Election Aftermath

As I predicted, the Tories won the election. Equally predictable was that Dion announced a week after the election that he would be stepping down.

Harper now has a slightly bigger minority. It must be a bitter pill for him to swallow. He kept saying that he expected a minority but it is doubtful that he believed it. A number of times he made a plea for a minority but to little avail.

Timing is everything in an election and Harper believed calling the election when he did was better than waiting for the economy to be a leading issue. In short, Harper thought calling the election before the fixed date was a good way to bury the Liberals.

It didn't quite work out that way. The smooth Harper campaign of 2006 turned to a gaffe filled affair in 2008. And the narrow focus the Conservatives placed on the Liberals left them vulnerable in Quebec. They badly fell to a resurgent BQ who cast themselves as best suited to represent Quebec's interests in Ottawa. Dion's performance probably helped them capture two BQ seats.

In the end, nothing much has changed and the Liberals now face the prospect of a new leader in the next six months. We'll see if Harper looks to take advantage of this fact as Dion will stand as interim leader till at least May of 2009.

It seems doubtful that an election will wait till the next fixed election.



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Roblin Boulevard Part 3 Charleswood Motor Hotel

Pictures of the present and future location of the Red River Co-Op Gas on the site of the Charleswood Hotel

I have been writing about Roblin Boulevard as it runs through Charleswood in a series of posts.

A week or so ago it was reported that the Charleswood Hotel would be demolished for a Red Rive Co-op Gas bar and carwash. The gasbar would replace a small Co-op kisok father down the street.

The old "downtown" of Charleswood had one major landmark. It was the Charleswood Hotel and anyone who lived in the neighborhood knew about the bar that resided inside it: The Charlie.

I have no idea how many people stayed in the hotel. Not many is my guess. The vendor was a little run down and the laundry/commercial in front and over top it of it had sat empty for many years. The banquet rooms might have done some business but the major cash cow for the hotel had to the the bar simply known as the Charlie.

The Charlie was probably the first place some local Charleswood people bought their first drink. The name Charlie's was ubiquitous with the Charleswood Hotel and most people who lived in the south part of the city in River Heights, Tuxedo and Charleswood had heard of. With the closure of the bar, the nearest hotel pub is out at the perimeter highway in Westdale, across the river on Portage Avenue or far to the east along Pembina Highway or Osborne Village.

The two acre site that the Charles Hotel occupied was too good for some other businesses to pass up. It was a deeper lot than other commercial property on Roblin. It is easy to see to why Red River Co-Op which is expanding in the city was interested. Charleswood Hotel owner Jason Gauthier was unlikely to do better for offers.

In media interviews, Gauthier indicated that he would look for a new hotel to buy. For him it is smart business decision. For the neighborhood, it is the loss of the local watering hole and gathering spot.

Truly for Charleswood, it is the end of an era. With all due respect to Red River Co-op, the addition of a gas station to the neighborhood does nothing to add to the colour of the neighborhood.



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Portage and Main/Winnipeg Square Part 2

Picture 1 Formally, the Bank of Montreal Tower (333 Main Street) opposite Winnipeg Square (also owned by Crown Realty), it is now one of two buildings used by MTS for headquarters downtown. Picture taken by Cam B.

Picture 2 191 Pioneer is seen in the second picture in this photo by Little Hobbit Feet. It is the second building used by MTS. In this picture it is on the extreme right beside the tower in the center.



As mentioned in part 1, Winnipeg Square is part of the renovations taking place in what many Winnipeg's still refer to as the Trizec building.

It is the largest underground shopping mall in Winnipeg, according to its present owner Crown Realty Partners. Crown acquired the mall and Commodity Exchange Tower in 2007.

Also included in the Crown purchase was 333 Main Street and 191 Pioneer Street. 333 Main Street was the former Bank of Montreal tower attached the Bank of Montreal building facing Portage and Main. It was built in 1981. It is now used by MTS for their headquarters after leaving their Polo Park location.

191 Pioneer is building immediately beside 333 Main Street although located on a different street. It is also occupied by MTS.

On to Winnipeg Square...

