November 1963 John Travolta Movie Made in Winnipeg

Winnipeg Transit Free for Kids

Transit rides for under 11 accompanied by adults has been part of bus transport for some time. The city, with provincial funding, has added students with ID from school age 12 to 21 to the free users. It is a one year project to see how it will run. It is just under a $90 a month benefit for students per child in Winnipeg. The cost savings for a family with two kids could be as high as $1,500. The program will run in Winnipeg, Brandon, Flin Flon, Selkirk and Winkler. Across all those communities the province will set aside $10 million.

It is such a modest investment with real money savings for families that is hard to believe it hasn't been considered before now. And given that the province has invested in things like a $5 million plus daycare that remains shuttered and a source of crime, it seems like this is a good idea whose time has come.

Young people will take the bus to things like school events when school buses are not operating such as weekends, evenings and holidays. They will go to recreation facilities, concert venues, museums, movie theatres, restaurants or to see grandma if they have the buses, routes and their student ID. One other aspect is that kids can use this during the year when not at school to work. This could be one of the more meaningful benefits to being a student and families in terms of cost and enriching the lives of those involved.

The city of Winnipeg will have to be responsive to security, capacity and routing over this test pilot. The reliability of the system could help build trust and forever users. A healthy system is not just five days of commuters but people who use it for hockey games, going to the mall and the like. It can't be a long walk to a stop, a long wait for a bus and danger every step of the way. Winnipeg Transit could use this for generational change and an accelerated timetable of rapid transit.

Gillingham seemed ecstatic that he could make this announcement during an election cycle. It almost seemed an endorsement by Kinew but it could also mean trying to get some sympathetic councillors on board when the NDP go to the polls. That might be as early as next year. It could be they are looking to knock off Obby Khan and the PCs and take the last Liberal seat. This could prove a popular urban policy.

Around the world, some cities have taken up public transportation as a truly taxpayer system for students right up to the university level. Ensuring that student cards are the price of admission is a selling point for being in school, a real savings for families that could have two or three kids and promotes an environmental response to cars on the road. It up to the city and school divisions to make use of their service and make it great and up to the province to make this permanent.

Investment Canada Conference This Week

Call it speed dating for investment. The two day summit brings investment banks, pension and sovereign funds to look at prospectus lists of projects across Canada that the government has said they are looking to push through with fewer obstacles than have existed for about a decade. In the past year Canada has led foreign investment in the G7. Both Mark Carney and Stephen Harper will be in attendance for the event and giving speeches as well as meeting with delegates.

Unlike when Chretien, Martin and Harper led Team Canada business travels around the world to sell Canadian goods and seek out investment in places across Asia primarily, this is inviting the business rather than just the political meet ups where we might be just looking to open up the tourist doors or seek out international students. This is cash and investment in multi-year projects.

Every province and territory has selected projects that are high up on their priorities but can't just be funded by government money. It was only a few years past when German leaders came to Canada pretty much begging to invest in LNG to breakaway from Russian energy. Trudeau said nope. Said there wasn't a market for it and along with some in his cabinet, had the attitude of "keep it in the ground."

There were exceptions to this when private money dried up and anger boiled to the surface, especially in Alberta, that Trans-Mountain was built with federal government money. It hasn't quelled some in Alberta of anger but it is noteworthy that the pipeline to the coast brings in more money than the pipelines to the states. It is also worth commenting that it is the United States which has been the biggest obstacle to pipelines south over 12 years. Regardless, Canada was turning away investment or slow walking decisions that easily could run a decade or more.

It wasn't the only government doing this. Provincial and municipal governments literally stalled work on roads, highways, housing and hospitals. Things were literally falling apart and risk adverse governments and civil service often acted like this is just the way it was. Many had pet projects that came ahead of other crumbling infrastructure. In Winnipeg that would Kenaston and Peguis road expansion over sewer treatment. Every lower level government believed the federal fairy godmother would hand cash over so they could build new infrastructure.

To be sure the Feds have committed money to provinces and cities but they are pushing those governments to commit to bringing forward projects that outside investors will sign up for. In the case of Manitoba, that would be the Port of Churchill expansion. There is not an area of the province this wouldn't help. As for Winnipeg, the biggest areas for international investors have to be the airport and Centreport. Ottawa seems confident that some memorandums and announcements are coming in the next days. To be sure the Churchill investment might be the biggest of the bunch if it comes.

