire services a few times until there is no choice but to demolish.

Social agencies still don't seem to be on the same page about encampments. The goal has to be about finding places for people to live so they don't end up dead from cold or fire. Problems of sanitation, disease and safety in general are also hugely concerning. For most in the city is the fear of crime from those who live in encampments and don't receive social assistance since they don't have an address.

The Los Angeles Times has a report this week on the aggressive housing strategy for homeless that has made a huge difference in the South Bay area of Redondo Beach. The city, one of 56 in Los Angeles County, has made huge strides in functionally ending homelessness in the region. Using housing navigators and a judge, they have helped get those in need into tiny homes and single room occupancy with the supports that come with it. 

To be fair, Redondo Beach is 68,000 people and they had 105 homeless people in 2017. However, their strategy is sound. In Winnipeg tiny homes have been built with supports. However, there doesn't seem to be a court strategy which has been fairly effective in Los Angeles.  Having a case worker and identifying people by name has been extremely helpful in coming up with solutions.

California can get cool and wet in winter but they don't seem to have the fire problems Winnipeg does. The LA Times does mention that they do see a migration of people to where it is warmer and account for it in their record keeping. 

The housing strategy could change because the Conservatives are saying if they get in, they will end the housing accelerator program that the Liberal government has in place now. It is unclear how their GST cut for new housing and rentals will help make places available for low income. By contract, the accelerator fund has gotten shovels in the ground this year and has Conservative MPs lobbying for their areas to get it.

Some city councillors are realizing how dangerous the situation is until encampments are reduced. It will be a rough fire season as each day gets colder this fall.

Mayor Gillingham Seeks New Funding Formula

 Gillingham won't be the first mayor to ask for a new funding formula and won't be the last. Mayors have been asking for a share of the sales tax since Duff Roblin. One of the most notable was Glen Murray asking for the change. Every premier NDP or PC has rejected that call. Some like Brian Pallister froze the grant money year after year given to municipalities.

The feeling some in the province have is that the municipalities can't be trusted with their own money. The Feds often think the same about the provinces. The higher governments have a point. Lower governments often cut taxes or spend on things and think they can come back for more. 

The city always wants no strings attached and when they get money pour it into projects like Kenaston and Peguis road expansions while not doing sewer and water improvements. Gillingham has promised not to spend money on legacy projects. He said this to the 2024 Leader's Forum on Growing the Economy at the Canad Inns Polo Park this week.

The city and province give grants to the city which they keep tightly controlled. They don't want the city to have a sales tax, gas tax, liquor tax or any other tax. As long as the city keeps making open requests for capital, it makes the province suspicious. Perhaps if the city articulated a plan for a sales tax specific to sewer and water. However, there is likely going to be sympathy for for some other projects.

The plan is half baked if actual projects and and budgets are not made. The city can't just ask for unlimited funds and then ask for more. That is what the provinces do. Too many times a transfer payment ends up as a tax cut and then province asks for more money.

There may be a case for a 1% new sales tax collected by the province and given to the municipalities. This could generate tens of millions for local spending. Manitoba is in the middle of the country on sales tax. This still wouldn't generate the billion dollars the city says is needed for Peguis and Kenaston expansions but then the city has dozens of these billion dollar projects. They will have to make choices and some of those might be to not to build certain infrastructure. 

The province is looking to cut spending but it is high unlikely they can keep all the Conservative tax cuts. They need to look at tax reform which no one has done in a very long time. And this could help local governments if it can be part of what they look at.

Relocating the CPKC Railways...Discussed Again

Picture from 1942 of the CP yards. Gives an idea of the barrier between the North End and the rest of Winnipeg. 

Railyards have been moved a number of times in Winnipeg over the last decades. The East Yards is now The Forks. The Fort Rouge Yards are now part of the Southwest Transportation Corridor and a series of apartments. The Tuxedo Yards are now Seasons of Tuxedo. 

The operations for those rail yards were moved to Symington Yards by CN. Rail has changed quite a bit with connection to road, port and airport. The work has evolved from labour intensive loading and unloading to intermodal where the boxes are loaded and unloaded offsite while the railway concentrates more on the delivery. 

The Forks development owes a lot to Lloyd Axworthy and has mostly been one of the most successful rejuvenation projects Winnipeg has ever seen. A close second place would be Seasons Tuxedo. Between the two areas, they have been huge economic drivers for the city's economy and overall successful. The Forks has taken longer to reach economic sustainability. It has heavily relied on Portage Place's parking money of $3 million or so a year to get it through the tough years. Things are much better now but the infusion of the final payment of money from the sale of Portage Place should keep it going for years to come.

