Freshair Boutique Academy Road Suddenly Closes

Only an email gives any clue to the demise of Freshair Boutique in River Heights. It simply says it is closed immediately and their website is down. At the corner of Lanark and Academy Road, the entire street has seen change. In the strip mall itself Starbucks closed in favour of Empty Cup. Across the street, 7th Avenue Fashions closed their doors in August.

The entire Academy Road strip has seen changes since 2020. Many retirements and business changes. It might not be as recognizable to someone who hasn't been down that way in a year or two.

The strip mall itself was a former gas station till the 1970s. It is too far back for me to remember. I'm not sure what affiliation it had. Across the street was Pacific 66 which became Petro-Canada. Down the street from there was British American which became Gulf and then Petro-Canada. In all, three former gas stations became retail in that area.

Every ten years or so there is a lot of change on Academy. At one time there were three grocery stores from the 1980s on. Now there is only one and the long time 1970s till now 7/Eleven.  Who knows why Freshair closed. But it should be noted that some people who had appointments into the next months are now finding them cancelled.

Howard Lutnick Says Canada Has to Be Number 2

Prime Minister Carney returned from Washington. While discussions were friendly, there has been no deal signed. Minister Leblanc continues discussions on sectoral deals but it is slow going. Trump has often said deals were to be instant when he became president but half a year has gone by and only now movement is being made on Gaza and Israel. Complicated problems take time. And in some cases never get fully resolved.

Canadians continue to cut Carney slack but employment numbers are bad and the car, steel, lumber and aluminum industries are all suffering. There has been some aid programs for those industries but so far the only thing that has protected Canada from worse results is the free trade agreements that expire in 2026. Even those agreements could collapse with tariffs in the new year. 

In a speech a day after the Carney meeting, Howard Lutnick said not to expect an auto deal from Trump in a new trade agreement. He said Canada will give up all car manufacturing and might be left with auto parts. Lutnick, the Commerce Secretary, says this is a America First policy and Canada must accept it.

This speech to the Eurasia Group's Canada-U.S. Summit in Toronto. Lutnick made the speech via video call under Chatham House Rules which prevented media coverage. His speech though was confirmed by three sources that saw and heard it. While Trump is the final decider, the Lutnick speech was an indicator that CUSMA, the freed trade agreement, is likely not going to be renewed as it is now. It may not resemble anything like free trade. The U.S. want all of Canadian industry to locate south of the border.

Even as tariffs hurt U.S. businesses such as farming, Lutnick continues to push ahead. Soybeans, corn and beef have lost their Chinese markets. Crops are coming in there and there is no place to market them to. Moreover, the ending of USAID means the government is not buying either for food security. Headed into the 2026 mid-term elections, many farmer will be angry and it will be harder to blame the Democrats for it.

If Canada and Mexico lose auto manufacturing, it is likely the big U.S. auto builder like GM and Ford who will go bankrupt. And American car prices will jump even higher unless labour costs are slashed. It is likely every business affected in the U.S. is lobbying but it may come down to bankruptcies before anything resonates. This doesn't help Canada either but it is an indication of how policy is happening south of the border.

Lutnick and U.S. ambassador Pete Hoekstra are certainly abrasive. The gaslighting about how Canada's not travelling to the U.S. is an impediment to good relations is rich. The joking about the 51st state is brought up unbidden by Trump all the time. The reaction to the threat has caused Canadians to re-think the relationship with America. It seems that these Trump officials are shocked that there is deep feelings of betrayal in Canada. There is actual anger by them about how we changing our travel, shopping and other habits related to the U.S.

The premiers across the country are getting nervous and wonder what Canada has gotten from two meetings with Trump. Some are getting sick of making concessions and receiving nothing in return. Lutnick has said to expect it to be worse and even Canadian consumers choosing not to travel to the U.S. is regarded as a hostile act. Hoekstra has said the same. In short, they have said Canada is going to take it and like it. Or else. Some premiers are advocating for punching back.

Canada may be hoping that a legal challenge on tariffs winding it's way to the Supreme Court. There is no telling how the court will react. The justices surely know that giving the president unlimited powers that usually fell to Congress could be used by a future Democratic president in future years. That Republican majority court might rule against the permanent tariffs. Or they might support the tariffs. The House of Representatives might change to Democratic control and then tariff policy might be overturned there. The truth is 2026 is the mid-term elections and a lot can happen in the U.S.