There have been some critics but it is getting harder to separate the cranks from legitimate critical thinkers. Not to mention who in the commentariat that actually be a paid disturber from third parties trying to sow discontent in society. Actual agents. In other words, people you might not be able to trust under any circumstances. During this investment conference, I will be looking to a variety of notable opinions. What I will be looking at is the creation of new businesses, investments in big projects and less takeovers by large corporations. We really don't need startups in Canada being folded up into the U.S. and literally shut down here. I also don't want to investment solely to try and enter the U.S. market as a back door for supply chain elsewhere. I'm also not interested in seeing a lithium mine here open where all the product is owned and shipped out of Canada.

It will be interesting to see what happens and in some cases, announcements may be pending in the days and months that follow. This isn't the only part of Canada's economy strategy. Canada has recruited academic stars, many from the U.S., who come to the country because of funding and freedom to do their work. Military and infrastructure projects abound. Most provinces have generational investments being planned or in progress. And a lot of cities of transportation and road and sewer projects. All of this can lead to bond investments. They can't all be done on taxes at once.

Some union and labour protestors will be present railing against capitalism. Some of them seem to forget that the car industry depends on investment. While some have legitimate concerns, the issue is they don't often bring any plans to the fore except government spending which is unsustainable. So often this turns into heavy taxation and state planning. It is notable that Wab Kinew is part of initiative with Carney to bring investment. There simply isn't enough tax money to do a project like Churchill without investment coming in.

It is probably good to take a measured approach to this conference. The merits of any announcements will be a good exercise in assessing the good overall or the bad as well. What shouldn't happen is outright dismissal or demands to see the entire details even before the day has started. That is just posturing and we are seeing a lot of that from lobbyists, influencers and those seeking to harm Canada.

Ralph Cantafio Gets a $8.5 million Soccer Upgrade

It is difficult to say why the Valour FC went out of business. A mediocre record over the years, an ownership base that meant well but was not dedicated beyond measure to the product, an oversized stadium, a TV deal that didn't get enough eyeballs on it and other things ganged up on the team and Bomber management put the lights out. It was sad given the mighty support of a group of fans and for Winnipeg's overall sports legacy.

A team must have a dedicated ownership, a facility to generate revenue, a TV deal and a stable league. In women's soccer, former professional and national women superstars are leading the charge of a league that is growing. The Northern Super League for women has done all those things. This was was the inaugurals year with six teams and Winnipeg had already been announced as the seventh team with Ralph Cantafio Soccer Complex as home.

The women's national soccer team got its start back in 1986 at that facility and over the years, it has hosted a number of men's teams and still does. However, the two pitches have only 2,000 seats and 750 seats. Not nearly enough. It is curious that the University Stadium (formerly Pan Am Stadium) wasn't used which has 5,000 seats but it could have to do with how to monetize it. Too many teams suffer because they need to be able to extract every dime from a facility and the university is the one that owns the place now along with whatever concessions. It also has its own teams using the facility.

Built in 1991, the Ralph Cantafio Soccer Complex has been the go to for Winnipeg's soccer needs and been the place to act as FIFA training pitch and host to various sports events like the Canada Games. It fit the needs accordingly. In recent years it seemed like it was on a long list of city facilities in need of a purposed and an upgrade. The arrival of a professional national women's team was the right time to go to funders to do the job.

The new NSL team has no name yet. That will come later when the kit and marketing of tickets happens. In the mean time, the facility gets FIFA turf, lights and covered stand seating for 4,500. The federal government has been announcing spending on recreational facilities all over Canada and investing in athletes as well. It is part of generational spending on areas of the country that may have not seen investment between 30 and 50 years.

Soccer, despite thoughts to the contrary, is the most popular and accessible of sports in Canada. And yet we have only in recent years started to build indoor facilities so we can play year round. The outdoor facilities are usually small and shared with other sports such as football. Compared to the UK, Australia and the U.S., we have tiny facilities. That isn't an exaggeration. We may think we are big supporters of sports but compared to others, we are not.

The Valour FC really needed their own facility and revenue stream to succeed. How bad is it in Canada? Well, the Vancouver Whitecaps struggle with good crowds because they don't own their facility. In Toronto, the Toronto FC shared a football stadium with the Argonauts with Rogers owning the whole thing. It is a very small stadium for such a big city. Still, the federal government doesn't seem to be interested in helping Rogers, a massive corporation, from receiving a new building from the taxpayers.

Which brings us to Winnipeg. The expansion of women's soccer has exploded. The government sees it as an opportunity to get people active and a point of national unity. However, Winnipeg wasn't going to be ideal unless it could expands its misery small success complex. Moving yet another team, albeit female, into Princess Auto Stadium seemed a recipe for failure. That might one day be the future but it isn't there now. The right team for the right facility has to be the goal.

