What Should Go in The Bay Spots at Polo Park and St. Vital 2025?

The word is on June 1st, 2025, the Bay as a department store will be closing their doors forever. Polo Park and St. Vital Centre will once again have large spaces to fill. It has happened frequently for Winnipeg's top two shopping malls. They have managed to survive and even thrive. It wasn't easy though and there are examples across North America where malls are decaying after losing anchors.

Polo Park has found new tenants after losing Brettons, Eaton's, Safeway, Zellers and Sears. There are still some big retailers worth looking to attract. London Drugs is moving into the second floor of Polo Park which is a big win for the mall. Likewise, St. Vital Centre has replaced old tenants such as Eaton's, Woolco and Safeway. They will now have to replace The Bay.

When Polo Park lost Sears, there were no obvious choices to fill such a large space. They turned to EQ3, the furniture store that had been in the mall parking lot, to move in The remaining space was on the first floor was taken up by popular store Zara. Even with the expanded space, the second floor was unoccupied so Intouch 24/7 call centre moved in. 

There are no obvious choices for an anchor for the Bay location. Simons, a family owned department store would be ideal but they might only be interested in one floor. They expand very slowly and they are in the middle of an Ontario expansion so might not be able to do. Their expansions have always been slow and self-financed.

Polo Park did have a grocery store for many decades it. Safeway was the last store to be located there. They surprised the landlord when they didn't renew the lease and instead located to a supersized format on Madison. While the mall adjusted and brought in other retailers, a grocery store is a very good way to bring in people seven days a week. Could it be that we see a grocer like T&T or Co-Op move into the ground floor space?

The Shopper's Drug Mart has some grocery in it as does the Dollarama. Some critics on social media have blamed the Dollarama for a spike in undesirable elements at the mall. Some have blamed the conversion of the former Clarion Hotel to a medical stay for the government of Nunavut. Attributing bad things to the Utuutaq Centre where pregnant women come for medical stays seems a bit of a reach. As for the Dollarama, there have been a few in the surrounding area for years.

In the post Covid world so much as moved online. Recent stories on the news have reported that stores are migrating to Internet-only sales. Many have said foot traffic patterns have declined. Costs to run a brick and mortar business have gone up. If commercial streets and malls have more stores migrate to online platforms, what is left? For some malls in North America it has been more entertainment options, food halls and restaurants and in recent years residential units.

Polo Park has already indicated they are looking at residential units going in on their expansive property. These will likely go up in parking areas before anything attached to the mall but that might change with the departure of The Bay. The trick is to find tenants that have customers that come in seven days a week over the course of an entire day. As mentioned, grocery stores and pharmacies meet that criteria. Fitness centers do as well in that category. Polo Park has had a 20 lane five pin bowling alley since 1959. It is things like that which have lasting power.

There has been a rumour that Cadillac Fairview was interested in bringing Cineplex Odeon's Playdium to the mall. In 2024, the company opened their first game arcade in a Toronto location. Something like that occupies about 20,000 square feet so it would not fill 200,000 feet of space of empty Bay store but it could be a start.

And what of St. Vital? There is already a gym and two grocery stores as part of the mall and on the property. It already has a movie theatre. It is possible they too could try for an arcade but it is possible they might pull in retailers such as Old Navy into the store instead of the parking lot. However, they too have a size problem in terms of filling the space. A residential option seems unlikely for St. Vital. However, a hotel option might not be out of the question.

Filling nearly 400,000 square feet of space will require some innovation and patience. It is worth noting that Canada does not have nearly as much retailing space as the United States and top malls like Polo Park and St. Vital have been surprisingly resilient. The real estate value of the malls mean that careful consideration of how space is utilized. Even parking space has become too valuable for it to be empty for large parts of the day. And while some might find comfort in a certain consistency and uniformity in malls, they will have to have something unique that you can't get from online scrolling/

Manitoba's One Federal Cabinet Minister 2025

Mark Carney's cabinet is Canada's version of trimmed down. It is 28 full ministers and 10 junior ministers plus the prime minister. The only minister from Manitoba will be Rebecca Chartrand, newly elected in Churchill - Keewatinook Aski. She will be attending her first full cabinet on Sunday.

Most previous cabinets have numbered up to 40 full ministers. The previous Carney government had Terry Duguid as Minister of Environment and Climate. He was dropped from cabinet altogether and Winnipeg has no cabinet representation at the table.  It might be the first time the city has had absolutely no cabinet spot in a government.

In fairness, Chartrand has lived in Winnipeg and will know the city well. However, her cabinet remit of Arctic and Northern Affairs. The western economic development minister is located in Alberta. It means important decisions for Manitoba that the Feds are involved with will be at the behest of a Calgary minister.

There are six elected Liberals in Manitoba. The Carney government has members of parliament in every province so this is reflected in the cabinet. Saskatchewan's solely elected Liberal MP has a junior cabinet spot as Secretary of State for rural development.  Alberta has one full minister. That is three for the entire prairie region. It means Winnipeg, Edmonton, Regina and Saskatoon will have no representation at the cabinet table. 

In a smaller cabinet, not every city, region or territory will have a seat at the inner cabinet. And if the cabinet numbers 40 people, as it has in the past, does being there give the cabinet member a budget or responsibility to do the job? One effective way to get Manitoba's message across is for the six MPs to meet regularly as a caucus to argue for important matters to Winnipeg and the province.

It is important to remember that while the Liberals MPs are there to represent their riding that they should remember to advocate for the province as a whole. Likewise, is good to work with the province and the municipalities to push through policies and projects important across the board. The competing interests in Canada among the MPs will be tough. 

The new prime minister has said that projects of national unity are critical. It will be important to identify how Manitoba can be part of those projects. It could be that the focus on Churchill and the north could be a boon for the province and Winnipeg itself. Hydro connections to Nunavut, port improvements for imports and exports. Could Churchill be and LNG port? For Winnipeg, it could be moving the CP and BNSF rail lines to Centreport as part of improvements to rail transport. It would open huge areas to housing in parts of the city.