Carney has to navigate the whole thing carefully. The retaliation tariffs except on sectoral areas like aluminum and steel have been reversed with no reciprocal response yet. If a deal on steel or aluminum is reached, it would be helpful. However, aluminum and steel could be of use in Canada if tin and aluminum drink cans are brought into production in Ontario and elsewhere. This alone could be a $3 billion re-patriation of production. 

The 100% tariff on EV vehicles from China was a tandem response with the U.S. and to support our own EV industry. The response from China has been ever increasing tariffs on canola. Premier Wab Kinew has said those tariffs should end. The major problem is that the development of EVs in Canada might end and car production might accelerate in moving to U.S. Canada will be speaking to China this week so some progress might be made there. Pierre Poilievre, however, believes the Chinese vehicles are problematic because the tech can be monitored and controlled in China. The same argument can be made with Tesla and American control. While a legitimate concern, it is one that warrants a further discussion. The tariff imposed was mostly in regards to dumping product at below cost to kill competitors and then raise rates later. It might be better to extract concessions to build Chinese EVs in Canada.

Ultimately, if the U.S. goal is to end the auto industry in Canada, it frees Canada from having to buy anything produced in the U.S. at all. The Trump goal to bring manufacturing back to the U.S. and then export that product back to Canada is unlikely. Canada is likely to either build its own product or seek those products where it is less expensive and that won't be the U.S. 

American trade issues with China alone are likely to bankrupt many farmers in the next years even with bailouts. Meanwhile, Canada is trying to come to some sort of agreement with India and China. The issue of Canadian sovereignty will matter in whatever discussions we have in regards to trade in the world. For many citizens, the issue will be housing, inflation and economy. Carney already is looking to get out of the weeds. A trade deal is necessary with the U.S. but a bad trade deal is worse than no deal at all. Spreading deals out around the world would be helpful.

Meanwhile, an election is possible is as early as a budget defeat November 4. The polls are very tight and for various reasons the opposition might be itching to go an election before 2026. Carney might be ready for an election too. While they might be ready, the public could react with hostility. Despite the unhappiness in Parliament, the parties might find some reason to vote for the budget or might sneakily have some MPs who don't show up on vote day. Donald Trump could be an issue long into next year. How the electorate responds to that might hurt or help certain parties.

One think is for certain that each time Howard Lutnick opens his mouth to say Canada is going to get hurt in the new trade relationship has Canadians look for other options in world partners.

AI and Cryptocurrency Data Sites North Dakota

Full credit to the Fargo Forum newspaper for their reporting. The above graphic is information they collected with no help from North Dakota. The state itself seems to have no desire to keep track of the huge energy and water consumers in the state and organizations that collect data with seeming no regulation at all. The energy consumption is the equivalent of the Hoover dam and the employment numbers once operational don't seem to rival even the most modest farm processing plant. The campus construction of buildings and roads brings temporary job and start-up money but aside from a new bowling alley, what will these hyperscale camp data centers bringing to our neighbour? And what are the implications for Manitoba?

That is the billion dollar question for North Dakota. It is a supermajority Republican government and the counties have near full control to what they want. The seven large data centers have non-disclosures and all sorts of blocks to finding out who owns them or for what purposes they will serve. The only certainty is they are incredible users of electricity and water. Half the counties in North Dakota have been approached for data centers.

Manitoba and North Dakota have already concerns about the huge expansion of dairy industry near the Red River watershed. In two counties by the river, a 25,000 cow operation and a 12,500 cow operation have been approved. The concerns in both countries is manure spreading to the water of the river  and causing nutrients that are are toxic. There is also the issue of water usage.  It takes 31 liters of water to make 1 liter of milk. That's a lot of water. Add the hyperscale data sites and there could be water shortages. It is entirely possible the Red could be dry by the time it crosses the border.

Industrial farms don't even come close to the massive energy and water needed of hyperscale data centers. Elon Musk is building massive facilities near Memphis and is tapping that state's (and neighbouring state's) energy and water resources for his artificial intelligence GROK. He said he needs he will have exceeds what out sun generates...or the universe. Yes, he said that.

One thing is clear is that hyperscale data centers eat up huge amounts of water and energy. They are extremely hot and extremely noisy. They employ very few people. While the upfront costs are in the billions for what goes into these campuses, the amount of resources needed seems to exceed what any region can provide. It is that enormous. 

It is now beyond the realm of possibility that North Dakota will seek hydro deals with Manitoba to help drive its relentless addition of data centers. This seems unlikely as Manitoba is set to make a sale to Nunavut and has more deals with Saskatchewan coming. We are already about to build gas turbines to cover our own internal shortfalls.