Back in August it was reported that Winnipeg Square was undergoing $3 million renovation. Like a lot of businesses, high efficiency lighting was installed. It has been a good strategy with today's high energy bills. The lobby of the Commodity Exchange Tower was also getting a makeover and a renaming. Since the exchange has no trading floor now and the name of the WCE is now ICE, it made only sense to change the building's name as well. The building will now be known as 360 Main Street.

Flooring, walls and other aspects of the mall have been upgraded and the project in October of 2008 is nearing completion.

As far as a mall goes, Winnipeg Square is all business. It isn't a fashion mall. It is 49 shops geared to servicing the many businesses that call Portage and Main home. The mall has the offices of Purolator Courier and UPS. It also where several cell phone companies have locations including: MTS and Rogers.

For office supplies there is Cartridge World for copiers and there is a Grand and Toy office supply store.

Some of the bigger stores in the mall are Shoppers Drug Mart and Hallmark Cards.

There are some professional offices for dental and chiropractic care and the mall as well as a credit union and insurance office.

The mall has primarily been know for the food court. It isn't a great food court by any stretch but beggers can't be choosers. A McDonald's and Starbucks have positioned themselves closer to Portage Avenue than the food court which backs onto Graham Avenue.

The food court has the usual A&W and Koya Japan that you find as most malls as well as the typical pasta and sub places.

There is a finer dining establishment Chamberlyn's that is tucked into the mall corner at Fort and Graham. They've had a yummy Caesar salad on the days I could not face the food court.

A mall touch up is certainly due but it won't change the fact that Winnipeg Square is a service mall to the the towers at Portage and Main. It will never be a destination for any other type of shopper. Still, it is a successful formula since the mall has nearly 95% occupancy.



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Thanksgiving Musings

As the election heads into its last days, it appears that the Winnipeg Free Press is headed to a strike. The union has set up a website.

I voted along with my wife in the advance polls.

I no longer think the Tories will win a massive majority. That bird flew the moment Harper let Duceppe and the Bloc find an angle to attack them with. This came through cuts to the arts (which the Tories had to reverse with tail between their legs) and through the crime bill (which they can't change without an uprising in the their base support).

The Liberals struggled all campaign and only because Dion did better in the debates than expected, there was a bump in support. That bump was helped along by the uncertainty brought on by the stock market crash.

Since then the Liberals and Tories have seen the gap rise and fall but it doesn't look like a blow out is imminent.The Tories should win. The Liberals ought to finish second but horrifyingly, the Bloc might come in second.

Back to the Free Press: it sucks that on one of the most important news days that the main newspaper in the city might not be publishing.



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Taman Inquiry Aftermath

The Taman Inquiry listed its final recommendations. The government went one further and asked the RCMP to take over the troubled East St. Paul Police Service.

When Commissioner Roger Salhany said the force bungled the investigation, it was the final straw for the government. The NDP's Dave Chomiak as Justice minister saw fit to torpedo the whole department.

While some in both the Winnipeg and East St. Paul Police have a lot to answer for, the turnover of the East St. Paul Police to the RCMP is probably wrongheaded. Certainly East St. Paul needs reform but the RCMP is likely not to be as responsive for future needs and it is probably going to be more expensive in the end.

The Commissioner's report had many other things to say. The Taman family feels vindicated but it is still a sad that it took this long to bring some action.

The one problem with the government's response is that it might not solve anything and in fact, might make it worse.



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Health Sciences Centre Part 2

Thereasa Oswald at the announcement of the new hospital.

In the election in 2007, the NDP promised to build a new Women's Hospital for around $40 million. The old one, as mentioned here was built in 1950. It was meant to handle 2000 deliveries a year but that number has jumped to 5000 a year.

The NDP government announced on September 10 that they would build a new Women's Hospital on the site of the Weston Bakery across the street from the Children's Hospital.

For the NDP it was a bit of a coup to both negotiate for Weston Bakeries to move from their present location to the Fort Garry courthouse on Chevrier. That property had turned into an albatross for the government when it was never used for the high security trial it was built for. The bakery had been making noises about moving to Saskatchewan.

According to the Free Press, the original Women's Hospital was located a half kilometer away from the Children's Hospital because of an outbreak of childbed fever in 1936. While it might have been a good thing at the time, it is not only inconvenient but dangerous to have the hospital so far away. The crash cart team had to make a mad dash through the tunnels whenever a child's life was in danger.