It will be interesting to see what priorities Carney has out the gate and how our one cabinet minister will handle their portfolio. His focus on the economy is a good one as this is where most Canadians seem to worried about the most.

John Wheeler WDAZ/WDAY Retires - Winnipeg Perspective 2025

I've written how powerful WDAZ/WDAY has been in terms of being watched and recognized by people in Winnipeg. The NBC/ABC affiliate has been seen north of the border since 1967 although in my house we didn't get cable until l970 and colour TV till 1971. WDAZ was the Grand Forks satellite of the larger WDAY of Fargo. The local newscast of WDAZ was seen in Winnipeg and for travellers from Manitoba who went to Grand Forks. 

We became familiar with Terry Dullum as anchor from 1975 and Pat Sweeney at sports from 1983. We also got to see weather personality Dewey Bergquist who gave the weather from Fargo but also the Grand Forks broadcast. Some people who travelled to the States were familiar with Bergquist because they heard or saw him in Fargo doing weather as early as the 1950s.

I remember when Bergquist retired in 1985, there were a few of those old timers who were sad on both sides of the border. Even for myself, he was the face of weather south of us for 15 years of my life. He was replaced in 1985 by the first full time meteorologist in the state John Wheeler. He was based at the WDAY location in Fargo but did the Grand Forks WDAZ broadcast as well.

It would be some time before Winnipeg would get a local meteorologist with John Sauder first with CKY/CTV and CBC Winnipeg. We have had to receive broadcasts from weather specialists most of the broadcast history on Manitoba. Even now, we have do with broadcast meteorologists outside Manitoba. 

Our regional relationship with different areas is fading with digital and satellite radio, cord cutting from cable and the like. Some young people only get information from smart phones so are not exposed to television in the same way. There were just fewer listening and viewing options. This meant many people were exposed to the same entertainment and news. 

For Winnipeg, the 1970s and the 1980s saw most in the city having cable television. There were three Canadian networks and four U.S. networks (including PBS). A weather channel, a French channel and public access pretty much rounded out the dial. While many programs were simulcast, often weather updates broke into the North Dakota signals. It is at those times a meteorologist like John Wheeler would appear with a bad weather report.

In the 1970s, I began to watch U.S. national news. My favourite network was ABC which was on KTHI from Fargo. I was aware of local news from that station but my interest was more in the national ABC World News Tonight broadcast. Still, I knew that the weather guy at least in the early 1980s at KTHI was Rob Thorson. The KTHI station had the tallest tower in the world. It was needed because reception was a problem for all the American station. During bad weather it was possible to lose signal for any and all the stations.

WDAZ was the closest North Dakota cable station to Winnipeg (along with Prairie Public Television and PBS). KCND Pembina, North Dakota was closed and moved to Winnipeg to become CKND in 1974. The WDAZ station was affiliated with NBC which in the 1970s was third place in the ratings in the U.S. whereas KTHI in Fargo carried ABC and that network had moved into number one in ratings.

NBC programming had a few bright spots in 1970s such as Saturday Night Live but had programming that older Americans liked such as Marcus Welby, Ironside, Columbo, McLeod and McMillan and Wife. Other programming later in the decade such as Little House on the Prairie, Diff'rent Strokes and Facts of Life appealed to families and younger kids but network struggled. Regardless, in North Dakota, WDAZ/WDAY had high ratings which may have had to do with local news which they did very well. And once someone tuned into a network, they were likely to stick with it. No remore controls back then.

In 1983, everything changed in August when ABC went to WDAY/WDAZ and asked them to change affiliations to their number one network. For ABC, it was an attempt to lock in Fargo and Grand Forks but also Bismarck which even in the 1980s did not have much in network affiliates. KTHI was completely taken by surprise with many staff only learning about it after the deal was done. It caught people in Manitoba by surprise too although we had no say in what U.S networks did.

Suddenly, WDAZ with ABC affiliation had the number one station. KTHI with NBC now had the third rated network. The good news for KTHI was that ratings steadily climbed as they focused on comedies and acclaimed dramas and reclaimed the long lost position at the top. It was in 1985 when John Wheeler came aboard the WDAZ broadcast as meteorologist.

While Grand Forks was smaller than Fargo, they offered a very good news broadcast than won awards for their coverage of the 1997 flood. Wheeler became a recognizable face for his cut-ins during bad weather south of the border. By 1986, the only two North Dakota stations left on cable were WDAZ and Prairie Public when KTHI and KXJB were dropped because of signal quality. This meant that John Wheeler was the only weather guy we saw from North Dakota in our homes in Winnipeg.

In the years following we received our NBC, CBC and later Fox signals from Detroit, Toldeo, Rochester, New York and lastly Minneapolis. Or connection to WDAZ remained strong even as the Grand Forks station closed their news department in 2018. Winnipeg still got their signal from Grand Forks but the news came from WDAY in Fargo. All through this John Wheeler was the meteorologist. That is, until this week when he retired. 

His weather department grew to six people. It is an example of what local news can be. WDAY has a large weather, sports and news department and lots of local broadcasting. It is worth comparing to our own local news which is pathetically tiny when covering local sports or have meteorologists employed. John Wheeler's retirement is the end of another era of broadcasters and he'll be missed even from those in Canada.

All over, there have been retirements. In the last two years, we have seen Janet Stewart and John Sauder leave local TV broadcasts. Some have been let go in cost cutting. Given how local TV has seen audiences drift away to so many other platforms, perhaps we never get to know someone as well as a John Wheeler. The audience has grown so fragmented. Here's to John Wheeler in retirement!

The Future of Canada

No matter who wins the upcoming federal election, there are things that should be considered to help us navigate the future of the country. Safe to say, we have hitched our wagon to the U.S. and it has made us very vulnerable. Trump has been very chaotic and the new prime minister will have to deal with that. The closest option for Canada was the easy one and our trade and tourism has been focused so much on the U.S. that we haven't even completed twinning highway projects to connect easy and west routes in Canada.