The North End has the fewest green spaces of anywhere in the city. The CP yards are massive so that would address some of the issue. However, most would likely agree that something transformative for the neighbourhood would be appropriate. A mall is just not in the cards for an over-retailed city. However, a mixed development where a grocery, pharmacy and banking and other services are available. 

The most important thing initially might be that rail overpasses would not have to go through. Arlington and Salter bridges could could be north and south roads. This would apply to a few more roads as well which could save hundreds of millions in infrastructure costs. Mayor Gillingham has suggested that some of the spur rail lands including ones owned by city may be good for active transportation. He isn't wrong. Rail lines along the east side of the city have been successfully transformed although Councillor Browaty will confirm that like any other area of the city security can be an issue with homeless encampments sprouting up. This doesn't mean they shouldn't be done. Anyone will tell you how great the walking and bike path along that rail spur has been.

They key for any rail development is not speed but thoughtfulness. It has taken more than 10 years for Seasons Tuxedo to reach where it is now and building continues to happen. The Forks has been going on since the 1980s and more left to do. The main point is that even when the railyard moves, it takes some time to come up with a plan. 

The Kapyong Barracks developments is now decades in the making and only now getting started. While new housing and development is critical, it is important to think of the sustainability of what is being built. Does it have good traffic flow, enough green space, public space, housing, retail, restaurants and offices? Build a single focus development of housing and it may be a food desert. Put just a park in and it might be dangerous with no people in it at various times a day.

The CPKC yard should not be moved unless it is make economic sense for the company and the city. If they are moving to the CentrePort then it by all means is sensible. If the rail company is moving then the area will be clear and it totally make sense to extend the roads where tracks once stood. And thereafter create a development plan to service the area lest the empty areas see people build with no permission.

There have been some times lately when open spaces have led to people building their own places. The area behind Grant Park was built up by the Metis only to have it taken away. This raises the question of whether CPKC land might be purchased by indigenous groups. It is entirely possible. Still, the issue is what sort of plan will be followed and how the costs will be covered. 

It is possible that Axworthy will present a very ambitious plan only for the next federal government to torpedo it. The Martin government had an agreement for indigenous supports that the Harper government cancelled. It is possible this could happen as well. Still, it is better to have a plan even though this has been discussed for over 60 years. At some point, the railyard might move and they may seek partners in doing so. It would be better to have thought deeply on this and maybe incentivize it. 

Until then, the question of rebuilding overpasses will remain. Hold off because you won't need or let two areas of the city be cut off from one another?

Apartment and New Keg Restaurant Back on For Downtown

In 2023, a 14 storey apartment town and new Keg restaurant halted construction as economic supply chain issues and inflation raised its $40 million price up beyond $60 million. The developer was local Keg owner Gord Howard who still owns the three restaurants in the city. The apartment at Donald Street and St. Mary's Avenue was 30 per cent complete when it went into creditor protection.

It is now back on under Carrington Real Estate and called DSM (short for the street crossroads). A Winnipeg developer that is new to the downtown but with projects all over the city. The design has been reconfigured for 160 units including 40 affordable ones. The developer is hoping to access the accelerator program from the Fed in the next intake. That fund was over subscribed all over the country from developers keen to build housing. There likely be a 2025 intake but there is no guarantee that a new government will renew the program.

Parts of south Portage have been surface parking lots for decades. This is what Toronto looked like in the 1980s. Massive parking lots surrounded the bank towers of the major Canadian banks. It is pretty much been in the last 20 years that condos went up on all available space they could find. And those banks looks small compared to them. However, for all the towers in Toronto, affordability has not come.

I have said a few times here that the affordable housing for today is usually built 20 years earlier. Shortages of housing raises what those houses can go for. Cutting immigration and student visas can send those housing prices down. But it can also send Canada into recession as the universities topple on the edge and employers can't find critical workers. 

The very long period of almost know multi-unit housing going up and the slow pace of detached homes going up. Winnipeg went for quite some time with nearly no apartments going up or at such a slow pace that it is reflected in soaring house prices. Supply chain problems continue to slow down today's construction. Higher interest have had an effect but keep in mind that low interest rates didn't help on prices or supply either.

Building capacity in the system is something all three levels of government, private industry and consumers need to work on. Oddly enough, the federal and provincial governments have sat on the sidelines about building for years. And consumers often want the door shut on further building in their area once they have moved in. This eventually becomes a problem because people require different types through the course of their lives. Also, housing often needs to be rehabilitated or rebuilt. In Winnipeg, the housing stock is rapidly aging. In some cases, houses get knocked down and what is left is an empty space.

This is the story of a lot of downtown Winnipeg. Houses, offices, warehouse, hotels and other buildings have been knocked down and turned to surface parking. The corner of Donald and St. Mary's Avenue has been a parking lot for decades. It is kitty korner to Cityplace and walking distance to Canada Life Centre. It is without a doubt going to be very attractive as a destination for Jets, Moose and concert goers with a Keg there.