The new hospital won't be built until 2009 as the Weston Bakery needs the time to complete their own $25 million building on the Chevrier site.

Let's hope that the new hospital will not be as ugly as most of the rest of the hospital buildings are at HSC.



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Commodity Exchange Tower/Winnipeg Square Part 1

From The Second City Book Lorimer p 107 and posted on Flikr and credit to Mr. Christian who has some great pictures.

Winnipeg Square was built in 1979 by Trizec Corporation. In the desperation to have some good economic news back in the 1970s, the city agreed build a three level underground parking lot and re-routed to an underground concourse to feed into a mall that was integral to a two tower project at Portage And Main.

As everyone knows now the project ended up. Today there is only one tower, one mall, the city owned parkade and the concourse. I'm not going to go over the history of how much the city ended up on the hook for in getting the one tower built. You can see the details on the West End Dumplings site which has some great pictures, one which I have posted here.

There are a few selections to read in Google books as well on the subject.

My impression of the tower shortly after it was built was how forlorn it looked for many years following its completion in 1979. For quite some time many floors were unoccupied.

Today, the tower is home to numerous law firms including giant Aikens MacAulay high up on the 30th floor with it nearly 100 lawyers. Down on the 17th is Fillmore Riley with over 50 lawyers.

Head back up to the 25th floor at it is Pitblado with around 60 lawyers.

Two floors of the tower are devoted to storage and mechanical equipment.

One of the main tenants of the Commodity Exchange Tower is of course, the Commodity Exchange. In keeping with the commodity theme, other tenants in the building com from a variety of grain companies and brokerages.

At the time of construction, Scotiabank had indicated they wanted to take up residence in the building and they remain a part of it but rather than the 360 Main Street address, they have a low rise banking center fronting Portage Avenue. The 200 Portage address is what is observed at the corner of Portage and Main while the tower sits farther back on Main Street.

The Free Press has recently reported that the new owners of Winnipeg Square and the Commodity Exchange building. The building will be renamed 360 Main Street.

(to be continued)



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Rapid Transit

Free Press picture of Katz at bus announcement.

Sam Katz seems to finally come aboard on bus rapid transit. Like most people, I used to take the bus regularly back and forth to school. However, I found that on some occasions, it was faster for me to walk back to River Heights from the University of Winnipeg rather than wait. I did that frequently.

Nowadays, my work involves me travelling from suburb to suburb on an almost daily basis. I could ride a bike to work in the summer but the lack of bike stands where I work makes that a difficult prospect.

My wife works at Health Sciences Centre and while bus travel is possible back and forth, it would make a 12 hour day probably a 14-15 day if you included the commute.

I know some people will say we picked where we live in Charleswood but we did so in part for financial considerations. Homes in River Heights which have several bus routes are more expensive.

Sam Katz rejected an earlier form of rapid transit and instead used the money for community clubs. The jury is still out on that one but clubs are still falling apart or showing no indication they are willing to collaborate to build actual multi-purpose facilities.

The new plan for rapid transit comes with help from the provincial and federal government's. Gary Doer was also on hand for the announcement on September 8.

From the Free Press:

The first leg of the corridor -- which comes with a $138-million price tag -- will begin at Queen Elizabeth Way near The Forks and then snake 3.6 kilometres southwest to Jubilee Avenue near Pembina Highway, crossing over Osborne Street on a new bridge and then tunnelling below CN Rail's Fort Rouge Yards along the way.

The overall plan is for a $327 million corridor to the University of Manitoba but CN seems to have a lot of questions about the plan, the borrowing to get it done and details about the housing surrounding the 12 bus stations.

Katz says light rail is coming but that is in the future. I have no idea what that means.

There is a plan for 700 apartments to help finance the busway but details on that are sketchy as well.

Once approval of this plan happens, it will take three years to get the first phase done.

No rush it seems to bring fast mass transit to Winnipeg.