The Ralph Cantafio Success Complex is the right facility and getting the right pro team. By this time next year, the NSL should see success in Winnipeg. And soccer will continue to rise in the province as a result.

The 9/11 Terrorist Attack and Canada 25 Years

It is hard to believe it is 25 years this year. The drone memorial with one drone representing each person who was murdered that day. For Canada, it was 23 who died on the planes and the towers including a Winnipegger and a former Winnipegger's husband. In the very short time after it was obvious it was a terrorist attack, a single official in the U.S. closed down American airspace and any flight in progress who couldn't get down in the allotted time was going to get shot down down. Nearly 250 flights were diverted to Canada with a large amount landing in small but mighty Gander, Newfoundland. Most people forget that Winnipeg took in 17 flights that day too. Many of us watched flight after flight land until there were none.

I think anyone who lived through that day remembers the horror. And the anger. The CBC took forever to switch their breezy morning programming to something that mattered. One hour of waiting for something other that a pre-recorded political interview. It was frustrating as they all must have been watching coverage at their offices. 

CJOB, to their credit, switched over very quickly. For myself, I heard a brief radio news report at the top of the hour and switched on ABC's Good Morning America. My mom stepped into the living room just as the second plane hit. It was only after the second plane hit that CBC TV News switched to 44 hours of continuous reporting. My mom had abandoned the CBC's lack of a report on the radio in the kitchen. Eventually, my dad and I had to go to work and listened to CJOB from a feed they were broadcasting straight from New York to Winnipeg.

No one at work was in the dark by this point. There were no music stations now. Every station had coverage. Employees in the offices were switching on TVs. A short time later the towers began to collapse. It was the same time as all the flights started coming in one by one to Winnipeg as refuge. Tall buildings in Winnipeg like the Richardson building were evacuated. Reports of the Pentagon being hit by a plane and another plane crashing in Pennsylvania falling to the ground had everyone scared.

By the time work was over, not much was normal on TV and radio. The CBC eventually came out of its snoozy start to the day. However, even now they trip all over themselves about attribution to terrorism. This dick tripping was leaked out because some in the CBC leaked it. Likely, in fear that the network would downplay the events. Thankfully, actual journalists blasted them for stupidity and slowness in the past and now about a terrible act.

Winnipeg news groups will have some reporting for the 25th. It is important even now as we have seen so much covered up, or just not reported as people went through awful trauma and just buried themselves in grief and recovery. But as the mayor of New York's release of 17,000 pages reveals, there is much left unknown. And many more lives affected and lost because we just didn't know.

It will be a somber day but it is important to remember how we showed the best of ourselves that day. And it ultimately led to Canada going to war in Afghanistan as a NATO member defending another from that attack. It cost Canada years of commitment in money and lives. In the war, 159 soldiers died. Many more were wounded.

We can't forget and we won't but even now there is reporting to be done. We need to know and certainly Americans need to know our loss, out help and our friendship in this. It would seem some of them have forgotten too.

Prepare for Crazy America

The tariffs retaliation go up at midnight Monday. Already this weekend Trump and his cabinet have been aggressively campaigning against Canada. Trump is panicking and throwing everything he has out there. By Tuesday he will be mad. As in furious and will probably suggest all manner of retaliation including invasion. We will hear a lot of 51st state. We will hear a lot of blaming of Canada that compare us to China.

As Labour Day toils on, Trump is busy with what he does best...golfing. Perhaps he will throw out some AI slop over the day. Most of his minions are taking the day off because Sunday is self promotion day on the Sunday political talk shows. The administration on them are putting their time in to get pardons when Trump leaves so they are not investigated for years after and possibly get charged. Seriously. The expectation is that blanket pardons might be requested for thousands. Worst case scenario is Trump dies early without those pardons and that JD Vance leaves them high and dry worrying thousands of pardons torpedo his run for the presidency as it did for Gerald Ford. Howard Lutnick, in particular, probably doesn't want to have to go under oath about certain files.

As for Canada, the tariffs are surgically placed to states that will influence what comes next following their elections. The tariffs are very unpopular as is the  name-calling and re-naming of Lake Ontario. Trump seems only interested in monument building and getting things named after him. It occupies a lit of his day. He hates that Canada just won't submit to U.S. control. It will be a tough couple of weeks coming but many Canadians are pissed right now.

Progress Report on Metis Renovation of Bank of Montreal Building

The design of new Metis headquarters in the Bank Of Montreal building at Portage and Main had become clearer. It will be very well lit and features both the old architecture and new. The completion date still says 2027 but a work left to do. They have good company because the Fairmont Hotel's $120 million renovation will be complete around the same time.

