What Restaurants Should Locate by Portage Avenue Costco?

Costco is now open along Portage Avenue. Even as the doors opened and work continued in different places, apartment construction continues. The rumours on restaurants locating right by the highway have jumped since last week. There are some diners further in Headingley such as Nick's Inn and Headingley Grill. Denny's operates on many days 24 hours. The Gates just across the river has fine dining. However, with Costco now open, the demand for drive-thru and casual dining in a growing commercial and residential area is rising.

There are many more stores coming to the area as well as apartment buildings. The plan is for at least 6 or 7 roadside restaurants and drive-thrus. Nothing has been announced yet but several places have been mentioned as potentials. Arby's comes up all the time as a potential tenant. It is no secret they want a second location in the city after the success at Seasons of Tuxedo. There has been talk of a return of Swiss Chalet to the site for a third return visit to the city. I'm not sure why this chain would think the results would be any different than the last times they were here.

Montana's has been mentioned as a possibility. It is highly likely that McDonald's will want to build out at the site given that their closest restaurant is inside Walmart Unicity. This is true of all the big chains. They will look at the Westport site because of the shopping, recreation and new housing going up. In 2026, expect the hear a flurry of announcements now that Costco has gone up.

To review some of the restaurants I've heard from clients that may look at kicking the tires of locating at Westport are:

Arby's

McDonald's

Applebee's/IHOP

Pancake House

Starbucks

Smitty's

My understanding is that breakfast/lunch places are highly sought after because of Costco's hours and to reach the commuters coming down the Trans-Canada Highway.

Tim Horton's is already on site and has been there for years. Robin's is possible but they have been struggling for years to come back. Some local coffee places that are possible are.

Thom Bargen

Empty Cup

The word is that a steakhouse/casual dining place is being looked for. Original Joe's is nearby already so that is unlikely. Some of the ones mentioned are:

Joeys

Moxies

Earls

Lot 88

Olive Garden

Frankie's

Chipotle

Stella's

A lot of people have had some swing for the fences hopes for restaurants such as:

Cheesecake Factory

Ruth's Chris Steakhouse

Texas Roadhouse

These restaurants don't have locations in Canada presently so seems unlikely they come now.

There are many in Winnipeg who probably have hopes of an American chain coming to the city that we don't have. It is possible. We have had a few come that eventually closed such as Earl of Sandwich, Royal Fork and Longhorn Steakhouse Winnipeg. Some like Famous Dave's just keep rolling along.

It is possible that some independent local restaurants opens on the site too.

One thing that is clear is that the huge amount of traffic is going to attract a lot of restaurants and retail to the area.

The Restaurants in Marcello's Old Hydro Location

Covid hurt businesses associated with office workers. The Manitoba Hydro building with between 1800-1900 employees went on remote work and even today, still has workers at home part of the week. It can be pretty stark when people are not at headquarters. In better times, the first floor which includes a bank, Rudy's Restaurant and up till the pandemic, Marcello's Market and Deli.

The empty streets in downtown hurt a lot of businesses. Marcello's was not able to survive in such a large space. The Ottawa-based restaurant group still operates in Winnipeg but in a smaller space in the Richardson Concourse. The Hydro site was a huge space of 3,500 square feet and in need of a customer base. Returning workers represented that boost but it has been a chicken and the egg thing. Restaurants won't return if there are customers and employees are reluctant to go back to the office if there are no amenities.

Manitoba's Hydro's move to the downtown might have been as a result of Glen Murray's exacting a price for the sale of Winnipeg Hydro, but the company has used the space in their building for political debates, fashion shows, banking services and food halls and restaurants. The empty Marcello's spot was an impediment to serving Hydro employees and the public at large.

With that mind, Hydro sought out established downtown Winnipeg businesses with the draw being a food hall with 60 seats and a large potential customer base. To that end, Hydro reached out to Baglesmith which agreed to relocate from their other downtown location. The owner of Bagelsmith also brought their other restaurants Super Slice to the space. In the past days, people have been trying out their celebrity pizzas including one named after Betty White.

The other two restaurants added to the food hall is a Asian place called the Greenish and a coffee spot Colosimo Coffee Roasters. The food hall will be collectively known as Café 360. For the various owners operating in the space, they are no stranger to downtown, the common comment they have meant that there is a sense of security being in the building. The Manitoba Hydro building, like the food hall in True North Square, have security guards.

The arsons and protection rackets have had businesses rattled. Add to that the changes in bus routing, businesses are looking for safer options. Locating inside a building with a shared space, security and hours that end at 4 pm probably is very attractive. The complete makeover of Portage Place next door will bring a raft of potential customers when the Pam Am Clinic is complete in 2026. It is estimated that nearly 7000 people a day will be using the clinic's services.