Once upon a time there were two Kegs downtown. There was a large location where Pony Coral was and the longtime location on Garry Street. The latter location remains and it uncertain it stays open although no one has said anything to the effect that it will close. It probably has enough of a base to continue forever. That being side, the new Keg on the ground floor of the Donald/St. Mary's location will be 10,000 square feet. To put that in perspective the Keg location on Portage Avenue is 8,000 square feet. The one of McGillivray is 12,000 square feet.

This will be the second steakhouse locate on the first floor of a downtown apartment of office in recent years. The first was Hy's when it moved to the first floor and basement of the Richardson building in 2005. It has taken quite some time for Hy's to be joined by 529 across the street in 2024. And now sometime in  2025 The Keg will up.

The new building will be called DSM which stands for Donald St. Mary's. It is a good news story for more housing on a surface parking lot and the return of a large Keg to the downtown area.

Amazon Prime Monday Night Hockey

The first game of Monday Night Hockey aired October 14. 2024 with Montreal Canadiens versus Pittsburgh Penguins on Amazon Prime. The site is subscription only so only those with an Amazon Prime membership can watch. For further clarification, these games are only seen in Canada because Rogers (which holds thee rights) has sold two years of Monday games to them. In the first game the Penguins took Canadiens 6-3. 

Amazon Prime has various business interests in streaming in addition to their massive online and bricks and mortar retail platform. Prime has been has been making exclusive content on their streaming channel but it is sports that draws in the big live audiences.

Amazon, like YouTube and Netflix, has been broadcasting a game a week on their platforms. It is less noticeable in Canada because CTV has the NFL rights and we get Prime, CBC, NBC and ABC games on regular CTV channels and TSN cable. This could change in the next TV and streaming deal with the NFL if the streamers insist on world-wide rights on their platforms only. This could lead to charges of antitrust.

It would seem the NHL wants to have streamers pay big money but everyone knows if a deal goes to just one broadcaster, it could lead to government breaking up a monopoly. Rogers buying national rights in Canada to squeeze out CBC and TSN might have been disallowed if it wasn't for regional broadcast rights being owned by TSN in major markets as well as Rogers using CBC and CityTV to further the reach of their broadcasts.

Mark Messier is easily the most recognized of the broadcast team. With six Stanley Cups, he is known on both sides of the border. It is hard not to think this is an audition for more Amazon broadcasts targeting the U.S. for the NHL. The amount of American talent on the broadcast makes you think Amazon is setting up for a long future. Play by play is being called by present say Seattle Kraken play caller John Forslund. He has been in American hockey broadcast since the 1990s and is a well known and recognized voice in the booth. Colour commentary comes from a series of broadcasters breaking a way from their other duties around the league. Blake Bolden, American, former NCAA and women's professional leagues and pro scout for Los Angeles Kings. Jody Shelly from Manitoba/Nova Scotia. A former enforcer in the NHL, he became a broadcaster with Columbus Blue Jackets. Shane Hnidy, another Manitoba, former NHLer and former much beloved colour analyst for Jets. Working for Golden Knights and TNT as analyst.  Thomas Hickey, Canadian, former NHL defencemen for the Islanders and colour analyst for the team with MSG Network.

I'm assuming that Shane Hnidy gets the call for the Amazon Prime broadcast in Winnipeg in two weeks against the Leafs. I expect it will quite the experience. The Montreal broadcast had Amazon crews all over the place shooting the city and the fans. Comments from Montreal fans was that broadcast was very high quality. Some camera work was not seen in broadcasts done elsewhere. One observation was that the commentary was simplistic and focused on the game rather than the league as well. They did have Gary Bettman there but it was not quite a state of the league address but more a welcome to Amazon.

The pre-game production was about an hour before the game. It consisted of American host Adnan Virk of ESPN introducing the game. The rest of the panel was Blake Boldren and Mark Messier with guest Bettman. The other co-host, Canadian Andi Petrillo, a long time analyst for CBC and Hockey Night in Canada, handled all the interviews except Bettman's.

Andi Petrillo will host a Thursday program called Coast to Coast on Prime. The NHL has a production hub in Secaucus, New Jersey and Petrillo will often use the studio there if she isn't doing it on location in various Canadian cities. Meadowlands sports centers are there and it across from Manhattan.

Amazon Prime is also producing a docu-series Face-Off Inside the NHL which will looks at the inside story with players and teams. So far it has been compelling TV. There are also some other NHL series on the streamer.

Last year Amazon Prime had just under 12 million average for Thursday Night Football. Not bad numbers considering some of the games were not exactly best of the week. In fact, some were calling it trash football. Next year Amazon Prime will have NBA games broadcast. It is unclear if it is for all of North America.