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Canada Election 2008

The election has been called by Stephen Harper for October 14, 2008. The prime minister sure went through contortions to justify calling an election. I always said it remained the PM's right to call an election and said that Harper would probably do it prior to the end of the mandate. I was told how ridiculous that was by many. Now, I hear how totally justified he is in breaking his promise.

We've seen that type of spin before in regards to income trusts and how it wasn't a broke promise to end them.

Jack Layton came out the first day saying he was up for debating Harper but refused to answer any questions about letting the Greens join the leader's debate. He just stared blankly at the CBC reporter.

I have no idea how the Greens will do. It is an uphill battle though. Elizabeth May will have a tough time winning against MacKay in Nova Scotia.

Stephane Dion had a good performance in Winnipeg this past week but he is quite weak nationally. The Environics poll from the CBC showed the Tories close to a majority.

My prediction based on trends is that the Tories are headed for a massive majority.



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Winnipeg TV Stations Part 2

JoyTV starts operations this week. In its former incarnation as Omni 11, it made a commitment to just 2.5 hours per week of first run locally produced content. You read that right: 2.5 hours a week.

From Rogers news release in 2006:

Once OMNI TV Manitoba launches to over 900,000 viewers, audiences will be treated each week to 2.5 hours of first run locally created single faith productions. The schedule will also include faith based programming such as Israel Today, Muslim Chronicles, Sat Sri Akal, Islam Today and the Mahabharata series. All time favorites such as Friends, Everybody Loves Raymond, Home Improvement, King of Queens and Touched by an Angel make up the primetime weeknight line-up. OMNI TV Manitoba combined with OMNI TV BC has promised just under $1million for the independent production of religious and faith based documentaries.

At the time of its sale in 2008, Omni still hadn't contributed much to local programming. There were a few faith-based programs but most of the Canadian programming, what little there was, came from elsewhere. Most worrying was no attempt at a local news program of any sort. The OMNI stations in both Vancouver and Toronto did a far better job in that regard.

The rebranding of Omni to Joytv in September of 2008 doesn't look to change the local commitment to production. An examination of the programming shows most of the faith-based productions originate elsewhere. I'd be hard pressed to say whether the station is going to do any better than 2.5 hours a week of local production.

To pad out its day, Joytv will be running syndicated programs such as Happy Days and The Waltons. Unlike Omni, they will have some first run programs such as 60 Minutes and 48 Hour Mystery which they are simulcasting.

From 1 AM to 6:00 AM, Joytv is airing paid infomercials.

Winnipeg deserves more from what is supposed to be a local station. More local programming should be done in Winnipeg, especially news programming.



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Tuxedo Park Shopping Centre Part 1

The picture is the Agricultural College in 1903. Now the Asper Jewish Community Campus of Winnipeg.

The Tuxedo Park Shopping Centre was built in 1962 to serve the town of Tuxedo. It initially had a Safeway, a Bank of Montreal branch, the headquarters of the Tuxedo Police and a hotel.

The land used to belong to the Hudson Bay Company but was granted to Lord Selkirk in 1811. By 1857, it had been surveyed into farmland from the Assiniboine River out to 2 and later 4 miles. The region was known as Assiniboia and by 1880 it became the Rural Municipality of Assiniboia.

One of the first buildings to be built in the area was the The Agricultural College in 1906 along Tuxedo Avenue. It was deemed to be too small and 1911-1913, the college moved to Fort Garry, home to the present University of Manitoba.

From 1914 until 1917 this site was used by the Manitoba School for the Deaf, the first such institution in Western Canada. In 1917, the facility became necessary for wounded men from World War I. The building served as a hospital until 1919. Thereafter, the Canadian Army took over the building and from 1919 to 1968, it was the Fort Osborne Barracks. The Asper Jewish Community Campus of Winnipeg bought the site in 1997 and it is used as an educational and cultural center.

In 1904, 283 acres of the land along the river was bought by the City of Winnipeg for the site of Assiniboine Park.

From 1905 to 1913, Frederick W. Heubach and various investor acquired land for their new Tuxedo Park development. In 1913, the Town of Tuxedo was incorporated and Heuback became its first mayor.

The American firm Olmsted Brothers designed the town and that plan was followed assiduously for many decades.