A lot of downtown projects will be complete in 2026 and security is playing a strong role in their success. No one does anything in True North Square because even loitering will bring out security to escort you away. Mess around in the arena or the convention centre and that will result in a permanent ban from every sports event, concert or convention. The power of that punishment can have a lasting effect. Real consequences for violent or disturbing acts. It happens in every mall in the city. 

So while those inside the new Café 360 will feel safe, more will have to happen outside the building for people to feel secure. Restaurants every week are being targeted for arsons. We have never seen such a concerted effort to burn them down. There is likely video of a particular suspect involved in multiple locations but any place that doesn't have onsite security, is in jeopardy. The Manitoba Hydro building has such security in it and around it and any attempts of harm there are likely to have a response in seconds. 

Café 160 will be a welcome addition to Portage Avenue and will attract people from beyond Manitoba Hydro. The only way to bring vitality and safety back to the area is one building at a time and one street at a time. The places downtown that people feel most secure are the ones that draw many people and security is clearly visible. Food halls have proven to be a favourite for many. 

Costco Opening November 13 Portage Avenue

It certainly took long enough but at 6 am Thursday, Costco will open their newest location on 4077 Portage Avenue near Assiniboia Downs. It is a big location at just under 167,000 square feet. The massive gas station with pumps three deep has been open for a a few weeks. There is a special entrance to the Costco but it is likely going to be chaos. The 1000 or so parking spaces will be meaningless if everyone is at a chokepoint getting in and off of Portage. I don't even want to guess what it will be like during Christmas, Red River Ex or Derby. It is very probably that major road improvements will have to be made to the entrance to Costco.

It is likely that some people will be diverted from Kenaston Costco. Those living in St. James, Charleswood and Tuxedo as well as those west of the Perimeter will make Portage there chosen location. People at Kenaston hoping for their store to be less crowded might not see much change. The growing community of Bridgwater and South Point to the north and the Kapyong Barracks and Seasons apartments are adding thousands of units of housing.

The old St. James Polo Park location becomes a Business Centre same day Portage location opens up. The pharmacy transfers to Portage Thursday. Many of the staff will be there as well. There are a number of items as listed as sales in store  but is unclear if this exclusive to this opening. It is expected that some work will be continuing on some construction even as the store welcomes customers.

Unlike other Costcos in the city, this one has apartments all around it. Many of those people will be commuting as well in and out of the same entrances. And more apartments will be built over the next months and years.

As for the old St. James Polo Park location, they will be selling discounted meat on their re-opening today as a business center. Expect it to be busy.

One more Costco off north Main will be built in 2026 so traffic patterns will be realigned and perhaps...perhaps some traffic sanity will emerge in around Costco.

Crossing the Floor - House of Commons

In 2018 Andrew Scheer had no problem with floor crosser when Liberal Leona Allslev joined his party. Now that is Conservatives crossing to the Liberals, you have Conservatives screaming treason and trade offs that are illegal. They're not. Since Confederation, there have been over 300 floor crossings. People elect MPs. If they elect enough of them from one slate, they get official party status and resources from Parliament to do their job. The party that has the most MPs elected gets to attempt to form government, even in a minority situation. This means in a minority, the governing party has to work with MPs across the floor to govern. This includes inducing them to cross the floor to help form a majority.

Justin Trudeau got this when one of his MPs crossed the floor. Scheer crowed about it, said the Liberals were weak and Trudeau should resign. He apparently, didn't see anything wrong with it. As for what it achieved, the election that came soon after resulted in a repeat minority and it was Scheer who had to resign.

It is a but rich to see Andrew Scheer talking about the Liberals meeting with Conservative MPs and calling it anti-Democratic. It is the opposite of that. Some of the media, including people in academia, question the MP how they thwart the choices of people who voted for the party. People elect MPs. Those MPs are expected to vote or act on behalf of all those who live in their riding. That includes people who didn't vote for them or can't yet vote.

Parties can't dictate that people first sit as an independent. It is unenforceable in our system. It also lacks transparency. If a minority government relies on a few MPs to pass their agenda, it is better to know what the trade offs are. In the last government, the NDP and Liberals negotiated to pass an agenda. Unfortunately, for the NDP, it didn't result in seat gain. But it did result them getting things they wanted passed in legislation. It is up to electorate what they want from their MP and who they want. The parties always find this out and trying to force party loyalty on a riding often won't go well.

Conservatives are raw with anger. Perhaps some know that cries of treason are politicking. However, it often seems that some pundits are unware of of how democracy and our system works. Many still can't figure out what Ontario has more MPs than say, Alberta. Perhaps because it has three times the population and also has the biggest economic impact in the country.