The Amazon in Canada won't feel like trash games to Canadians. Anytime two Canadian teams face off will get a TV crowd. The Leaf and Jets game will see a lot of viewers. The Winnipeg game is going to have huge excitement to it and could see a rise of Prime subscriptions or more people going to bars where it is playing. 

The who issue of subscriptions is a big deal. The next NHL deal is likely to have several aspects to it. It will be shorter, have regular broadcasters and cable but it could also be multiple streamers. People forget that the return of the Jets meant seeing games on a single cable channel TSN 3 and paying quite a bit for it. Imagine having to do that for several subscriptions. It could grow to prices that led people to cut cable.

Top 10 Most Wanted in Manitoba

There have top 10 wanted lists for crime almost as long as Manitoba has been around. The Winnipeg Police Service and RCMP have finally put a website with the top 10. Crime Stoppers has gotten an increased amount of money to give to those sending in tips. And police say it is working. The Manitoba Integrated Violent Offenders Apprehension Unit has been doing very well according to their own spokesmen.

Social media is a powerful tool for police to inform and apprehend suspects. They will need to be doing more, not less of this to successfully bring down crime. This involves various apps and not just Facebook. The top ten is great for violent criminals but just as much needs to be done in a timely fashion for petty crime.

The police mentioned that some people turned themselves in rather than appearing in the top 10 profile too long where people saw them. They didn't like that. For some they wouldn't care but it is useful to inform the public. One constant complaint is how police never inform people. 

In some cases it might hurt because the community is helping to hide someone. However, information can dry up completely leaving police with only getting tips from residents. 

The new top 10 list is already leading to apprehension of suspects. The people on the list are not just released. Many have enough charges of a serious nature that they are taken off the street.

Further changes provincially and federally are being enacted on parole and sentencing. A federal prisons such as Stony Mountain is the oldest in Canada.

Some say Winnipeg needs more cops but they are also working 50,000 extra hours a year for private organizations. It would not hurt to examine use of police and hiring for police special events. A lot of resources go into the police force and it is added to pensionable hours. Many police are retired by 50 and the age keeps going down. The police love these extra jobs but it may not be the best for the taxpayer.

The truth is we need a variety of security measures and not all of them involve police. An investigation by Manitoba Veterinary Office was turned over to the police. They laid the information in police hands and they got the legal supports to carry out search and arrests of two people responsible for the cruelty and death of cats. This is how things should work. Much of the legwork can be done by other bodies.

The gathering of video evidence and other security work need not be done by police but civilians. And managing websites of crime can be done by others.  The cruising crowd has attracted some motorcycle clubs and large crowds on Sundays. Signs of gone up in the Princess Auto parking lot which have been ignored. Police are near non-existent. So the most recent Sunday, uniformed security has taken over the lot. 

Private security has risen everywhere and the NDP provincial government has increased the money for private companies to buy alarm systems. However, even high security places like Polo Park can have issues from people despite cameras and patrols. Places like Polo Park can ban people and you see more and more of that but then it means those individuals can be out other places causing trouble.

Ultimately, only the police can get the violent offenders off the street and the Top 10 list helps a lot. It will be tips that do the job more often rather than relying on older, less reliable data. Confidence in the system will only be restored when people can see evidence of dangerous people removed out of their community.

Winnipeg Jets and Road Trip Flights

Winnipeg Jets and the Canada Life Centre is a big operation. Management consists of no less than 17 vice-presidents. In addition to managing the Jets, Moose and facilities such as the Canada Life Centre, Hockey for All Centre (Iceplex), Burton Cummings Theatre, True North Square and soon to come: Portage Place. There is a lot of real estate that is part of the overall company.

I think that it is hard to fully appreciate the impact a professional hockey team has on the city of Winnipeg. The management of two hockey teams is not the only part of community engagement. The Jets employ a communications team to reach people in a variety of ways. It isn't just radio, TV and web broadcasts of the games providing information and entertainment but TikTok, Instagram and YouTube.

In a post on their social media that has gone viral, the Jets showed what is involved in a road trip. It first appeared on Instagram but is has been on TikTok and drew the attention of the National Post because it sheds some light on a area of hockey operations. It follows the Jets as they board their aircraft and head off to Edmonton for first game of season.

The initial Instagram post was produced by the Jets digital team which makes all hockey content. It is a combination of pictures, video and some information about the flight preparation that the team does. Each away game involves the transportation of 2,100 kilos of equipment which is 4,700 pounds. The 26 players on the team are about the same weight. Add coaching staff, media team and air crew loads the modified Air Canada Airbus 320 to capacity.