A British firm held a small piece of the new town. It was a small triangle of land bounded by Tuxedo Avenue, Roblin Boulevard (later Corydon Avenue) and Edgeland Boulevard which was zoned for three apartment blocks and a shopping center.

That shopping center became what is the present Tuxedo Park Shopping Centre.

(to be continued)

Charleswood Shopping Centre Plaza Update

One of the last open spots in Charleswood Shopping Plaza Centre is being filled now. It will be a 24 hour Snap Fitness. The company is a franchise operation that costs about a $1 a day. Locations are very small and don't seem to include personal training, massage therapy, dietitians or the popular group exercise classes.

There is already one Snap Fitness on Pembina Highway.

It will be interesting to see how this place works out.

I should mention that I work at Goodlife Fitness as the registered massage therapist there. The location I work at is also 24 hours at the Kenaston Co-Ed location.



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Winnipeg TV Stations Part 1

From a Winnipeg perspective, one TV station has been a virtual non-entity in terms of local content. That station is OMNI 11 which as of September 1 will be JOYTV.

It was licenced to Trinity Television in 2002 as a religious broadcaster. Just as it was about to go on the air, Rogers bought the station and folded it into its Omni group of stations. While Onni Toronto was a cultural station that delivered news made in Toronto in a variety of the languages of the city, Winnipeg's Omni was religious broadcasting that was mostly produced elsewhere. Both stations padded the rest of their hours with American syndicated programs and an outrageous amount of paid programming.

In 2007, Rogers Communications bought Citytv which included its Winnipeg affiliate, the former MTN. CTVglobemedia had acquired the station in 2006, thereby giving them two stations in Winnipeg. At the time of the takeover, the station was called A Channel.

The Craig family, owners of A Channel had run into trouble in 2003-2004 with labour issues at their Edmonton A-Channel affiliate. Combined with the ongoing trouble keeping its Toronto 1 station afloat, the family looked for an exit. Toronto 1, awarded by the CRTC in 2001 had first looked to be a perfect fit for the growing network of station owned by the Craigs. Instead, it was money loser that dragged the company down.

It was CHUM that came knocking in 2004 with a $265 million buy-out. The Craigs gave up their attempt at another national network and handed the baton to CTV.

The first thing that happened upon the takeover was the axing of the local Citytv news. It seems astounding that it was allowed to happen by the CRTC.

The CRTC had bigger fish to fry. They effectively told CTV they couldn't own Citytv and CTV stations in the same city and forced them to sell off the division. CTV kept the other parts of the CHUM empire and Rogers Communications stepped in to buy the Citytv network.

And all this lead back to Winnipeg's Onni, Channel 11 station. Rogers Communications ended up running into the same problem CTV did: owning two stations in the same market.

The CRTC once again weighed in and forced Rogers to sell one of the two stations they owned in Winnipeg. That station was Omni.

(to be continued)



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Health Sciences Centre Part 1

Photo by the University of Manitoba taken in 1983. The former Manitoba Medical College. It is now the St. Regis Apartment.

The Winnipeg General Hospital was founded in 1872 on the estate of Andrew McDermot, the Red River Settlement's richest man. He was a former Hudson Bay Company (HBC) employee who eventually opened his own store and rode Winnipeg's growth to great fortune. His son-in-law Andrew Bannatyne became the driving force in establishing the hospital and donating the land for the present day hospital.

Today, the streets McDermot and Bannatyne take their names from these two prominent citizens.

As Winnipeg grew, other hospitals were built close to Winnipeg General. The Children's Hospital of Winnipeg was founded in 1909. The Winnipeg General Hospital, Maternity Pavilion was built in 1951. It later became known as Women's Pavilion. In 1962, the Manitoba Rehabilitation Hospital was built.

The medical school was built adjacent to Winnipeg General in 1883. The college, called the Manitoba Medical College, was the precursor to the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Manitoba. Today, the building is the St. Regis apartment block.

(to be continued)

Grand Forks and Fargo

Grand Forks has been the main choice for Winnipeg travel for many years. It solidified its position over Fargo with the construction of Columbia Mall in 1978. Prior to that, shopping was done downtown or at the already aging South Forks Plaza built in 1964.