The growth in AI in Canada is also coming. The water and energy resources and cooler temperatures in the country make it inevitable that companies are in the hunt. However, they are also looking for jurisdictions with literally no rules like North Dakota. These companies don't like people people poking into zoning, ownership or what the data center is doing. 

The people who know something about AI say it is about doing things with few workers. In short, ending lawyers, diagnosticians, accountants, ad agencies, actors/directors/writers and so on. The short sightedness of this seems obvious. Who will but these services if no humans and jobs. Perhaps AI will sell to other AI. At some point, will they even need humans? Certainly AI can be a tool but if, as Elon Musk says, this tool requires all the energy of the sun and every bit of water in the solar system, is it really good for us?

Hats of to the Fargo Forum for there investigative journalism.

The First Chi Chi's Re-Opens in Minnesota

In the Minneapolis suburb of St. Louis Park, Chi Chis has returned with old faves and newer menu items. After closing their last location in 2004, they are back. At one time Winnipeg's Polo Park Chi-Chi's was the largest in Canada and one of the biggest in the 200 store chain with 400 seats. A series of ownership changes and a food poisoning incident in the U.S. caused the company to collapse.

Crowdfunding has helped get the company back into 2025 and more stores are coming. Rumour has been all late summer that something is coming for Winnipeg in 2026. A location near Polo Park might make less sense than when they closed due to the Blue Bombers and Jets leaving the area. Having said that Red Lobster and Olive Garden have had amazing success near the mall.

It will likely be up to the Canadian franchisor where in Winnipeg will be best for success right off the bat. Perhaps we see an announcement in the new year.

St. Boniface ER Opens

 One of the things that has had last effects is the Pallister plan that saw ERs reduced to three locations, closing an existing and successful Urgent Care and turning former ERs to Urgent Cares. Even the health consultant thought that the closing of Misericordia was ill timed when other Urgent Cares were not yet established. The north, south and east sides of the city were now without ERs. 

Grace Hospitals ER was new and saw an influx of nurses from closed departments but St. Boniface just wasn't ready for what was to come in 2020. The announcement in 2019 by the Pallister government for a new ER for St. B did not come in time for Covid. The hospital had to work on the fly to handle things when they couldn't even cope with regular flu season.

The one surprising feature of the ER is the upward slope to the doors. Better have grandma's tires locked on her wheelchair or she is taking a 100 km ride down to Tache. It seems funny to spend $141 million and you can't have a flat service? Perhaps there is another entrance so someone with the walker doesn't have to push up hill to get it. And heaven forbid there is ice on that surface or people will shoot down that slide like toboggans.

A parking garage for 10 ambulances is a good feature. It is important because this the cardiac center. Every family in the region might have a member who may require an ambulance and being able to get patients into the ER promptly is part what make survival possible. 

The ER itself will be triple the size of the former ER. The former ER was 18,600 square feet and the new one will be 86,200 square feet. The government has said they have been recruiting heavily and have enough staff attracted to working in the new facility. So many staff have been recruited that according to the government, that tenders for Victoria Hospital's re-established ER can begin.

The ER is being promoted as a open concept, inclusive space. These are things that the end users will have to judge. The ER at Health Sciences Center had poor sight lines that were exacerbated by keeping triage nurses at their desks. Subsequently, a man died after no one took into account that he was waiting. In short, a new building can lead to poor outcomes if traffic flows, security, privacy and dignity are not constantly reevaluated.

The Emergency Room of a hospital is only one part of the hospital. If there are not enough enough beds and staff in ICUs and in the various wars, people get trapped in the ERs and in the waiting room. Many people walk away after so many hours. Often people are in the ER all day. The Access hospitals and Minor Injury clinics are helping. Some of the problem is that lack of family doctors for many. Problems fester and an ER visit is often the result. No one is immune from this. If you have a trauma or heart/stroke issue, you can end up in the ER. Or a member of your family is.

This is the first phase of the ER. It will reach full function in 2026. A lot is owed to the St. Boniface Foundation which kicked in $10 million for this building. Increasingly, hospital foundations are being leaned on for building and research. Manitoba has been very fortunate over the years to see foundations grow and grow. However, the cost of health grows just as fast.

As the role of St. Boniface Hospital's role grows, questions have to be asked about the traffic in and around the hospital. Parking becomes a bigger issue every year for staff and patients. It may come to the point where a park and ride system with shuttle bus is employed. It is possible parkades could be built too but they start at about $50 million and rise from there.