It is worth noting that one of the most celebrated leaders in history, Winston Churchill, crossed the floor twice. Many seem to chose to forget that when they list him as a great leader. But then again people choose what they want to choose even when it is contradictory. You would they not get furious when it is pointed out to them. It seems entirely based on whose ox gets gored.

It is very likely that Pierre Poilievre believed that he was going to defeat the Liberals this week and head into an election. Now, he is two MPs short from where he was day earlier. A final budget vote takes place a week from now. It remains to be seen if the bleeding has stopped for the Conservatives. If all the opposition parties vote against the budget, there will indeed be an election and all the hysteria about floor crossing will be mute.

It is interesting to note how rattled Pierre Poilievre was as a result of the two MPs leaving the caucus. He has been acting like he is 30 points ahead in the polls. Perhaps things will be unsettled in Canada till a majority is voted in. It is only then that an opposition party knows that it at least three or four years till the next election and that is a marathon rather than a sprint. If the feeling is that an election is always imminent it seems to encourage dumb behaviour.

As far as social and mainstream media goes, perhaps the angry outbursts is to get clicks or support from the base. Calling people liars in an unsigned document from Conservative party doesn't cut it. Two MPs are gone. They blame the Liberals for this. The big question is whether the Conservatives have enough votes to bring down the government in a confidence vote in a week or whether they even want to do that. 

To be sure Pierre Poilievre has had a bad week. And while the bleeding might have stopped from loss of MPs, it might mean that some MPs are looking to the leadership review in January to demonstrate their displeasure. Raging against unhappy MPs will not go well. Even if floor crossing is shut down, it might not stop people leaving office.

Unique Bunny Expanding Across Canada

For small vendors sometimes the best place to begin is flea markets and conventions and so it was with Unique Bunny. Started by Fiona Zhao, a young Chinese immigrant who ended up in Winnipeg due to the endless supply of overseas ambassadors from Winnipeg working in various job around the globe. Promotion works and people who come to the city often have immense contributions to make.

Small vendors in pop-ups are often afforded the chance to make connections and build a name and reputation. Early Comic Con and Ai-Kon conventions were Winnipeg-made and produced events and they leaned heavily on local vendors, especially collectibles, to draw fans. Public market stalls are no longer selling mostly food items from the farm. And so it was in 2014 Unique Bunny was a frequent vendor everywhere in Winnipeg.

Unique Bunny was everywhere as a vendor selling food and cosmetics. Many Asian clients appreciated that she had products for them. Non-Asians were very much interested in styles, foods and the like to satisfy their interests in Japan and Korea. Cultural interests in Japan have exploded in the last decade. It is why there has been a steady increase in music, movies, food and products making their way to Canada.

Unique Bunny got to the point that a physical store was called for and the first one was on Corydon. It wasn't long till that was closed that the company could take a space in the center of Osborne Village. Just as the pandemic was gearing up, Unique Bunny decided to open a location on Pembina Highway closer to their large university customers.

The company survived Covid but Osborne Village struggled with crime, homelessness and a lack of foot traffic post 2020. The Village has had some recovery but many places in the city are still suffering from shoplifting, arson and a general malaise. Unique Bunny moved to malls and suburbs. McPhillips and an Outlet Collection Mall location joined the Pembina location in Winnipeg. 

In 2024, expansion to Alberta took place and locations opened in Calgary and Edmonton. The push for more locations extended again to Winnipeg and Unique Bunny opened in 2025 in Manitoba's biggest shopping center Polo Park. In the last months, Fiona Zhao has been in Saskatchewan and Quebec to open stores in Saskatoon, Quebec City and soon Montreal will join the growing stores.

By the end of November, the company will have ten stores in Canada. It truly is a success story that has not been recognized much outside of Winnipeg. That may soon change. It isn't the first time Winnipeg companies have spread beyond Manitoba and it won't be the last. The company will sale nearly 60 brands and employ 110 workers. They are beginning to have workshops in select stores to develop customer and store relationships that will last beyond casual visits.

Unique Bunny is a made in Manitoba success.

Election 2025?

 The new budget comes November 4 and the final vote on it comes a few weeks after. It is a confidence vote. If all the parties vote against it and there are no abstentions or people absent from the House, it is an automatic election before Christmas. An election is not an idle thing to dismiss. In 1979, the Progressive Conservative government of Joe Clark was defeated six months after being elected in a confidence vote. Pierre Trudeau and the Liberals one again became the government.

While there may be lessons from that time, each elected government has their own unique circumstances. Other countries have regular minority governments but the way Canada's system operates, the results leans more to majorities. However, in recent years Canada has had repeated minorities. The last minority government under Trudeau's Liberals was supported Singh's NDP. It lasted a long time but ultimately hurt the NDP. The Liberals also hurt by a long tenure changed leaders and fears regarding the United States and Trump led to a victory for Carney and another Liberal minority.