Air Canada has a division with Airbuses called Air Canada Jetz. It has four aircraft that provide surfaces for all Canadian NHL teams and the Seattle Kraken. The livery is a dark black with the logo of the airline. When they travel for the Jets, the team logo is all over luxury leather seats. As with all airlines, food service is provided. These jets are used for other charters to including election periods.

The two tonnes of luggage includes hockey bags for every player, five sticks each, two games jerseys, multiple practice jerseys, two skate sharpening machine, sewing machine and all the supplies that come with it. The players have their own personal bags. They are required suits for business travel when heading to work.

Everything is loaded on the tarmac off a truck and Air Canada has gotten down to 15 minutes. On long road trips, no one wants to be at the airport for too long. There are 41 away games and they are coast to coast and back and forth over the border. Add play-offs and that is a lot of travel!

And this is just the Jets. Let's not forget the Manitoba Moose travel by airplane as well. I haven't heard what they travel in now but it used to a prop plane from Calm Air. They were one of the few teams in the AHL to have one.

The media team with their story on team plane travel gave insight into what a road trip was like: the business side, the social side and the human interest side. Amazon is showing what is behind the curtain and there is an audience for it. TikTok or BookTok says hockey romance novels are among the best sellers and responsible for a growing fan base of women in hockey.

The truth is that hockey teams and hockey broadcasts are evolving and social media and streaming are playing bigger roles than ever.

New City of Winnipeg Housing Money Approved for

 

Even with many apartments being built in the last few years we have had several places closed for various reasons such as fires, engineering reasons and the like. The Parkview at 440 Edmonton was a personal care home right off Central Park that had deteriorated so bad that it was better to close it than keep it open in the pandemic.

Central Park had being seeing improvements a few years ago but has once again fallen into a slump. Security is an issue everywhere as addiction creates desperation and unsafe atmospheres. There is no shortage of apartments in the area but affordable places are hard to find. The Parkview will now be home to 180 units of transitional and social housing. The 13 storey apartment has been empty since 2022. The new owner is the University of Winnipeg Community Renewal Corporation 2.0 which has had a lot of success building apartments downtown.

All around the Winnipeg Art Gallery are University of Winnipeg housing complexes. This is a complete change from the 1980s when the university washed their hands of their men's and women's residences and turned them into faculty use. The feeling is students didn't need university built housing. It was a terrible mistake but back then the U of W didn't have two pennies to rub together. How things have changed. If only the University of Manitoba did the same. The Fort Garry campus has done not very much despite having the land to do it. They have a huge swath of land where the Southwood Golf Club was. Perhaps in 2025 work will begin on the land they bought there.

An empty lot at 225 King Street and 231 Princess Street will become 54 apartments downtown. There has been significant housing built around here in last several years. Just down the street from there an open lot will be made into 128 apartments.

Around the art gallery at 530 St. Mary Avenue and at 252 Good Street will go 165 apartments and 50 apartments of affordable housing. And at 125 Garry Street, nearly empty building will be turned into 126 units of apartments.

Several other apartments will go up from Transcona to St. James as well. The applications were literally over-subscribed and many other worthy projects are looking to next year if the program continues. This came as a result of the federal accelerator fund via the city but if the money stops with the next government, the momentum could end.

Still, it is a lot of empty buildings and surface parking lots that will become housing. The Manitoba government has committed to a $10 million fund with with Business Council of Manitoba. This commitment echoes the important conclusion in the much shared Foundations UK essay about what is needed to get Britain out of its stagnant economy. The argument equally applies to Canada and by extension Manitoba. The idea is that business leverages what government does. Investment is the key for housing, infrastructure and energy. And government can't do that by itself.

Private investment has to drive growth and clearly, it has taken a NDP government to do that. The federal government has only recently gotten back into getting housing infrastructure built. They had been involved in the 1970s but the provinces pushed them out. The provinces themselves used their transfer payments for others areas such as tax cuts. The aging housing infrastructure and lack of new buildings has stretched into years. And the housing built was not the right housing as it was not near transportation routes, had not enough bedrooms and so on. 

Public investment needs to be focused on what gets housing built and not just one kind of housing. Capacity helps keep prices down but government seems to have lost focus and people start to think of there houses as an investment that beats the market and helps fund fabulous wealth in the future. This ignores the fact that people need need places to live after they sell their houses and will have to rent or buy in a high priced market. For some they can't sell because there is nothing to buy.

The government should only be concerned about capacity. If they try to help home owners achieve huge wealth through property, it will only backfire as it is still a market. As seen in the U.S,. cycles will tank property prices around every ten years. Canada has avoided this mostly by better banking and federal mortgage rules. However, it is not immune from it and house prices have reaches inflated heights and are already starting to lower. The question is whether rate cuts will start to raise prices way up again.