To be fair, twinning of Trans-Canada to Ontario is going through the planning stages now and we'll need those east-west corridors even more. However, it shows what our priorities have been. It has been those north/south road, rail routes, pipelines and airport connections all focused on the States. There have been a few projects to enhance other economic routes such as Trans-Mountain Pipeline, the railway to Churchill, Trans-Canada Highway improvements and LNG projects. 

Alberta has been focused on pipeline projects headed south but that always results in discounted oil prices. Neither Trump or Biden got pipeline projects approved. Harper didn't either. Trudeau actually got an expensive one built but probably got no benefit from it in Alberta. For that province though, it is the best paying oil pipeline the industry has. Funny, how that goes. The Trans-Mountain Pipeline has been selling higher priced oil than anything shipped through southern pipelines. Given the costs of the line, even if western pipelines were approved, it is possible companies would be hesitant due to the enormous costs. Most are shying away even though most think tanks keep saying give the private companies the freedom. Most won't commit even if all restrictions are gone. The costs of infrastructure, labour and supplies are high.

Manitoba has decided not to re-new a hydro energy deal with U.S. company Northern States Power. Part of this is to ensure the province has capacity but also for exports to western provinces and the north. With federal help, hydro can be extended all the way to Nunavut. To that end, the premiers of Manitoba and Nunavut have signed an agreement to get this work done. This is a project of national importance and sovereignty. It is a $1.6 billion project to connect five communities in the north to Manitoba Hydro. Some infrastructure would be built in Manitoba and quite a lot in Nunavut. It is no doubt one of the biggest nation building projects west of Ontario.

Most oil industry people now believe pipelines going east are now too costly. This is why the premier of Manitoba Wab Kinew has proposed a second port on the Hudson Bay to the European delegation at Port Nelson. A second port site runs more along solid ground than Churchill does and avoid beluga areas. There is more silt to dredge than at the deepwater port at Churchill. This isn't as out of the question as it sounds. Dredging is regularly done at ports around the world such as San Francisco Bay.

Alberta has demanded energy corridors across the country. In some private think tank reports they have said they believe parts of Saskatchewan and Manitoba all the way to Hudson Bay should be carved out and given to Alberta. Hard to find those reports as they were deemed so hardcore at the time and invited mockery. The premier of Alberta Danielle Smith has threatened separation if Alberta doesn't get unfettered access to build pipelines and remove oil tanker restrictions and any control over carbon. Separation movements in Alberta threaten the Smith government itself. Even when Conservatives are elected, some elements of the province want even more that can make the province seem completely unbalanced.

Alberta and Saskatchewan with so much at stake with resources have kept pretty quiet about tariffs. Alberta has worked nearly counter to every other province. Perhaps if tariffs hit their energy and other areas as hard as Ontario has been hit? A unified Canada can be strong if provinces support one another. Much of the rest of the country seems more willing now to help Alberta with their energy economy. However, the fear of oil spills, derelict infrastructure and environmental damage can't be brushed aside. Even Albertans are not likely to support a deteriorating climate of bad air, water and abandoned rigs. Losing a few communities to wild fire also hurts.

Most of the premiers, in light of what is happening in the U.S., have talked about removing restrictions on labour movement and trade within Canada. This is a discussion that has been going for decades. Ultimately, it always seems easier to keep the sausage from Saskatchewan from entering Alberta. By the way, that's a real case presently. However, if we want the guy to be the sausage king of Canada, restrictions should be lifted across the country. Realistically, if the sausage is good enough for Saskatchewan, why not Alberta. Or Manitoba?

The first ministers need to be pushed on this all the time. Most analysis on this suggests growth that might well compensate for what is being lost on U.S. trade. Ontario deserves credit for putting legislation through on this. And Nova Scotia and New Brunswick deserve credit for signing on to free trade with Ontario. The only reason Manitoba wasn't there was because it was signing the hydro deal with Nunavut.

In terms of Liquid Natural Gas, two LNG plants are about to open in B.C. This is a cleaner burning fuel and many say it is a bridge fuel to renewables. Two more plants are coming in B.C. The U.S. has none on the west coast so far. Concerns are still being raised over flaring and methane releases but reduced coal use has been the primary goal of this building. Moreover, if the money earned from this goes to renewables, it can further mitigate warming.

I think NDP, Bloc and Green party climate policies are not able to go forward without making Canada dependent on the U.S. or world for energy supply. The Bloc was remarkably assured that Trump would not cut off oil to Quebec via pipelines in the States. He kept saying he wouldn't do it which seem tonally deaf. Trump has already done huge damage to the economy of the entire world. It isn't the Bloc who would decide such a thing in Quebec but premier of Quebec. A deal could be made if environmental protections come with it. The Bloc seems intent to obstruct anything in regard to Canada.

Culturally, we have made huge strides in books, music, TV and film. In the election the various parties have some policies in this area. The arts employs a lot of people but historically, it has required support. The Sistine Chapel didn't get the ceiling painted without support. There are debates over labour tax credits but they are tied to employment rather than just cash payments that some other jurisdictions have. Those are probably most effective but the Canadian dollar value has been the biggest factor over the decades.

Arts and media groups are afraid that the Conservatives will slash and burn all arts, newspapers, networks and music. Both provincial and federal government have given financial assistance to the arts, local news and media. The loss of local news, radio, arts groups is definitely felt. It doesn't matter what someone's political background is when a community sees their radio station close or their local theatre. Perhaps there are those that don't care and pick up a weather reports from somewhere else or they get their news from Tik Tok but then it hits with something like no hockey game. And why? Because there is no radio or TV station to broadcast it. No high speed Internet to stream it. No newspaper to report on it. And eventually no hockey team because there is no ads supporting it.

It seems likely that CBC will continue for the time being. The election results don't appear to favour a majority Conservative government who have stated that English CBC would end. The Liberal promise has been to add $150 million a year. The plan for CBC Television even before the increase has been to add reporters outside the major cities. Given the loss of so many reporters from local news, this could bring some value to programming. CBC Radio remains popular across Canada for how it is different from commercial radio and for no commercials.