West Acres Mall built in 1972 had been challenging Grand Forks for Winnipeg's affection ever since it was built with Sears and deLendrecies anchoring 50 stores.

Throughout the 1980s, Grand Forks was the hands down choice of cross border shoppers from Manitoba. In the 1990s, as the dollar started to drop, cross border shopping also started drop off.

Another reasons for people to stay in Winnipeg was the opening of Walmart in Winnipeg. In the early 1990s, it had been one of the reasons families travelled to Grand Forks. In addition to Walmart, some other U.S. based chains also started to open in Winnipeg. Some of the exclusiveness of Grand Forks disappeared in the 1990s.

In 1997, Grand Forks was deeply damaged by the Red River flood. While Columbia was untouched, some hotels were devastated. I stayed in Grand Forks a few months after the flood in what was supposed to be a cleaned up hotel and had to ask to be moved to a second floor that did not have have the smell of mildew. The heydays of the 1980s were pretty much over though and the flood only capitalized a major change in Winnipeg shopping getaways.

In 2001, Grand Forks capped off an amazing re-building program and gave Winnipeg a new reason to visit with with addition of the Alerus Center. For the next few years, Winnipeggers headed down on a regular basis to concerts that bypassed Winnipeg.

As the dollar started to rise, Winnipeggers started to head back down for weekend shopping attracted by the new Target across from Columbia as well as some new stores such as Best Buy. However, more discerning shoppers were going further afield to Fargo for Barnes and Noble and some stores in West Acres not found in Grand Forks such as Hollister.

Other shoppers were heading down all the way to Mall of America in Minneapolis and Factory outlet stores in Albertville, MN. Those that headed that far down usually did so on a long weekend rather than the two day splurges.

Grand Forks will always be more attractive for some Winnipeg travellers for the plain reason that it is just 2 hours away. Columbia Mall and the surrounding hotels offer supreme convenience for travellers.

Fargo is a little harder to commute to and West Acres doesn't have the hotel conglomeration that Grand Forks does. Still, for someone who wants a little bit of difference in their weekend travel, here are some of Fargo's highlights.

West Acres

It has double the amount of department stores. Macy's, JCPenney, Herberger's and Sears. Some stores not in Grand Forks are Hollister and Abercrombie and Fitch. The mall is newly renovated and attractive.

Downtown Fargo

Rebuilt and appealing for the person looking for a new eatery, hotel or shopping experience.

Other Stores

Scheels super sport store is worth going to just for the Ferris wheel. Barnes and Noble is bigger and better in Fargo.

Recreation

Bonanzaville is a historic village in West Fargo open from spring to fall.

Restaurants

Space Aliens
TGIFridays
Timberlodge

For people with nostalgia for old Winnipeg namesakes there is:

Mr. Steak
Country Kitchen



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Roblin Boulevard Part 2

Between Cathcart and Lynbrook Drive are a number of businesses in the old Charleswood area. On the north side of Roblin heading west are homes until curiously named the Charleswood Technology Centre.

In the window are signs offering yoga classes. A search of businesses offering yoga doesn't indicate that such a business exists in the building.

edit: I just got a flyer today to say that Kripalu Yoga classes are taught at the Charleswood Technical Centre by Cindy Wuerch.

The business that are listed in 2008 are:

Dawson McLennan Certified General Accountants, a general accountants practice
Avalon Institute Of Applied Science, a research and consultancy firm in environmental science
Assure Lab Works, a drug testing lab
Osorno, an environmental consultancy
Centre For Education And Work Incorporated, a private education consultancy

I'll have to drop in one day to see if these listing are accurate. The building does seem geared to very small offices for businesses.

On the north side of Roblin is a commercial building that looks like a house. Since 2006, The Food Studio has been a teaching young and old how to cook. They occupy the main floor.

On the second floor is a company called Farm Link Marketing Solutions which is a grain marketing company.

At one point, some years ago, the building was the home of a massage therapist.

Next door to the Food Studio and extending to Lynbrook Drive is a strip mall that contains Primerica, an insurance brokerage, Gallery Boutique and Salon, a nails shop and Surroundings, a draperies, blinds, linen and bathroom accessories store.

All in all, many small businesses and stores inhabit this section of Charleswood's old downtown.