Building capacity is the one thing the government can do. It means financial supports to builders, zoning adjustments that don't force builders to build cars spaces or limit height onerously, that don't skimp on safety but drop rules that are a hundred years old and unnecessary, to help landlords and homeowners upgrade to energy efficient appliances and insulation and to infill vacant land and convert vacant buildings or demolish them for housing.

The city, the province and the Feds all seem geared to work on the housing crisis. It remains to be seen whether they stay focused on it. Too often it is one of the things cut by governments and it has become obvious that private business alone can't solve this. In Winnipeg, the people living on the riverbanks is an indication that we don't have the right type of housing. Zero vacancy affects everyone. It will remain one of the top priorities for Canadians. It should be the same for government.

Series Finale of SEAL Team

Seal Team started in 2017 when network television was still a big deal and had huge promotional parties celebrating the dozen or so series that were getting a 22 episode order for the new season. CBS likely greenlit the series following the success of History Channel's Six which ran two seasons starting in 2017. It was a SEAL team series as well.

Unlike History Channel though, the might of CBS meant they could 22 produce episodes a season and have the budget to do it. David Boreanaz, a consistent lead actor in television for many years was the eventual choice to head series. CBS has found success with a Delta Force series called The Unit from 2006 to 2009 so had some familiarity with a special forces series,

Embarking on a series like this generally means a smaller but dedicated audience as many women will tune in other shows. Still, for most of the time it was on television it held a fair sized audience. It was an expensive show though and CBS decided they wanted to make room on the network for other series so it was decided to make SEAL Team one of shows going to their new Paramount + Network.

It is the first and perhaps only program to start as a network series and continue as an original streamer series, SEAL Team was able to spice up the language if not the violence of the series. Swearing was featured on the streaming episodes.  One major difference was that instead of 22 episodes, the series had 10 episodes a season. Netflix, Amazon Prime and streamers like Paramount+ just don't producer as many episodes. It is their major weakness.

Boreanaz as Master Chief Hayes was the main character and the stories featured both his missions and family life. Writers on the show often had a military background including special forces which lent to the authenticity of the series. By it's nature fewer female characters appeared as regular cast but the ones that did were important to the show. 

Canadian actress Jessica Pare who played a CIA officer Mandy Ellis almost didn't get the role when CBS higher ups tried to torpedo her. It is still not known why the president didn't want her but producers fought to get her and she was a regular and recurring character throughout. It is shame they didn't use her more in the last two years as a CIA officer attached to Bravo because it was a very interesting role. They did try to have the relationship blossom between her and Hayes. In typical TV series drama, a wedding took place but it was Hayes's daughter but all of the cast was there and Hayes and Mandy were together as a couple ready to take it to the next step of happiness.

The main female character throughout the series was Lisa Davis played by Toni Trucks whose evolution from Specialist to Lieutenant was something to see on the show. In the end Sonny, played by Canadian actor A.J. Buckley, gives up his trident to follow Davis to a big promotion to Washington. 

The loss of the character of Clay Spenser played by Max Theriot affected every other member of Bravo company and their families. It took the show down a path to show just how much military service and the aftermath affected those who served. 

There have been a number of shows about military conflict over the years that have marked certain times in world history. MASH, Band of Brothers, Combat! and others have been as important to our understanding of those times even if it has been told by Hollywood. The change from network TV to streaming service might make these type of shows a more rare item. 

Many streamers are not making any money but then again network TV is struggling too. The issue of how to make money in this new environment and it is a major concern. Paramount as a studio is going through its second series of cutbacks this year. Hollywood has many unemployed people in California. The government in the state is looking at tax credits. They'd be wise to do so as Manitoba is having a boom in filming because of the tax credit, the crews, the locations and facilities.

Shows like SEAL Team are expensive because of the location work. However, when places like Manitoba work with the film companies, you have more of a recipe for success. The final season of SEAL Team was filmed in Columbia. The realism is what drew fans to the show. It will be missed by many.

 

One Year Anniversary of October 7 Attack

It is hard to believe it has been a year since the terrorist attack on October 7 on Israeli communities just outside Gaza. The raids and kidnappings by Hamas has led to an ongoing military conflict involving a number of groups supported by Iran.  Above is a picture of Israelis troop in Gaza from IDF.

Saturday, October 7 in 2023 was a religious holiday in Israel so it was quiet. Festivals and faithful gatherings were taking place and it was a relaxed day. The brutality that followed from the attack by Hamas forces out of Gaza is hard to hear and yet some people have tried to deny how bad it was or to justify it. It was rape and murder on a scale that is sickening.

Despite the feeling that Netanyahu was responsible for the military and intelligence failure that led to to the attack, there was and is support for the attacks on Hamas as well as Hezbollah leadership. Responding to Houthi and Iranian attack also has support. 