The drop in flights to the U.S. particularly 

In terms of agriculture, new markets and products are always important. China remains a big purchaser of Canadian goods but we are often the receiving end of tariffs. Those often come after it becomes obvious that China is dumping steel and manufacturing products to kill off Canadian industry. Playing one industry off of the other is miserable. Selling more within Canada itself is the easiest and yet it is hard for a sausage maker to sell from one province to the other. This has to change.

Innovation in agriculture in of terms environment, new products, transportation and equipment is the future of the industry. Canola and ice wine are only some of the well known innovations but all sorts of farm equipment was invented and built in Canada. Another big thing for ag in Canada could be more processing taking place, especially if U.S. goods are tariffed. 

As far as the environment, while consumer carbon pricing is gone, the need to invest in carbon capture and energy efficiencies. The talk about reducing energy cost isn't something that Canada can do for the core price. The world market sets that. However, the government can assist in making residential and businesses less exposed to how much they consume but making sure buildings are better insulated from the elements and possibly have more solar panels. Ask any RV owner how they feel about solar. They love them.

There is a demand for alternative energy. Canada is way behind on geo-thermal although it may be best way to heat homes in the far north. The country doesn't generate any electricity from it either even though other industrialized nations are doing so. In fairness Canada has a lot of hydro electric power from the various dams across the country. Still, many provinces have reached the upper limits of how much power they can generate. Even Manitoba, which four years ago said they didn't need anymore, has revised the need based on not being able to supply new industries and growing population. The need is so great that Manitoba under and NDP government will construct a fuel burning plant for energy needs.

A programs such as the 2 billion trees planted by 2030 ish is not spending its full budget nor planting enough trees. It is always a mystery why such projects take so long to get going. It has been said that if Canada really wants to do carbon capture they need to get more trees in the ground. Even conservatives cannot be comfortable with large areas of Canada burning to the ground. Still, some oil industry people seem to be asking for all environmental controls dropped.

At the moment, the new prime minister is very close to a majority and has popular support. They key for him will be get capacity in the system to help with housing affordability and to be a federal partner on infrastructure. It won't be easy as the U.S. will be unstable for the foreseeable future. And world-wide political tensions rise and fall as do military interactions. Canada will have a difficult time trying to stay peaceful and prosperous throughout this period. 

3081 Portage Avenue Platinum Auto Closes

One moment it was there and then the next it was empty. Platinum Auto Sales, an independent car dealer has moved to Transport Road, an industrial area across town. So far I have heard nothing on what will go on the land but it being commercial property on Portage, you figure it would be big. Given the apartments nearby, perhaps that is what will be built. I hadn't noticed any zoning signs up so it is unclear if the property was sold and re-zoned.

Right up till late 1970s large areas of St. James were still undeveloped. Portage Avenue all way out to Unicity was low density and just behind the street itself was literally open fields. The site where Platinum Auto Sales had been once had the Amazon Motel situated on it. It was pretty common for motels to be on streets such Portage and Pembina Highway. Most were family owned.

For many decades though after its motel days it was been an auto dealer site . Many will remember it as the Holiday Chevrolet Oldsmobile location, a family owned dealer. It had been part of the Haddad family holdings till at least 1983. he used to market himself as the Mad Arab. He co-founded Birchwood Auto with Robert Chipman. He was well know for charitable work in Winnipeg.

As was common for much of Winnipeg's history, there were dealerships down nearly every commercial street in the city. Now, most have moved to dealer parks so that buyers can peruse several dealers and collision centers. Portage still has a few dealers left on their southside near Unicity.

In the post Covid period, the gaps in St. James as a result of business closures is slowly filling up. In many cases, developers are building up from the low density one or two floor buildings. The spot where Platinum Auto sit would be ideal. It looks like it backs right out to Sturgeon Creek. A few auto dealers have closed recently but it is not beyond possibility that someone might looks at the space. However, given its value, it feels more likely we hear a plan for this property soon.

Winnipeg Jets Play-off Game Day Experience 2025

Kyle Connor KFC on the sign at KFC at Portage Avenue as viewed headed east to downtown.
 

Dallas Stars smash car behind Underdogs. A special treat for patrons?

Walmart Unicity Renovations 2025

I have pointed out that the Walmart at Unicity is one of the smallest and until 2025 the one most in need of renovations. It is obvious Canadian execs realized that this year they had to get things with Costco opening up down the street in months. Since the company seems unable to expand the footprint of their store, they had to reorganize it since it the narrowest of aisles and the poorest laid out of all the stores in Winnipeg.

The renovations have been agonizing for residents of Charleswood/St. James and Headingly. The store is hard to navigate already so the moving of the pharmacy, floor improvements has led to wide confusion. Where the pharmacy has gone is a huge upgrade. The old location was poorly thought out.

Unicity Walmart still lacks in the deli section that the Taylor and Kenaston locations have. I can't have been to the Polo Park location recently. It is, by far, the most aggressive a Walmart in the city. From the parking lot to the grocery aisle, you are likely to be bowled over by some sharp elbowed person. Unicity has more polite crowds although the narrow aisles are there to create maximum delays and requires the patience of a saint.

The grocery aisles being constructed on the west side of the store are very long. I'm not sure if this is the final configuration so I won't pass final judgement on the store at this time.  I have complained about how Unicity Smart Complex and Walmart have shown their age over the past few years. A few stores have closed and a few opened that are probably better attracting people seven days a week. 

The the coming Costco has a lot of businesses spooked along Portage Avenue. And they should be. Gas stations in St. James have higher prices than most places in the city. Costco will make them take notice. The same applies for car dealers, tire/repair shops and automotive parts people who will have no choice but to compare prices to the big retailer. Walmart was badly in need of an upgrade lest they lose their grocery and pharmacy business to Costco.