We are divided politically but probably less polarized than our neighbours to the south. However, the parties have all boxed themselves in and likely won't take the time to figure out leadership, policy platforms as well as how to build a successful party if elections are a threat every few months. The Conservatives have seen one member cross the floor. Apparently, some are not waiting for the leadership review of Pierre Poilievre. 

A budget where no one is happy is par for the course. The big question is whether it is enough for an election. Some media critics are upset with the budget that it didn't go far enough. Some wanted more spending, some wanted tax breaks and tax reform. Given the minority, it is likely the best budget that could be presented that might get passed.

The one floor crossing of a Conservative to the Liberals means that the Government is two votes short of a majority. Rumours abound about other MPs looking to cross the floor. If two more cross then the Liberals should be in a good position to have three or four years to make their budget work. This might be wishful thinking on the part of the Liberals. The rest of the week will be debate on the budget and the vote will come two weeks from now. At the moment, it looks like an election.

Emma Durand-Wood Wins Elmwood-East Kildonan City Election

The shocking death of Jason Schreyer in April at age 57 triggered a byelection in Elmwood-East Kildonan. Time to mourn the man was short as representation in the riding was essential with issues such as closure of the Louise Bridge awaiting an elected Council member to advocate on behalf the area people. An open seat for mayor council usually draws a larger number of candidates. Incumbency often sees low numbers of interested parties. Higher profile candidates feel they can't compete with the present Councillor because that person has their faces on every bus bench and have been the name attached the community grants for organization in that area.

Sadly, openings on Winnipeg  Council often only come up when someone passes away. It has happened a number of times. It is up for debate about civic elections could be more competitive. Term limits seems like a blunt instrument to do. Ball selection might be more helpful. It would still have difficulties when it came to overcoming incumbency but could attract more interest. Allowing those who have elected office elsewhere to run for positions without having to resign first would be interesting. For example, in the New York's mayor race, one candidate is in higher elected office and running for mayor. They won't have to resign unless they win the race.

In an open seat, many candidates have no name recognition in the city. And sometimes the ones that do, still can't win. There have been a few media people who ran for office and didn't succeed. Announcing early seems to help more than hurt. In this most recent byelection, the first two candidates to announce seemed to have the best outcomes. In this case it was Emma Durand-Wood and Abel Gutierrez were pretty much first out the gate and that is the order they placed in the election.

For whatever reason other candidates took too long to get their campaigns going. The most obvious candidate was Jason Schreyer's assistant Chris Sweryda who oddly said his background was road safety researcher waited too long to get the Schreyer family endorsement for carrying on the work of the former Councillor. He also waited too long to announce he was running and had other Council support.

NDP and Processive Conservatives also had some favourites although party politics is nominally not in Winnipeg politics. It is a fabrication though as most Councillors have some connection to the major parties. And not just parties but organizations, businesses, unions and elected officials endorsing their chosen people.

In Elmwood though, those groups waited too long and diluted their support. One of the candidates Braydon Mazurkewich collected a number of PC and conservative endorsements. He was noted by some to be Maple MAGA and was seen in pictures with Make America Great Again ball caps. It would appear he wanted too long as well to announce because some conservative support had been extended elsewhere. 

Two city employees ran. Carmen Prefontaine appeared to have the support of at least one Councillor and union support. The other city employee Kyle Roche didn't appear to share any union or elected official support. Neither did Zekariah Salahadin. It should be noted that elected officials, unions and businesses who don't reside in a ward have no votes. Ultimately, it is about how many people who actually are registered to vote who come out. And in Elmwood, it was only 16% of those people.

I'll say one thing about civic elections and that is the new candidate is sworn in right away. Emma Durand-Wood voted no on the Route 90 widening today. It was not enough to veto it. The mayor said it was something she campaigned on and he respects that. The priorities on Council are Peguis and Kenaston expansions. None of those proceed without federal help and the city has a long list of projects they want from the Feds with no strings attached.

There doesn't seem to be a progressive movement like there was in the 1990s that endorsed several candidates such as Danny Vandal and Greg Selinger and helped elect Glen Murray. It did break up the gang of 18 who represented the conservative elements of Council and who tended to caucus in private to set agendas which included some massive road infrastructure.

There doesn't seem to be a progressive movement as there was in the past. Council is less obvious about their affiliation except those with NDP ties. Many don't like party politics in city hall but in would be a mistake to think that some Councillors are not Liberals, NDP, PC or Greens. The general election is next year and as has been demonstrated west of us, there is a lot of motivation for change.

Byelections can also sometimes signify nothing at all. Given the low voter turnout, it may just have been who got out there earlier and with a clearer message. 