However, there are also tens of thousand in Israel seeking the end of Netanyahu's leadership over the failure to get hostages back, the lack of preparedness for the attack and for a whole host of other issues from settlements to antidemocratic changes in Israel. I have written about how polarizing Benjamin Netanyahu is in Israel.

As a democratic state, Israelis are very active in the political system and a election will turn on the future of the state. In terms of the war, a hardened position has emerged as the details of the savagery of October 7 remains as an open wound in Israel. But people are also tired of the war and the more soldiers that die fighting it will test the resolve of the government. A total military victory is unlikely in getting all the hostages back. This has been an issue in past conflicts and negotiation has been the only thing to resolve it. Back in 2006, Hezbollah seemed shocked of the Israeli response in their attack in Lebanon. They are likely feeling the same way now as leader after leader is targeted.

In Gaza, Hamas is only focused on eliminating Jews from the territory and creating a religious state where all other religions are driven out. This is in their manifesto. It does not recognize Israel and neither do its's supporters in Gaza and other parts of the world. Moreover, their charter looks to spread Muslim faith worldwide under sharia law. It should be noted that the goals of Hamas are not shared by all Palestinians. However, there is really no one in Gaza to challenge them.

October 7 is called Israel's September 11. It is gut wrenching and emotional. For Jews in Canada it has been a tough time as they and their businesses are targets of antisemitism whether they have a connection to Israel or not. The bomb threats and and other attacks have risen sharply.

For Palestinians, Lebanese and other supporters in Canada, their rage is red hot as many often have family back in the conflict areas. Not surprisingly, some believe Israel is an illegitimate state and all Jews should leave as they are colonizers. Many don't believe in a two state solution. This doesn't give much room for negotiation. The dismissal of the October 7 attack and hostages largely doesn't get answered. 

So long as Hamas exists, it seems unlikely any solutions will have any permanence. Supporters who believe they can drive the Jews out and nothing seems to the dissuade them from this idea. As for Israelis, an extreme group of the religious right seem to think they have a greater Israel and look to push Palestinians out of West Bank. 

Canada supports a two state solution. Extremists want their side to eliminate the other. At some point, Israel will declare the war over and try to get their hostages back. A retaliation against Iranian missiles but set ups renewed hostilities between Iran and Israel. If Iran becomes nuclear in short order, it is possible a nuclear exchange could result. It is crazy and it is possibly why Netanyahu is trying to goad the U.S and allies to go to war against Iran. It won't happen. The U.S. is too burned by Afghanistan and Iraq to gear up for an invasion of Iran.

It seemed impossible that it is a year and fighting is still be happening. But hostages are still being held by Hamas. A ceasefire will come but not so that attacks can resume on Israel. And Israel won't tolerate years of hostages being held. 

For Canada, the government needs to ensure anti-Semitism is not allowed to threaten people, synagogues and businesses. There is anti-Muslim sentiment out there too but attacking Jews seems to be just too tempting for some people. Canada has been a refuge for people since the beginning. It cannot be where people wage war on one another for things that happen elsewhere.  In the end, Canada will stick with its two state solution and will push for some sort of negotiation. But no one should lose sight of the fact a terrorist attack took place and hostages are being held. As long as some people dismiss this, it does nothing to resolve things.

Portage Place Upgrade Gets the Go Ahead

Portage Place was originally built for $80 million in 1987 which is about $160 million in today's terms. It wasn't the only project on North Portage. Investors Group, Air Canada, Relax Hotel (Holiday Inn) and several apartments also went up. Some of those developments continue to exist today and are successful. However, the mall like much of downtown shopping suffered. Polo Park doubled in size around the same year. Eaton Place and Winnipeg Square were built less than ten years earlier. In short, Winnipeg was over-malled and the suburbs won the battle. Well, almost. Unicity failed before Portage Place.

The just under 1000 car parkade was the jewel under Portage Place. Generating millions in profit each year, it kept The Forks afloat from 1994 on. Cadillac Fairview and successor companies never owned the parkade. If they had, things might have been different. However, it is possible they might have just sold it as the downtown Bay sold theirs to make quick cash. The Forks North Portage Partnership on behalf of the three levels of government receives the parkade's profits. And those have all gone to The Forks since 1994.

 It is worth a passing thought to think what $3 or $4 million a year from the lot might have done for north Portage. It is likely though The Forks would have gone bankrupt. Today it is in much healthier shape. And the sale of the parkade to Truth North will result in a possible windfall of cash to The Forks to the tune of $35 million. On the profits generated by the parkade alone and the usefulness to Jets' owners, the deal will certainly generate cash. The millions spent by event parking that didn't go to the arena will now go to the arena.