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Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport Part 2

There was some hope that the old terminal would find a tenant after the move to the newly built terminal. Rumour was that the Western Canada Aviation Museum might be interested. Alas, that didn't come to pass and the old terminal will be torn down once the new one is built.

In 2007, the Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport was Canada's seventh busiest airport by passenger traffic. That amounted to 3.5 million passengers. By aircraft movements, it is Canada's 11th busiest.

While the airport was constructed in 1964, it did go through major renovations in 1984. Improvements were made in how passenger traffic was handled and in the retail area on the second floor. Compared to some of the shopping emporiums in other airports, Winnipeg is a little light in attractions.

In 2008, the stores in the pre-security area were:

* Canadian Scene & Relay

This store is a basic newspaper and magazine shop with snacks and some Canadiana tossed in.

* DeLaga

In 2005, this clothing store opened in the terminal that carries designer clothing. It is owned by local business people.

* Front Page Sports

After the success of the temporary store set up in 2006 for the Grey Cup, the company that manages Relay and Virgin Records decided to set up a permanent store selling Manitoba and Canadian sport merchandise. The store opened in 2007.

* Journey's Travel & Leisure Supercentre

An offshoot of Journey's main store, this retailer sells various travel items such as luggage and clothing.

* Showcase Manitoba

A store specializing in Manitoba arts and crafts.

* The UPS Store

Standard UPS package store.

* Virgin Books & Music

Owned by the same group that owns Relay and Front Page Sports. The only Virgin Records in town. A little on the pricey side but if you are looking for a book or CD on the plane, this is for you.

In 2008, the post security clearance stores are"

* Aer Rianta Duty Free [open two hours before International flights]

A duty free store that sells merchandise including tobacco and alcohol tax free.

* Canadian Scene and Relay

A smaller version of what is pre-security.

* $15 Boutique

A retailer that Boutique sells high fashion accessories, small leather goods, belts, ties, earrings, pins, cubic zirconia, bracelets, jewelry, scarves, sunglasses, watches and other items all under $15. Operated by the owners of Relay and Virgin Records.



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Winnipeg too cold for Human Rights Museum

Focus groups across Canada have said that Winnipeg is too cold to host the Human Rights Museum.

From the Winnipeg Press:

These participants suggested that the city suffers from negative stereotypes such as: cold, nothing to do, far away, and not interesting to visit," says the summary. "Very few of these participants would put the museum on their list of things to see given the distance."

Focus groups in Vancouver and Calgary also raised the location of Winnipeg as an issue but were less concerned about it. The location wasn't raised as an issue in Halifax, Toronto, Kitchener, Thunder Bay, Red Deer and Whitehorse.

In total, 208 people participated in 26 different focus groups between Jan. 22 and Feb. 1.

It is tough to find fault with some of the thinking. Winnipeg is some distance from most other major centers in Canada. The Human Rights Museum is the first attempt as a national attraction.

Yes, you heard that right. The Human Rights Museum is the first project with national ambitions as its main reason for being. Sure we have Folklorama, the Winnipeg Folk Festival and the Manitoba Museum among other attractions. The problem is all these things were thought with a Manitoba audience in mind.

As for natural attractions, we don't have the mountains, the sea, a waterfall or any of the other sought after features people travel a distance to.

In most people's minds Winnipeg is not a tourist attraction and never will be. At least it won't be at the level of Vancouver or Toronto.

We shouldn't feel bad. Canada ranks low as an international travel destination around the world even with things like the Niagara Falls and the Rocky Mountains. Some countries like Britain go so far as to call us dull.

I think that the organizers of the Human Rights Museum should recognize right from the start that the facility is not going to be a traditional tourist attraction. People in Montreal and Vancouver are not going to book a trip to Winnipeg just to see the museum.

In some respect, perhaps Izzy Asper and Gail Asper, must have known that when they started this process since they spoke of the educational aspect and bringing youth from all over the country to participate in seminars and other teaching events. This is the right idea to be sure.

I'd go farther and say that the organizers might consider an annual Human Rights prize that might rival the Nobel and bring annual attention to Winnipeg as well as honoured guests.