Fort Garry Legion to Close

Two world wars and the Korean War resulted in over a million men and women who had put on a uniform in Canada. The first veteran organizations started in 1917 and by 1925. they had merged into one national organization across Canada in Winnipeg. Branches were created coast to coast with buildings in the heart of many communities. It was in 1960, that Queen Elizabeth bestowed Royal to the Canadian legions and they probably enjoyed their greatest membership in the decades after World War II. Somehow they survived Prohibition, the Depression, additional wars and Covid 19. However, the aging veteran and family supports have taken their toll.

Legion buildings are aging in very much the same way that veterans are. Fundraising has always been tough to keep operations going. Alcohol, VLT and hall rentals have been the fuel that has kept doors open over the years. In recent years though, alcohol sales have faltered and the membership has gotten older and have moved or passed away. Success in the past was a younger working population that came in for memories, a drink and events.

Alcohol is just not an area that young people are drawn to in recent years. Bars and restaurant lounges are struggling because of this massive change. And so it goes with union halls and legions. The Royal Canadian Legion 90 was a Fort Garry gathering spot along Pembina Highway. The Pembina Hotel, the Cambridge Hotel and now the Legion are all gone. There is very little on Pembina that could be classified as a "watering hole" because people don't gather to drink together nearly as much.

The Fort Garry branch began in 1917 as the Great War Veterans Association when Fort Garry was truly a rural municipality. The University of Manitoba was in the middle of farm fields and had it's own police force. In 1947, the Legion was built at Pembina and Windermere. It was a time when veterans such as my grandfather were returning from the war and building in Fort Garry. He built in 1949 in Wildwood Park.

My grandfather never did join a Legion. Not everyone did. But they were important neighbourhood touchstones and meeting places. My grandfather was more a force at Wildwood Community Club. And so it went with the Greatest Generation after WWII. Over 700,000 returning vets spread out across Canada to build the nation we have now.

A drive down Pembina Highway today would probably have my grandfather noting the missing landmarks. In the last five years it has been a remarkable amount of gathering places knocked down. In 2022, The Fort Garry Legion accepted an offer to sell their property and building for an apartment development. The growing repair bills on their old location and the decline in membership had the Legion consider a new building on the other side of the underpass near Stafford and Pembina. The old location was turned into a 6 storey apartment building called The Point.

The new location was in a former Pizza Hut that had originally opened in 1986 but closed around 2019. A renovation made it suitable for the Legion but the aging population, decline in membership and a general move downward on alcohol consumption has had hotels, bars and restaurants struggling. The Legion once at 1500 members but the number has dropped down to 300. Legions no longer require memberships but that message is hard to deliver at all locations.

The merger between South Osborne and Pembina is a practical solution to the issue of how to keep Royal Canadian Legions going. Pembina Highway is a very narrow band of commercial activity from the Jubilee Underpass to the Perimeter Highway. New apartments are going up with retail on ground floors. The one thing missing nearly all the way down are community halls of any kid. Even the churches could be pushed out at this pace. There is some indication that the South Osborne Legion is adapting a little more to changes and on a street that still has a very community feel about it. A fresh injection of members could keep the two groups stronger. As for Pembina Highway, it remains to be seen what it will look like in ten years but it is happening fast.

McNally Jackson on Recent Law & Order

McNally Robinson Books started in Winnipeg in 1981 when bookstores were often found in malls such as Coles and WH Smith. Department stores still had large book stores. Many retailers such as Eaton's and The Bay had very active book sections even the 1980s. Some of the independent retailers for books often worked at a place like Eaton's book department before they struck out on their own. 

Mary Scorer was one such person who worked at Eaton's until when in 1959 she started her independent store under own name. Her location in Osborne Village helped kick off an era of independent retail and restaurants in that neighbourhood. She went to be a book publisher and her store went through a variety of hands locally after. The 1980s would kick off a new era of bookstores after Eaton's cut their book department.

Ron Robinson, the Robinson of MacNally Robinson, came via the Eaton's route. He had been a book buyer at Eaton's till they cut their large 25 member staff in 1980. He, and and Holly McNally would start McNally Robinson in the very recently built Kenaston Village strip mall in 1981. Initially, the McNallys scouted the traffic there, thinking about starting a business in a community that was still new to them.  Holly McNally had left her career in 1980 as a social worker to move to Winnipeg where her husband Paul had taken a position as a professor of English at University of Manitoba. The huge hole left by Eaton's cutting the book staff was the impetus for McNally and Robinson to consider going down the same route as Mary Scorer decades earlier: to build an independent bookstore. But where?