The truth is hundreds of millions of dollar are being spent up and down Portage Avenue and beyond. Portage Place, The Bay and the former Bank of Montreal building as well as various hotels. It takes a lot of time for big projects. And a heritage building takes a long time to renovate versus a new build. At least the Portage and Main removal of barricades has really opened up the space and even critics have come around to the fact that the traffic is not backed up to Portage la Prairie. 

Step by step things are shaping up even as the issues surrounding encampments, drug addiction and mental health issues loom. Connecting the dots of the developments will be the key to success. At Portage and Main, the Richardson building and the former Trizec building across the street are all getting new tenants. The level of activity is probably the highest it has been in a few decades. It is encouraging that there is so much private investment as well. The government money has been mixed in but none it works without a lot of private cash.

I don't just buildings too much by the renderings. When I first saw the the drawings at the Inn at The Forks, I thought it was too dark and foreboding but it has been a success from the start and looked far better in person. We'll get a better idea of the BMO makeover soon. However, momentum has to be kept up. As so often happens, the focus shifts such as it did with apartment building. Going nearly two to three decades of slow to non-existent starts and zoning that the surpasses a decade or more is crippling. Both the city and the province have been guilty of this. They hoard land, take forever to make decisions and delay year after year. Worse, they let private companies do the same with vacant or underused buildings.

In about 24 months Portage and Main will look quite different. It is already look bright and more open and will soon have new attractions with a museum and spanking refurbished hotel. In future, the city needs to looks at building signage and lighting. We have some spectacular buildings but lighting and pizzazz will go a long way. We can be pretty boring in North America. We only have two video walls at the arena and Portage and Main. And they are low down and nothing like what you see in the UK and in Asia.

The MMF will be increasingly responsible for the look and feel what is downtown and are engaging the best designers and artists to it. Can't wait to see what they come up with next.

Clay Young to Report From Winnipeg Sun

Clay Young has been reporting and working as an anchor since the 1990s. MTN's (now CityTV) saw the beginning of Young's work. The station, originating in Portage la Prairie, was to serve rural Manitoba but reached into Winnipeg to serve as the fourth station. Like CKND (now Global), it served up lots of local news and weather. Young was among those local staff. Arriving in the province after print and TV experiences in other communities, his news voice was distinctive and the anchor desk beckoned. 

The 1980s and 1990s was a bit of a heyday for Winnipeg media. While specific examples of awfulness are there such as the Winnipeg Tribune, you had newsrooms in two print papers, multiple radio station and four local TV stations. It was a competitive market and the press gallery for political office was filled and columnists covering everything from sports to politics as part of the civic discussion.

In 2026, we have seen newsrooms get smaller and smaller. Most radio stations don't have any except someone reading something gleaned from other source. Even traffic reports are usually outsourced. Clay Young seems to get shunted around in these reductions of weekend news or evening news after several years in place from MT to CTV to Global. And now breakfast TV is dumping people so he likely had a choice of between retirement or part-time work.

He chose work at the Winnipeg Sun. This has been coordinated with the two month campaign for mayor by owner and publisher Kevin Klein. In fact, Young's first scoop was an interview with Klein about the election. It will be interesting to see who and what Young covers as a contributor. There are a few reporters for news and sports anymore. The newspaper once had 45 reporters in the good old days. A lot of staff in printing, administration and distribution as well. It is down to handful now.

The ad supported newspaper is a thing of the past. I have described how newspapers like the New York Times support journalist in the 1,200 range but they try to have area where they can make money. Hence, they bought Wordle. The created The Athletic which even has a reporter in Winnipeg covering the Jets (although they used to have two). Now, Winnipeg is not the New York Times but finding ways to earn income has to be a priority. 

There is no doubt that AI is Hoovering up all data and often not paying for it to create content. The big tech companies are getting rich on peoples news, music, TV and movies and not paying. The Sun has taken the position that they won't take money from government. Copyright is government. It is something they seem to believe or they would produce their product for free. They need more people covering news to counterbalance opinion. All news does. While hiring Young helps bring a reporter on board, the Sun needs to stop thinking that government acting on antitrust is bad. Antitrust is what brought lower phone prices and affordable airplane travel.

Congrats to Clay Young. Hope he can produce interesting material for a newspaper that was seriously near shutting down. I think local news can recover with a new funding formula. It can't be AI creating slop they call news for our region. It needs people who produce original work.

This post has not been created with any AI.