Safeway and Sobeys have also had upgrades but I suspect they might have to do more. Post Covid, Portage still has gaps but there are apartments and some other buildings slowly starting to spring up. The former Perkins/RnR restaurant will be turned into apartments shortly. Platinum Auto (formerly Holiday Chev Olds) closed and relocated across town. It is a large site so expect to hear something soon.

There is a lot of building around Costco itself which could affect restaurants along Portage. Walmart could not let an upgrade wait any longer so they have poured hundreds of thousands into the work. This might be a stopgap. I say this because Kenaston Walmart had to upgrade several times in competition with the Costco there. The big problem is that Unicity site is just not large enough for more. Until then, we will have to be happy with an upgraded store for Walmart in Unicity.

Noble House on Amazon Prime

I had seen some of Clavell's work before I ever read any of his books. In Winnipeg or possibly on vacation trips to North Dakota, I had seen The Fly and eventually King Rat on late night TV in the 1970s. I think I saw Watusi on late night TV in the 1980s. And of course, many people got to see Clavell's work in the Great Escape. The WWII movie was exciting in a way that King Rat wasn't even though it too was a prisoner of movie as well. The latter movie was a character story and a grim one at that. Both showed a side of the war though that showed Clavells's storytelling ability.

It was his book Shogun that starred Richard Chamberlain in 1980 on NBC where everything took off. Or to be fair, the book Shogun, released in 1975, became a bestseller just as Tai-Pan had  in 1966. It often took Clavell years of research to write his Asian series of books. Noble House came out in 1981. It was shortly after Shogun came out in 1980 as a huge mini-series that the Clavell books popped up everywhere in paperback. And so I began my reading of the doorstop thick books of Clavell.

The Chamberlain Shogun series was a monster hit in North America (a total failure in Japan). While there had always been fascination with Japan especially after WWII, this introduced an interest in the early origins of contact between west and east. A theatrical version of an earlier Clavell novel was made in 1986 in China and was box office failure. It focused on the origin of Hong Kong but tried to cram too much into a movie format.

Noble House, written in 1981, raced up the bestseller list in the year after Shogun was aired. Not surprisingly, U.S. networks raced to acquire it for mini-series broadcast. The subjects for mini-series such as Roots and Shogun focused on large casts and more detailed stories than one hour police or hospital procedurals and the like.

The casting for Noble House suggests that some of TV and film's leading men were considered and either rejected the role or weren't able to do it. Timing is everything and for 1988, Pierce Brosnan became available when his series Remington Steele ended but his chance to play James Bond passes when Timothy Dalton was cast instead.

The series Remington Steele was one of the most popular and influential show in the 1980s. Airing on NBC, it starred Stephanie Zimbalist as Laura Holt, a woman who runs a private investigation service but creates a fictional male owner to overcome doubts about a woman-led company.  Pierce Brosnan, played a con-man who took on the persona of Remington Steele and the two formed a partnership. While he lacked her skill as a investigator, he quickly learned.

The show innovated the "will they or won't they" romantic sub-plot used used often now. With no Remington Steele, it is unlikely there would have been no Moonlighting. The show had legions of fans who loved Zimbalist as a relatable character who got things done but usually did so with some guy who got credit, in this case a fictional person who eventually became real.

Pierce Brosnan was an incredible actor to have available for Noble House. Deborah Raffin was cast in the female lead. Surprisingly, one of Raffin's films in the U.S. has become popular in China and she was one of the most famous of Hollywood leading ladies in that country. Filming took place in Hong Kong while still under British rule. Instead of the 1960s storyline of the books, the TV series bumped the time to 1980s Hong Kong.

The series had a mix of exotic and western at the same time and Pierce Brosnan as Ian Dunross was dashing and debonair for the whole four episodes. John Rhys-Davies made just as suave villain as Quillan Gort. The Clavell plot was slimmed down but still retained a bit of romance, espionage, action and thriller all at once. And the Noble House headquarters building using the the Jardine Matheson building was breathtaking.

Noble House has appeared on Prime before but it is never there for long and sometimes it seems like 10/15 years before it reappears but this is a great movie if someone has seen the old Shogun and new Shogun and loved Clavell's books. The original series was up against Winter Olympics programming and didn't fare as well as Shogun But make no mistake, Noble House is worth binging now.

Election Aftermath

Three months ago the result would have been very different. It is likely the Conservatives would have won a supermajority. Now, the Liberals under Carney has come up 24% in the polls and are just shy of a majority. The resignation of Trudeau, the election of Carney as leader of the Liberals, the tariffs of Trump and the 51st state talk and the collapse of the NDP all contributed to this win.

The post election speeches were telling. Poilievre congratulated the new leader and didn't dispute the result despite losing his own seat. Singh, losing his seat as well and party status, announced he would be stepping down. Blanchet lost a third of Bloc seats. He has only had to face criticism from the Quebec government for a poor campaign. Very quickly after the election, Blanchet indicated he won't be bringing the government down any time soon.

As far as Poilievre goes, he has to face his caucus to see if he can retain their support going forward. Since he lost his seat, Parliamentary rules clearly state the Opposition has to pick a leader in the House. This can be an interim leader but it has to be someone who is a MP. It appears Poilievre has called everyone to solidify his support. But his loss means he is out of the Commons for at least a few months and out of the official residence at Stornoway which is only for elected officials.

One thing is clear is that Poilievre won't be in the Commons until the fall unless Parliament has a summer sitting. And they might if Conservatives make a big deal about it. The G7 meeting is in Alberta in July and it is expected that there will several trade missions around the world. July 1 is the self-imposed deadline for a provincial free trade agreement and it looks like the country made finally get one.

The Trump Effect is not just limited to Canada. Australia just elected a a majority Labor government and the opposition Liberal (conservative) party lost, including the leader's seat. Similarly, the opposition leader in Australia had held the seat for 20 years just like Poilievre. This reversal of conservative wins worldwide will be monitored by many.