The Kenaston Village Mall was built by the Lakeview Group in 1978 on what had been scrub forest land across from the Kapyong Barracks in south River Heights. The Red Baron, built in 1979 and an original IGA grocery store brought in a lot of people. However, it was the Grapes and Peppers restaurants that really took off. Tuxedo and River Heights folks sadly lacked many restaurants in their immediate are so this appealed to many who wanted somewhere to shop as well as eat.

To the McNallys, this looked like the perfect place to start a bookstore and with Robinson in 1981. McNally Robinson Booksellers was born. 

Robinson left after a year later in 1982 and went on to a decades long career in national and local CBC Radio.  He made the initial purchase of books, got everything organized for inventory and established the contacts needed to be make the store sustainable.  The store remained McNally Robinson because it was too expensive to change the name when he left. However, it was successful enough to expand to Osborne Village in 1986 and Portage Place in 1987. Two major renovations took place at Kenaston and staff was built up accordingly.  Holly McNally ran the stores but would eventually be joined by husband Paul and her children. They all had a hand in managing over the years.

By 1988, McNally Robinson's was a must stop for authors to give readings and to visit on tour. It was only natural that the bookstore along with Manitoba Writers Guild would help fund a literary award that was the richest in western Canada. It was heady days for McNally as writers both local and national along with some international would pass through the doors every day.

In 1995, the a children's bookstore on Henderson Highway opened. This was just the beginning of the heyday of bookstores in Canada. In 1994, Cole and W.H. Smith Books were merged and superstore Chapters books began to be built. The move in Canada was to prevent U.S.-based Borders books from crossing into Canada. 

By 1996, McNally could see the writing on the wall seeing the large format stores of just over 20,000 square feet popping up on both sides of the the border. They would consolidate their Kenaston and Osborne locations at a 21,000 square foot location in the Grant Park shopping mall. It would include a restaurant called Cafe au Livre (later Prairie Ink) and a large children's section on the second floor. Enough space was given for book signings and readings. While the other stores closed the Portage Place location continued operations for several years.

The Grant Park location would be a runaway success and McNally would go onto open McNally Saskatoon in 1998. This store instantly caught on with the same format that worked so well at Grant Park. The McPhillips stores closed in favour of a wholesale division for school libraries called Skylight Books. By 2002, McNally opened a store in Calgary in a building they owned and in 2004, they opened a location in the Shops at Don Mills Toronto.

However, it would be a McNally opening outside of Canada that would surprise the most. The daughter of Holly and Paul McNally, Sarah, after schooling at McGill would find work in the New York publishing world. With an inheritance from family and knowledge of bookselling that she was born to, she opened a McNally Robinson in New York City in the Soho district in 2004. She called it McNally Robinson and it was listed as on the main site in Winnipeg as one of their stores.

In 2008, the stock market crash led to a recession throughout North America. McNally's expansion in Toronto turned into a money pit of losses. The Calgary store property was at first sold and rented but then eventually closed in 2008. By 2009/2010, Toronto and Polo Park also closed. The recession's damage dragged everything down and even auto manufacturers had to be bailed out.

After the dust settled, the only two stores to survive were Saskatoon and Winnipeg. However, the location of McNally Robinson in New York also survived. In 2008, Sarah McNally renamed the store McNally Jackson in honour of her son and and now ex-husband. She remained sole owner of the store. It was probably necessary to create some distance between the two companies because while both shared a McNally as owner, they were two different companies.

It was a tough time for the book industry as e-reader were all the rage. Book stores tried to get in the sales of these but paper and print remain the draw in stores. Huge retailers like Indigo-Chapters and Barnes and Noble struggled to stay relevant. In many cases, they resorted to selling things besides books to help with their margins. However, for both McNally Robinson and McNally Jackson, they continued to curate books, in some cases print books with their own printers. They did have other merchandise but the concentrated 

There is no doubt that Prairie Ink restaurants help McNally Robinson attract customers in the days, evenings and weekends. For McNally Jackson, it is the book clubs. Jackson also, spun off Goods for the Study which New Yorkers have taken to create worker spaces and presumably areas to read as well. Robinson created a community classroom to teach those who signed up to study in a variety of interests. Jackson publishes Jackson Editions, a select group of books for discerning readers. Robinson has been a main supporter of the publishing industry and events. Authors depend on McNally for sales and for awards.

In 2012, Holly and Paul McNally indicated they would be selling McNally Robinson in a phased sale that would be final in 2015. Other family members in the McNally family in Canada went on to other projects. Longtime employees Chris Hall and Lori Baker took over the company. The company expanded once more in 2018 with a 1000 foot store at The Forks.