More and more hospitals are leaning on their foundations and relentless fundraising. The governments spend billions and still manage to starve certain areas so that infrastructure crumbles. Meanwhile projects often take take more than a decade to get done. So while we can be happy that St. B has a new ER and that by 2026 it will be fully operational, this list of areas to work on is long and exceed the lifespan of most government over two terms. Much like projects like the Red River Floodway, there has to be a buy in by all parties in government, by business, by labour and by the public for a well managed project that is goal oriented.

Tuxedo Park Starbucks Suddenly Closes

Any Starbucks Coffee without a drive-thru or on a list of possible unionized locations is a location under threat of closure. And so it goes for the long standing Starbucks location at Tuxedo Park Shopping Centre. A note in the door announced their closure.

As one of the only places you could sit outside, it will be missed. Some have said it was because the location was about to unionize. There is no indication that was about to happen. This was a mall with vitality but has had more than a year of building a condo that just opened. The parking lot has been chaos. But now that it has opened, it seems an even better reason to stay open.

No, the likely reason is that Starbucks wants drive-thrus wherever possible. This doesn't bode well for Charleswood down the road. It has been overwhelmed with Tuxedo refugees. It doesn't have a drive-thru either.

Abolish Photo Radar in Manitoba?

A protest movement in Toronto has had photo radar stands being cut down in the middle of the night over and over. The Ford government has always leaned on populist moves and have vowed to ban photo radar. Some municipalities are steaming mad as they use this money to fund policing. 

In Manitoba, only Winnipeg is allowed photo radar in selected areas. Other municipalities in the province have lobbied for it years and you can see why. In Winnipeg it generates between $12-$13 million a year and after expenses for new technology, around $8-$9 million. The province actually takes in more than they city. The company that operates the machinery makes $25 million or about $5 million a year.

The police love the program because it is passive income. The city and the province loves it as it is a money machine. Private industry loves it as they get paid for running it. The only ones who hate it are people who drive and get caught by cameras all over the place in construction or school zones or select other areas around traffic cameras or calming areas. The police don't even have to lift a finger for the program. They just get money.

To be clear, tickets are issued for speeding or going through red traffic lights. Critics say this quantifiably different than if a police officer issued a ticket for speeding through a school zone. For one, those tickets don't come with fines but demerits which takes years of save driving to get back. Enough demerits or severity of the incident could result in loss of license. Other charges might result. With photo radar, it is just a picture and a fine. 

It is part of a growing surveillance society. In some places like Dubai, China and Britain there are cameras everywhere. Many of them are owned by private entities. When combined with AI and facial recognition, it is possible to track people all day long. If the police talk to anyone and a camera records it, that record is kept forever. These are innocent people according to the law. China uses the system to rank people on their reliability.

This should be kept in mind when when thinking of the the growing use of bodycam video from officers. All the people who might be at a Santa Claus parade might be videoed and their images stored forever and sorted by AI for tracking. The rules on all this are hazy.

For photo radar, it is likely it spreads to the rest of the province. The amount of money coming in is too tempting. And while violations are being recorded, the sheer volume of information that AI can sort through and track is staggering.

The NDP in Manitoba now have the reins but could we see the provincial PCs adopt a view to end photo radar. If Doug Ford gains political capital for ending the program, it is highly likely we'll see other political leaders latch on to the idea as a way to boost numbers. To be sure it has caught on in the media about this passive-aggressive monitoring system hoovers in money. The Globe and Mail's columnist Andrew Coyne wrote about it recently.

The police hate traffic enforcement. In the past when chiefs in Winnipeg have asked patrols to issue at least two ticks a shift, the force reacts negatively. And while the service has a traffic enforcement division, most officers would likely argue they don't have time in their day to ticket parking in front of fire hydrants or in handicapped spaces. 

It isn't a stretch to think that photo radar could be expanded to any place in the province as a source of revenue for the province and the city. And if that works, why set up in on streets to ticket cars elsewhere for other offences? The frustration among some people in Ontario has led to the cutting down of photo radar stands.

So far we have seen the level of fury as we have in Ontario come to Manitoba. In recent days though fury has been directed at photo radar, bike lanes and parking. It is a slippery slope if Doug Ford moves to intervene in all those areas, is not possible that areas like toll booths, the demerit system and even car licensing and registration come into question. However, when an investigative reporter in Toronto reported that photo radar could result in a ticket for 1 kilometer over the speed limit, the result was outrage.

Lots of eyes are on the issue here in Manitoba. Cities and municipalities are desperate for this money. And while the argument is this is about the law, the one kilometer over the speed limit sounds like it is more about the money. If Ford finds electoral success from banning photo radar, can it be too long before we see a political party make it an issues here too.