The Human Rights Museum is not going to be the end all for tourism nor should it be. It isn't a Disney attraction. It will, however, be an important cultural and educational institution. With a concerted effort of outreach, it can become part of the national consciousness.

Winnipeg will have to continue to mainly promote itself as a regional tourism centre. This is where the city is going to get the bulk of its visitors.

Conference Board of Canada report

Manitoba has had fairly steady growth over the last number of years. The Conference Board of Canada in its 2008 economic report says that Manitoba will be second in growth behind Saskatchewan this year.

Saskatchewan is expected to have a blistering growth rate of 4.2%. Manitoba is expected to have 3.6% growth this year. Other provinces are expected to moderate this year.

A number of things have fueled the growth in Manitoba and not all of it has been government spending as some critics have suggested. Commodity prices in mining, oil and agriculture have risen sharply and have turned around fortunes in northern and rural Manitoba. Manufacturing which has been suffering in Ontario has done better in Manitoba. New Flyer, Standard Aero and Buhler have all got major orders or expansions going on.

An economist the Conference Board says Manitoba has "sideswiped" the U.S. economy.

The Canadian dollar has eased down in the next days and that should help the province as well with exports.

It remains to be seen how big a hit the U.S. economy takes and whether it will affect Manitoba in a big way as well.



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Wellington Crescent Part 1

Wellington Crescent began as an Indian trail along the Assiniboine River. It was names Wellington Street in 1893 after Arthur Wellington Ross, a landowner originally from Cornwall, Ontario who purchased land in Fort Rouge. He went on to become a Liberal MLA in Manitoba and later a Liberal-Conservative in Ottawa.

As Winnipeg steadily grew, land along both sides of the Assinibone River became attractive to the richest citizens. Between 1893 and 1914, large stately homes were constructed along Wellington. As it moved steadily west, it became Wellington Crescent.

From its starting point at the end of River Avenue, the Crescent eventually wound its way to present day Assiniboine Park.

Of all the houses built on the river side between River Avenue and Academy Road, only two remain: The Fortune House at 393 Wellington and the Ashdown House at 529 Wellington.

The Fortune House was spared demolition following a fire in the 1980s. The house was built in 1910 by Mark Fortune, a real estate investor. The family did not enjoy the house for long. Following a European vacation with his family, Mark Fortune and his son died aboard the Titanic in 1912. Fortune's wife and two daughters survived and returned to the city. The house was later sold to William P. Riley, President of Western Grocers in 1920.

In 1950, the house was converted into apartments following the Rileys departure for other Wellington Crescent digs. After a devastating fire in the 1980s, the house was faithfully preserved on the outside while converted into condos on the inside.

The other surviving house on the river side between Academy and River is the former Ashdown House at 529 Wellington Crescent. It was the fourth house built for James Ashdown. Ashdown was one of Winnipeg's most important businessmen and city movers. His hardware business operated out of the same downtown location for many years. In 1907, Ashdown served as the city mayor for two years.

In 1912, Ashdown built his newest house on Wellington Crescent. It was built in the Tudor style and Manitoba limestone walls. Immediately across the street was St. Mary's Academy, the oldest continually operating school in Manitoba. The school, started in 1869, moved to its present location in 1903.

Coincidentally, the Ashdown house came on the market in 1950, the same year that the Fortune House did. While the Fortune House was converted to apartments, the Ashdown House was converted to the headquarters of the Shriner's in 1956. Khartum Temple occupied the house until it moved to their new location on Wilke's Avenue in 2000. A meeting room addition was made to the house on the east side but the remainder of the house was unchanged aside from a parking lot built in the front yard.

There was a debate about what would happen to the house and eventually a restaurateur stepped up and the house has operated as 529 Wellington Steakhouse for the last several years.

Every other house fell to the wreckers aside from those two. The Isaac Pitblado and The William Mulock homes on either side of the Ashdown house were demolished.

Two houses adjacent to Ashdown house fell to the wreckers for the construction of Shaarey Zedek Synagogue in 1949. The house closest to Academy Road originally belonged to David Dyson whose family owned Dyson and Gibson Spice Mills. The company made Seven-Day Pickles. The other home was owned by John Gage, president of Consolidated Elevator which later became Federal Grain.

(to be continued)



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