In Carney's press conference, the need for speed was emphasized. The Trump tariffs are hurting Canada and they are hurting the U.S. as well. Carney will be looking to get tariffs off of Canada in some sort of agreement. Nevertheless, the U.S. could still have a hard economy due to trade pressures around the world. This affects Canada too.

In Trump's first term, Canada tried to stay below the radar and got a trade deal. However, any hope of getting a pipeline through even under Trump's administration has proven to be fruitless. However, there are LNG projects that will come on stream in B.C. that will benefit all of Canada in terms of economic gains. On Friday, Carney met Premier Danielle Smith and she was reasonably satisfied that the discussion was productive.

An Alberta tradition is to bash Ottawa. However, I think she is aware that if she takes it too far, it may involve violence towards the federal government. There is no control if it devolves to that. As in the time of Covid where some Albertans gathered arms and planned an event at the border, the fear is that there will be a move from politics to terrorism. It seems very unlikely Alberta wants to see what happens to districts that vote on separation. It hurt Quebec badly and still places them in jeopardy.

Carney will have a difficult time to navigate the path on the U.S. but the key will be to agree to negotiations. Any growth plan he has for Canada will have to be get free trade in the country moving. Infrastructure will be key. And looking for trade relationships outside of the U.S. As for the rest, I expect Carney will be looking to keep free speech and democracy strong. He is likely to show tolerance but not be the lightning rod that Trudeau was.

In the end, being an adult, focusing on the economy might be enough to forestall and election for a year or more. Trudeau managed to keep his government going till the edge of the cliff. The trick will be to avoid senseless provocative stances and continue to focus on economy. Even environmental work needs to focus on affordability and sensible and measurable improvements in people lives. A national energy grid comes to mind. Electricity, natural gas and the like but also a real push for supports for new windows, doors, insulation and new technologies. And most importantly, housing. This is what hits many people the hardest. Improve on that and some of the other things will feel less terrible.

The Healing Election Speech for Canada

The speech that should be given on election night to bring the country together after the vote is in and the results announced:

What a night. It is with great humility that I take on the task of this great enterprise we can call Canada. I couldn't have done this alone and I thank my family and my party that helped and guided me from coast to coast to coast. We have elected MPs in every part of the country, my friends, in places where we haven't had representatives in some time. It is a huge honour and a responsibility we take seriously. And we will not let the Canadian people down!

To all the candidates from all the parties, I thank you for committing to the great democratic process of Canada. I have spoken to my opponent in the election and wish him and his family well. His public service over the years deserves recognition and while we disagreed over policy, I wish him the best. Likewise, I extend my gratitude to the other opposition leaders tonight for their service.

(repeated in French)

The mandate we have received this evening from Canadians is a strong one. It is an expression of national unity that comes along at certain times in our history and it is one that Canadians have consistently answered. It is fair to say that external factors made us take a hard look at ourselves and we have risen to the occasion. Tonight's election results are proof of that!

The strong and cross country mandate means we go back to our nation's capital with both determination borne of national unity. We are not an artificial country as described by one individual. We are not a 51st state as said by another individual. We are a country bounded together by language, culture, business and 13 provinces and territories with common cause. One country, united and strong!

(repeated in French)

I know that when we return to Ottawa, we will have the support needed to respond to the challenges to our sovereignty. Our goals remain the same as what we campaigned on. We wish to unite the people and to thwart those that would try to annex us or break us a part in separation. To that end, I say to those that didn't vote for us: We have heard you and we won't let you down.

In the past, it was too easy for us to think we could tie ourselves to peace, security and prosperity with our southern partner. At home we have faced extraordinary challenges and continue to navigate through them. This has resulted in inflation, supply chain issues, tariffs and employment instability. What has been unexpected has been that our longtime friend and ally has targeted Canada in ways that they have not even done to long time rivals! We have defended ourselves in the past and we will do so in the present and in the future!

(repeated in French)

Canada's energy needs at home and exports abroad need to move through Canada. Eastern Canada relies on pipelines that go through the U.S. which makes the country vulnerable. Future pipelines south have not had much success through three administrations. The TMX pipeline built by the Liberal government has been the one that has helped the west along with the approved LNG plants on the coast. Oil will continue to be important to Canada until we improve renewables through infrastructure and technology.

To that end, we will be supporting east-west energy grids as well as ones extending north. We will be reaching out to our provincial and indigenous partners to make Canada independent for our own needs and to whom we sell to. And we will looking to do more carbon capture, accelerating tree planting (the ultimate things to remove carbon) as well as move to cleaner renewables through investment an technology. We can not let people suffer from loss of employment, living in poverty and depravation because of moves to cleaner energy. Nor can we let communities be consumed by fire, flood and loss of life due to inaction on climate. It will require balanced and caring approach and that is what you will see from this government!

(Repeated in French)

We have heard Canadians and will make housing, healthcare and affordability priorities. We have heard our allies and will commit to defense spending as well as purchasing it more at home and using our steel and aluminum. We are committed to our indigenous communities, the north and provinces from west to east. We will fulfill our obligation for a just and peaceful society based on law and convention. People need to know they are safe to live their lives and not fear crime will rob them of their right to live without fear.

We have a renewed sense of pride and purpose in Canada and we will make this journey together. All of us. Together!

(Repeated in French)

Lastly, while talk was of elbows up in the country, we always remember when it is at the end and all is said and done, we shake hands because that is the country we live in. (In French) Canada will be united and joyful about what who we are. (In French) Thank you, merci and good night. Thank you, merci, Canada!

Crime in Manitoba

It isn't just in Winnipeg that crime has taken a new turn. Armed gangs at farms have got rural folk scared. By it's very definition it is organized crime and based on the weapons they are carrying would be a threat to any who encountered them. Meanwhile in the city, murder continues to take place sometimes two times in a day. The police have been quick to make arrests in some of those which is good. The murder suspects are remanded.

Winnipeg continues to have to deal with arson. Vacant properties take too long to find new purpose and sometimes end up burned down. The wreckage takes forever to clear and then the empty lot stays that way for decades as no one wants to risk putting something up. This is what is happening to north Main where large tracts are knocked down.