DUER Opens in Polo Park

Over the past weekend DUER opened a fashion store at CF Polo Park. The men and women's active clothing line has already seen demand according to the company spokesman. The talk was that Polo Park was on a upswing and this past year, along with St. Vital Centre, we have seen Generation Z lead a recovery back into malls.

Even with tariffs there has been an indication that retail sales have had some resilience. It will be a short time after school starts that many malls will have jobs markets. The savvy kids who struggled this summer and only started looking for jobs just before July weekend should know this is the time to look. And no, we have seen a huge decline in student visas as well as temporary foreign workers. Jobs should be added this fall but looking when you finish your last exam mid December is probably too late.

Most of the two floors of Polo Park seem to have secured the majority of leases headed into Halloween and Christmas season. DUER will succeed or not succeed based on the quality of their wares, the price and Polo Park's ability to attract floor traffic. The T&T Supermarket will take time to build but is an indication that the mall is looking to bring back grocery which sees more frequent mall guests.

As mentioned, the only fly in the ointment is trade and instability south of the border. However, Canada as a country of 42 million is seeing substantial investment with resources like oil and mining. There is also pent up demand post Covid. Cadillac Fairview seems to be focused on the mall any any empty space before engaging in any additional building outside of the mall. They are already selling parts of surrounding area. This may trigger other investors who have been waiting on the sides.

For the moment store like DUER seem happing to secure space. 

Kevin Klein Makes Second Run For Mayor

In the last civic election for an open seat for mayor, the race attracted a number of politicians with experience to the job, including present Mayor Scott Gillingham who had been a long time councillor in Winnipeg. That was 2022. One of the candidates to run back then was former city councillor, former Progressive Conservative cabinet minister Kevin Klein. 

Fresh off a loss from the defeat that swept nearly every PC from the city of Winnipeg with Wab Kinew's majority victory, he probably thought his record in city and provincial politics would be welcome in city hall as a counter other governments. He finished third. Glen Murray, the former mayor of Winnipeg and provincial politician in Ontario finished second. 

Party politics affiliation is not a thing. The NDP used to run way back with somewhat of a banner but most people in the city don't want it. That is not to say that political leanings are not relevant. While there have been left wing politicians elected to council, there has never really been a full left wing mayor. Over the decades the mayors job has been won by supporters of Liberals and Progressive Conservatives. So not surprisingly, the 2022 election had two conservatives and one liberal at the top and one progressive trailing.

The mayors race attracts perennial candidates. Some of the people seem to be there to pump their tires every four years. They don't seem to run for other elected offices...only the mayor's office will do. There is nothing wrong with that. Nick Ternette used to run as a protest candidate but he also was an activist in every living moment of his life. Being active in politics every four years is not generally going to get you into office.

There are some people who live very public lives in business, community and politics. It isn't a recipe for electoral success but is a good basis for an electoral run. On this account, Kevin Klein has stayed in the public eye. Following the election, he purchased the Winnipeg Sun and two other newspapers from PostMedia when certainly they would have been closed by that American owned company. To that end, I commend him.

I have written how important local ownership is for media and what is good about the Sun and what is bad. I have repeatedly said how important sports is to the heart of the community. It is a unifier in a way that few things are. If you cover the Jets and Bombers independently, you will find an audience. The Sun also has a local journalism initiative reporter to cover local news. That's the Trudeau program for reporters which might be a good question for Klein running. 

Klein has gathered pretty much every conservative in Manitoba for his editorial content. It is his paper, his ink so he can do what he wants with his paper. But it will generate interest in how he would be as mayor with Wab Kinew as premier and Mark Carney as prime minister. He has advocated for deals with the U.S. on trade but what does he bring to the table with inter-governmental relationships? The big question will be on business. When Michael Bloomberg ran for mayor and won in New York, he put his substantial business in a blind trust.

In interviews, Klein has said he waited to announce because he was assessing a health care issue. Having determined it would not impede, he announced his candidacy. This may come up as an issue again. He would not be the first elected official to die in office who may have had underlying health issues. One councillor passed away since the last election. His health condition prior was a mystery.

The strength of incumbency cannot be denied. The last mayor to be defeated in office was in 1956 when Winnipeg was not nearly as big nor covered areas such as St. Boniface, St. James and Transcona. Mayor races are largely decided in heavier turnout areas like River Heights. They tend to like their candidates moderate. Probably doesn't make PCs or NDP very happy.

It will be quite the campaign to convince voters in places like River Heights who to vote for in the next election. However, they probably won't go for a firebrand of either the right or the left.