Meanwhile, McNally Jackson under Sarah McNally also was going through changes. No other linked on the website to McNally Robinson, it spun off Goods for the Study, a style shop for personal spaces in 2013. By 2018, it opened a second location at Williamsburg, Brooklyn. In 2019, the third location in the South Street Seaport opened in lower Manhattan. Post Covid, they opened fourth location in Downtown Brooklyn in 2022. And finally, in 2023, they opened the largest location in 1 Rockefeller Plaza. That location was 7000 square feet and included a Goods for the Study shop. Along the way, the employees became unionized.

McNally is the third largest buyer of books in the NYC and has become part of the fabric of the city. And this brings us to McNally Jackson appearing in a caption card of NBC's flagship show Law & Order. Most of the time. the show studiously avoids naming businesses and the like. Even universities like Columbia and NYC nary a mention.  Fordham University always gets mentioned because it is not as posh as the other and require donors and money from filming. 

Now it is McNally Jackson that gets a mention. It is right across the street street from 30 Rockefeller Plaza and the Today show streets set. Every NBC reporter, performer and employee knows the store and has likely been in it. The store has become so beloved that it finally got a mention. However, it may only be people in Winnipeg who recognize the link all the way back to Winnipeg. 

So hurah for independent bookstores. May the ones named McNally live forever.

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,

The Evolution of the Winnipeg Sun

The Winnipeg Sun founded in 1980 was an act of defiance that came from the closure of the Winnipeg Tribune in the same year. A number of business people and slew of Tribune staffers helped create the tabloid which grew in stages. Initially, all black and white and only a few days a week, it grew to colour and seven days a week. People might forget just how thick a Sunday paper was. And yes, it was the first Sunday paper in Winnipeg. By 1983, the local ownership sold the paper to Quebecor which had experience running tabloids. It was incorporated in the Sun chain in 1999. By 2015, the Sun group was sold to Postmedia which included the Winnipeg Sun. In 2024, the Winnipeg was once against brought under local ownership when the Sun and papers were sold to former Conservative cabinet minister Kevin Klein.

As I noted back when the news occurred, this means Winnipeg is unique in most of Canada in that it has two locally owned daily newspapers in the city. That can't be said anywhere else in the west. In fact, Winnipeg was one of the only cities where an underdog newspapers folded only for another newspaper to emerge immediately.

The early Sun editorial leanings were center right but it had a reputation of factual reporting. Under different ownership, it has maintained credibility in reporting and still leans center right. The present ownership is unapologetically right leaning in editorial. The sports department despite the loss of Ted Wyman too young is still reporting on hockey and football. I'd wage more readers value that coverage first in their hearts.

It is very likely that buying the Sun has Klein working every part of the job. He has leaned heavily on columnists in Winnipeg as well as the National Post for content. It is unlikely that Klein wants to use the federal program to hire journalist but ad money has so dried up that it is likely all media in Canada might face extinction. The large international companies scrape the Internet and use AI to produce information that does not credit the or pay for the source of that information. Moreover, they control the search engines used to find local news. They hold all the levers of power over even some of the larger news services. The goal is to grab all the ad money they can while lifting information from content creators.

The Free Press and the Sun continue to carve out niches. There is nothing wrong with having a political slant but important to divide the paper into news, analysis and opinion and make sure they can be identified. Some newspapers such as the National Post and the Sun chain across Canada lean heavily on columnists. The Sun continues an affiliation with Postmedia and sometimes this results in a lot of federal coverage which might be a bit too much for a local paper.

While there are some female columnists at The Sun, they are really outnumbered. The Free Press faces the same problem. It is possible to have content that will appeal to younger and female audiences but it has to be presented consistently. For young people, it could be the comics, entertainment news, advice columns, horoscopes and sports. The trick is to have stuff unique in your paper. It isn't all political opinion columns.

The quickest way for the Sun to reclaim readers is to focus on Jets and Blue Bombers coverage beyond what they are doing now. Klein already has a video discussion on politics. It would seem a natural extension to do sports. I have pointed out how amateur sports is covered by WDAY/Fargo Forum/Grand Forks Herald. We are so poor in coverage in this area but they cover in North Dakota so well. The amount of sponsors for this coverage seems diverse in the U.S.

Assuming that the Sun wishes to be a local paper in either print or digital into the future, it might wish to partner with other media. An example at the local level is Global News and CJOB. Both of the aforementioned are different units of the same company but they both contribute to content over both platforms and can be monetized as such. This does not mean companies like CJOB and Global News are not stuck in the perpetual layoffs of news media. The hoovering of ad dollars by Google and others and the stealing of content by AI has meant all media is under threat. Some big companies like New York Times have made deals for content used by AI. The truth is that all content used by AI companies needs to be paid for and the courts are likely to weigh in. It has come to the point that there are true security concerns about AI harvesting information and stripping it of it's sources. Making big money off of this is hurting major industries.