A nascent national housing strategy of house building has begun. It is early stages but we have seen more houses, townhouses, duplexes and apartments go up all over. A change to student visas has seen major drops of temporary students nation-wide. The lack of housing support post secondary intuitions provided and the wide open work that was allowed for students made this inevitable. 

It is possible we may see changes to the student visa applications that put more onus on colleges providing for or arranging for housing as well as restricted work schedules for students. Some schools like University of Winnipeg have been great at building new housing. The University of Manitoba has been terrible. As it is, the shortage of affordable housing has meant more people on the street.

More than 30 years of homelessness, an increase in the potency of addictive drugs and cost of living going up has been a deadly combination. This combination of things and a whole lot more have contributed to thefts from stores not seen before, behaviour that is belligerent and sometimes violent and often with no seeming consequences. A lot of it is driven by drugs which proliferate more today than any jurisdiction seems to be able to get a handle on.

Winnipeg Police said in 2024 that they need 78 more officers. The service has asked for this while buying a new helicopter, artificial intelligence and robot dogs. The 1,300 officers generally make more than 100,000 and retirements for full pensions start shortly after 50 years old. The budget for Winnipeg Police is the largest line item with over $300 million a year in the city budget. 

Police themselves say better security comes from not just having 78 more police on the streets. It requires more social and law reform, better housing, prison changes and social assistance which hasn't changed in years. Pierre Poilievre has introduced three strikes you are out with 10 years in prison as an election policy. That is one solution. It isn't the only one. Certainly violent offenders cannot keep offending. And repeat offenders need to know their freedom is at stake for petty crime that never stops. But three strikes ended up with prisons bursting at the seams in the states and costing a lot of money.

As for rural police, the provincial NDP have assigned money for more tactical officers, more communications officers and more civilians to the the tune of millions. The PCs have called it as a distraction when the RCMP is so short of constables. It is important to remember they were short under the Stefanson government as well. This is a problem that needs fixing and it will probably take all parties working on it.

The violence happening in hospitals is unacceptable. Nurses, doctors and patients are all in far too much danger. And it isn't just the case of downtown hospitals. There is security at hospitals but clearly more needs to be done. Scanning stations, cameras, patrols and safety audits to ensure there are places that are not security issues.

If people continue to have cars and homes broken into, houses burned down, witness theft from stores every leaves parts of the city defeated and prepared to leave if no action is taken. It isn't normal carrying knives everywhere and using them all the time. Or guns. Those are choices people make. 

Addictions centers are still too few and too long to wait for. Overdoses are frequent due to the strength of the drugs and the many things that end up being mixed in there. Too many places are drug houses or drug distribution centers. Encampments crop up because the people there are sometimes too high and violent to spend night in a shelter. 

The plan to address one encampment after another is a good one if it gets people into housing, assigns a case worker to them and results if a site clean up and frequent follow-up that an encampment doesn't keep popping up. None of this works with backsliding. So much difficulty begins when there is not consistent transition work. If the goal is to reduce police involvement, it means zero tolerance for violence. 

The provincial government is looking to set up a safe injection site but it could be that those going to the site are vulnerable to violence or prone to violence. The issue of what happens to the areas where a site is set up suggests that schools, daycares should not be in proximity. Those same rules apply to cannabis and liquor stores as well. There is already a mobile unit that is in Winnipeg. One wonders if trying to place a site in a place in a city as widespread as Winnipeg is useful or safe.

There won't be one perfect approach to crime in Manitoba. Some of it will be to continue support for community services and school for young people so that they have safe places and good influences. Some of the good news is that cigarette smoking is way down, alcohol consumption down and this reflected in fewer bars as people just don't drink as much and smoking is fairly restricted in where it can be done and where product can be purchased. 

In past crime spikes, they were dealt with by identifying the most most brazen such as multiple arsons, violent offenses or repeat offenses by getting them off the streets. They were remanded and dealt with by the courts. Rehabilitation is possible but only with good supports and that means parole, probation, transition housing, drug and alcohol monitoring and job training and placement. It makes no sense to discharge someone who has no supports and is in a strange city. It is a recipe for disaster as we have seen.

And lastly, Stony Mountain is the oldest federal penitentiary in Canada and one where inmates die at all too frequent rate. It is very likely in need of replacing. Headingley Correctional is also a very old prison that has had it's share of unrest. If rehabilitation is to take place, it can't be without supports, addictions programs and not solitary confinement for days on end.

The way to beat crime is to raise the level of self sufficiency in society. In the past that was a very large middle income for the greatest amount of people. If there are extreme poverty levels, it crushes many people's commitment to the social order. No amount of police can control millions without jobs, homes and food. It is something to keep in mind on forming policy on crime. It isn't just crime. It is about well being.

 

Von Maur Department Store Now Open in Fargo

Manitobans travelling to North Dakota had to brave two lanes of traffic and no passing lanes on Highway 75 from Winnipeg to the border until twinning took place from 1985 to 1994. The U.S. in North Dakota completed twinning in 1977 from Pembina all the way to Fargo. The old border stations were easy to cross. Even in the 1970s they were tiny things. Families easily crossed with no IDs. Just a few basic questions. It was the return back to Canada and the low amount of duty free that was a concern. Only in the last decade or so has it risen to higher amounts.

Before Grand Forks and Fargo had malls built, Winnipeggers shopped in their department stores downtown. They also stayed in motels near the downtown. North Dakota was years behind Winnipeg when it came to malls. Fargo would be the first with a mall called West Acres in 1972. It would take two more years for 13th Avenue to be built in front of it. Looking west was wheat fields. Fargo itself was more than a mile a way.