Maximes Closing in 2025

A long time restaurant in St. Vital along St. Mary's, it has been described as fine dining that your parents loved. Reports all this week is that it will be closing in two weeks and that the property has been sold.

The restaurant has been owned by the Bekios family since 1984. George Bekios passed away in 2024 leaving his two daughters to run the place. Like many Greek owned restaurants, it comes down to no one left in the family to run it for years to come when everyone is near retirement or the founding member passes it away.

St. Mary's is a valuable piece of real estate and it is not surprising a buyer has been found. No word on what the new business might be.

This comes on the heels of another business in a different field closing. Croft Music, after a 110 year in the music industry is closing. Violins by Anton will continue in the same spot on Henderson Highway. A differed type of business than Croft's but related. It will be by appointment only.

There has been an uptick in the last year of business retirements and some locations have turned into hot commodities. Retail sales have been up, restaurants have found growth in breakfasts. Were it not for tariffs, Canada might be even better positioned for growth. As it is. we will have to see some innovation as one generation hands over business to the next generation.

Should Manitoba Liberal Party Change Name?

Manitoba is only one out of two provinces in the west with a party that bears the Liberal name. B.C. changed it's Liberals moniker when Conservatives revived their old brand name. Prior, B.C. Liberals were a mix of Conservatives and Liberals in a right of center party. Saskatchewan also dumped the Liberal name. Only Alberta and Manitoba have Liberal in their name. There are presently no provincial Liberals or their new namesakes elected in provincial politics. The NDP are either government of official opposition in the west.

Federal Liberals are present in the west and are the federal government has been Liberal since 2015. The federal NDP doesn't even have party status presently. This could be a reflection of the fact that our system usually means only two strong parties and very small parties get left behind in the dust. Certainly critics in the west seem to laugh at the provincial Liberals in the west but it could very well be right and left divisions and how our voting system works.

Name changes are not uncommon in Canada. The federal and provincial NDP were once named Commonwealth Cooperative Federation. The federal Conservatives have gone through several name changes but the longest name they had was Progressive Conservatives. Sometimes a name change reflects a change in direction or an alliance. Sometimes it a repackaging to re-freshen the brand.

The Liberals have a new leader in Willard Reaves who at 66 was acclaimed as leaders of the Manitoba Liberals. Acclamation is also not uncommon for political parties in Manitoba. Brian Pallister became leader for the PCs when no one offered to run. He later became premier. While Reaves has run against his fellow Blue Bomber twice in Fort Whyte, it would seem there are no shortage of seats to choose from. The Liberals will likely want to re-claim longtime Liberal strength in River Heights. As vital as Jon Gerrard is, it seems a reach that at 77 he would contemplate another run. Anything is possible but it seems likely that Gerrard helps Reaves in any way possible. It should be noted that Gerrard stood beside Reaves when he announced his candidacy.

Cindy Lamoureux remains the sole Liberal MLA in the Legislature. As a new mom and continuing as a MLA, the leadership was something she passed on. At one point it seemed all four prominent Liberals were interested in the leadership. A kind of exhaustion has set in. Any election is likely two or so years away. A byelection might be closer. Any Liberal leader should expect to be part of a rebuilding process which they may only be able to take so far.

After the last election some have suggested that maybe Manitoba is a one party province. The PCs have certainly dropped to historic lows but having a party win every seat means they only have one place to go: down. With this in mind, the Liberals should not assume the PCs are the only choice for government in waiting. However, if the Liberal name is an impediment to being elected provincially in the west, they should consider a re-branding.

Some say the NDP and the Liberals should unite. Some say the Liberals and PCs should unite. Both suggestions ignore that the Liberals are not tied as closely to unions as the NDP are. As for the PCs, the Liberals are not tied to some of the more social conservative policies. These are not easy differences to paper over. The electoral system in Canada favours two parties and majority results. Electoral reform could help but the two parties where things swing back and forth are not exactly in favour of a system that would dilute their power. National and provincial efforts on electoral reform have stalled.

Research in Europe suggests that party re-brands can help get electoral success. The Saskatchewan Party and the Wildrose parties are an indication of that. The research suggested that just a policy re-brand does not do the trick. For only a brief time in the 1980s has the Manitoba Liberals become Official Opposition and had a chance at government. That is a very long time out of power or as the main contender. In some elections they have had a very compelling policy platform and even run a solid campaign only to see little success. Could a name change help lead the party to more success?

If some of our western provincial counterparts are any example, the answer is yes,