The Sun needs to carve out what will stand out locally, move beyond politics and cover news and sports in ways no one else does. Newspapers have to find ways to reach out and monetize beyond "if it bleeds, it leads" headlines. Even Internet users are getting tired of clickbait that feels false. Winnipeg needs two strong and competitive newspapers. We are very lucky having two local ones. We will continue to have them so long as they continue to adapt and develop their content. It will be up to the government to protect content creators from having their work taken and monetized by international companies.

The Hour of Worship Fargo and Religious TV in Winnipeg

Winnipeg knows something about faith broadcasting. Initially, it was radio with Mennonite gospel on CKRC as early as 1947. The radio station CFAM started in 1956 and had a lot of Mennonite religious programs populated the airwaves, In 2020, Winnipeg got its first faith-based channel on FM radio.

One of the reasons the CRTC came in to being was the faith-based broadcasts out of Alberta from Ernest Manning were exploding across Canada where the premier/evangelist made requests for money. This raised concern in Ottawa and the CRTC was formed so that CBC was not the arbiter of broadcasting.

Mennonites were prime drivers of religious broadcasting in Manitoba and while their start came in radio, by the 1960s moves to TV broadcasting began. In Winnipeg, Calvary Temple started Faith to Live by on CJAY which later became CKY/CTV in 1962. It is now one of the longest running TV shows in Canada.

The first faith TV broadcast began in 1950 on ABC in New York during TV's infancy. TV arrived in Canada two years later and the first broadcast in Manitoba was CBC in Winnipeg in 1954, It consisted of three hours of programming. Consumers started buying black and white TV and the programming on CBC grew and it was 1960 when CJAY joined CBWT in Winnipeg as the first private station. The same year, CBWFT, French CBC began broadcasting. 

Across the border KCND in Pembina, North Dakota began to broadcast. With rabbit ear or antennae, it could be seen in parts of the city. This brought a total of four TV stations that could be seen in the city and the 1960s saw a huge increase in programming. Some of it was Canadian, lots of it American but with literally so many hours to fill, much of it was local. Some of that was by mandate but some was practicality of it being cheaper to fill than buying elsewhere.

CJAY at two years old welcomed Calvary Temple's Faith to Live By because production was handled by the church and it filled time on Sunday mornings that the station wasn't sure what to do with. Manitoba on Sundays was very quiet. Blue Bomber games were not allowed to be played on Sundays till 1965! The churches ruled the roost. No shopping, no games and even after 1965, mornings were pretty quiet. So Faith to Live by in 1962 kind of had the audience there for it.

Cable TV did not reach River Heights where I lived until 1968. And until 1970 my parents rented so it was not up to them to install the cable at $10 and pay $5 a month. We moved into our home in late summer of 1970 and by late 1971 had both colour and cable TV. The colour TV was a gift from my grandparents.

Colour TV did not come out till 1966 in Canada but so much of broadcasting was in black and white. Literally everyone I knew was getting colour TVs between 1968 and 1972. In our house, it was Saturday morning cartoons in colour that was a huge attraction. Jetsons and Flintstones were among the the first full colour series to be produced for TV. Older Warner Bros. material that originally has been in colour on the big screen was well suited for Saturday morning.

Sunday was not a day for cartoons in the morning. In Winnipeg there wasn't even a Sunday newspaper. Today, we have Vision TV and JOY-TV for faith-based programming. However, through the 1960s and 1970s Sundays and sometimes early mornings there was faith-based programming. As mentioned, Faith to Live By was one of the earliest on the air in 1962 and now one of the longest running faith programs in Canada. A few others were around for decades like It's a New Day. Church of the Rock has been on CityTV since 1996. Meanwhile, Mennonite broadcasting is done based here in Winnipeg in multi-languages for Russian and Spanish audiences.

Most people who watched TV in the 1960s through 1990s on cable would be aware of Jimmy Swaggert, Jim Bakker, Pat Robertson and whole lost of other televangelists in the U.S. However, there was some more traditionally services on the air too. In North Dakota, a Lutheran Church founded in 1950 began to broadcast in 1967 and because of cable, it was on the dial on WDAZ from the mother channel WDAY in Fargo. This year that church is 75 years old and the broadcast continues to be seen on cable in Winnipeg.

Elim Lutheran Church is a modest church in the Fargo-Moorhead area and because of the reach of cable has been part of the Winnipeg Sunday morning programming since 1968 when cable reached the city. North Dakota and Manitoba have shared a prairies experience living along the Red River. One can imagine the Swedish meatballs that will be eaten at their celebrations as the reach age 75.

It is a reminder that while times are more difficult now, we still share a heritage. The threats weekly from the U.S. ambassador in Canada notwithstanding, it is notable that our contact with our southern neighbour have lasted decades.