Some critics are withering about anything going up downtown. Some says they haven't been for years. That is entirely possible for those who don't go to concerts, conventions, theatre, hockey, basketball, work or The Forks. Perhaps they live and work in the suburbs or just out of town. However, the downtown is where all three levels of government are located. The reason they are there is convenience for the services they provide and for the amount of workers needed.

The Chipman and Thomson families who own the Jets have been doing their part to make downtown dynamic. It has been a building block process. First it was to redevelop the old Eaton's site and move the AHL Moose to the building. Then it was to bring the Jets in. A exhibition hall was next and then a redevelopment of the block across the street with a combination of parkade, Alt Hotel, restaurants, condo and offices. Then it was True North Square and several office towers, residential units and hotel. In just over 20 years hundreds of millions has been spent and has transformed the arena district.

Portage Place will easily be the biggest redevelopment downtown since True North arena was built in the early 2000s. It will have multiple partners in all levels of government, True North, Southern Chiefs Organization and Pan Am Clinic. For those who say they will not ever go downtown, they certainly will go if that is where their knee surgery will be. 

For the next 35 years, the Pam Am Clinic will be on east side of the former mall and take over the space that was the food court and movie theatres. It will be 12 storey centre of excellence for surgery. It will occupy 265,000 square feet. By comparison, the present location by the Pam Am Pool is 72,000 square feet. By any measure this a massive expansion to help bring down waiting times for healthcare. The present Diamond Athletics is 10,000 square feet and will be moving as well. Presumably, they will also increase in size.

On the west side of the former mall will be a 13 storey apartment that will be a partnership of Chipman/Thomson and Southern Chiefs Organization. Affordable units will be part of the building. There will be 200 units built with about 40 per cent allotted lower income. The skywalk will remain connected throughout including to the former Bay. The Southern Chiefs Organization has a budget of about $130 million for that building alone which will also include housing.

As for the rest of the mall, it was revealed a grocery store has signed a letter of intent for about 19,000 square feet. Other mall residents such as Prairie Theatre Exchange are expected to stay. However, actual plans and tenants have not yet been revealed. Work is set to begin in 2025 and be complete by 2028.

For the first time 100% of Portage Place, the parkade and additional buildings will be owned locally by one group but in partnership with several other groups. Long tern planning is already part of the core mission of the facility. A health centre that is needed and wanted is key to people coming there every day of the week.

Mixed developments are central to long lasting success. Portage Place was simply too much retail and not enough street presence. It turned its back on the street and in many ways, turned away from ground floor in favour of the skywalks. As seen in the above picture, the new Pam Clinic will have a street presence. There has to be handicapped access and pick up/drop off spots out front. You simply can't have a surgical center with no road access. For this reason Edmonton will go through where the escalators and clock are now to connect Portage and Ellice.

There appears to be a few park-like areas in front of the new Pan Am entrance and around the new mall entrance. Without a doubt there will be high security to keep the area from becoming like the pocket park of Air Canada in terms of an encampment and more like what True North Square is. That is to say the park will be there for citizens to use but not to take up residence in. There will be simply be too many people going in and out of what is essentially a hospital.

There are around 80 encampments around the city now. It is important that more is done to find people housing, treatment and not have more areas become permanent outdoor settlements. Certainly it would appear the goal of True North and Southern Chiefs Organization is to build affordable housing. Many people this winter could suffer if it is colder and snowier than past years. Living on the street or the river is dangerous.

There are a lot of moving parts to Portage Place but working with The Bay conversion by Southern Chiefs, it is a near $1 billion amount of work. The inclusion of health and housing ensures vitality seven days a week. This was always a flaw of the old mall. Evenings and weekends were not strong. There was just not enough people living in the area.

In recent years around the Art Gallery, there has been a number of apartments built, same for Truth North Square and along Portage Avenue. In the past week, there have been several apartment projects in the downtown approved to begin immediately. There are more coming next year and possibly in years after even with a federal change of government.

The truth is that there can't be any ten years or more breaks where literally nothing is getting built. And that is what has been happening in Winnipeg and longer at times. The hoarding of land for parking spaces have left large areas under utilized. Downtown has football fields of space, some of which has not seen a return of traffic since the end of the pandemic. Shopping malls are coming to the conclusion that too much of their lots are not being used regularly. Space is being converted to other uses including apartments.

The initial Portage Place mall attracted tens of millions of other investment. It is likely the new initiative will do the same. Still, it will take three years to see much of this come to pass. By then, perhaps, True North's Sutton Place Hotel and Suites will be complete as the need for additional hotels downtown has grown. It often takes a very long time to get shovels in the ground.

Still, this new project is a step in the right direction and a great improvement on past proposals. No one development alone with save the downtown but, like The Forks, step by step action will make that area a vital component if rejuvenation.