While Winnipeggers continued to stay in Grand Forks and shop in the downtown there, it was not uncommon for families to make a quick day trip to West Acres once the mall was built in 1972.  The lack of hotels nearby and two years of road construction thereafter put those off who wanted to actually stay in Fargo to shop at the new mall. For our family, we stayed for years at the Townhouse in Grand Forks near the downtown because it had an indoor swimming pool. Others stayed in the Holiday Inn from the Holidome that was built in 1966. The Ramada went up in 1973 next door. The pools and event centers inside were more important to people from Winnipeg than staying in Fargo where hotels near West Acres were not popping up till at least 1974.

Although Winnipeg had malls like Polo Park and Grant Park Mall, people were still quite used to going downtown for shopping and restaurants. So shopping downtown Grand Forks was not considered unusual. Still, the construction of West Acres Mall was a gamechanger in border shopping for Canadians.

But as the above picture shows, it was in the middle on nowhere and motels took a bit longer to materialize. It was a good day trip from Grand Forks but not enough to attract those headed down for a two day weekend. And remember, the Canadian part of the journey was on a two lane highway and the Interstate was only finished off in 1977. It could be a harrowing journey with a semi trailer behind you.

The trip to West Acres though was a different experience than what Canadians had experienced in North Dakota though and many curious travellers went to shop. What they found was local Fargo department store Delendrecies, Minnesota-based retailer Dayton's and national retailer Sears. It was the smaller stores and their variety that attracted Winnipeggers as well such Hickory Farms and Musicland. By 1979, in an expansion, West Acres added J.C. Penny. 

Many changes in retail over the decades meant Delendrecies eventually becoming Herbergers in 1998. Dayton's became Marshall Fields in 2001 and Macy's in 2006. In recent years Herberger's and Sears have closed leaving malls all over the U.S. scrambling. It was only in 2000-01 that West Acres put in a food court. In one of the empty spaces left from department store closing, the mall has created The District which features restaurants inside and outside the mall. Crave, a sushi restaurant from Minnesota was the first tenant.

Best Best eventually moved into the mall in 2017 in 50,000 square feet of Sear which shuttered in 2017 after 45 years in the mall. Best Best had been next door since 1994 in a 45,000 square foot location. West Acres has shown considerable resiliency when compared to Columbia Mall in Grand Forks. However, when Herberger's closed, the question of what to do with the space was a big one. A few retailers looked at the space and nothing resulted. That is until a mid-west department store that somehow does well when national retailers are dropping.

Von Maur is a fourth generation family run department store founded in 1872 out in Davenport, Iowa. It has slowly grown to 39 stores across the U.S. The 39th store of 90,000 square feet will be in Fargo, North Dakota. It is Von Maur's first store in the state. Perhaps as a family store that doesn't have to fight takeovers of their shares, they have been able to make decisions on their business that has allowed them to survive and expand over the years. 

So what is Von Maur? It is a department store catering to upscale fashion for men and women. They carry a number of fashion lines and have not tried to do so many general merchandise things like Sears or other department stores have. In other words, they have stayed focused on what they are good at. Perhaps the one department store comparable in Canada is Simon's. That is another example of slow, steady and focused while staying privately owned.

Von Maur's also runs a newer, larger mall store group called Dry Goods USA which has over 80 stores across the U.S. including West Acres. All in all Von Maur's and West Acres are a good match. The mall owners there never gave up on finding tenants. And Von Maur has looked for placed where their unique offerings might work. Unlike Columbia Mall which is largely empty, West Acres is set to remain relevant into the future.

The only thing that might hurt the retail success of West Acres is the tariffs. If higher prices lead to a recession and prices spiking from products that have tariffs, there could be problems. How much does Von Maur have from China on the shelf? How many farmer face tariffs selling into China. As far as Canadian tourists go, the numbers are dropping each month. Fargo is no longer part of a lot of people's travel plans. Canada might be in recession already and people will pull back on spending. And no, Canada will not beg to become the 51st state nor welcome an invasion. It just means we will seek other markets until things change in the U.S.

Some businesses won't notice the drop but they will notice the price changes. The tariffs are still fresh and they will be hard to ignore. At the moment, until the pain reaches into every aspect of the economy, most people will ignore it. The question will be what will be the response?

Fargo is a fine city and West Acres a fine mall. They seem to be doing everything they can to continue prosperity and hospitality. Attracting Von Maur is an indication they are doing everything right. At some point, I hope Canadians will be able to enjoy it in the future.

Poilievre vs Carney and Threat of Western Separation

What a difference a few months and an external factor like Donald Trump can have on electoral fortunes. Pierre Poilievre seemed to be sailing into one of the most massive majorities in Canadian history for the Conservatives. Justin Trudeau was determined to go into the next election until the opposition said they were going to pull the plug at the earliest opportunity. This led to a flurry of Liberals saying they were not going to run again next election. With cabinet holes to fill, he looked to move the Finance minister Chrystia Freeland to some other position to bring in, allegedly, Mark Carney into Finance. 

Freeland's resignation was the moment that Trudeau found there was just not enough support in the caucus to carry on. And Mark Carney, who opted not to jump into a cabinet with a lameduck PM. He just had to wait till a leadership convention was called. A prorogued Parliament and a leadership convention was a re-set from how 2025 began. As interim PM till the leadership was decided, Justin Trudeau probably had the two best best months an outgoing leader could have. Carney became the PM and had streamlined cabinet sworn in. However, support for Liberals had been steadily rising every time Trump imposed or threatened tariffs. By the time Carney became PM the Liberals had pulled numbers not seen in years.

Oddly enough, even though the Conservatives said they were going to bring the government down, they haven't seemed unprepared this far. They have not been able to adjust to the constant changing campaign that Trump's proclamations bring. Carney has not been perfect thus far. Some of his MPs have gotten in trouble. Some he has removed including his own seat and some he stubbornly keeps in place. One recent MP stepped down after he defended him. It is early in campaign and not uncommon for leaders to have a few candidates who don't work out. It remains to be seen whether these incidents hurt Carney. Or Poilievre. Generally, most people don't pay attention to these incidents.

Preston Manning suggests that anything less that a Poilievre majority win is a vote for Alberta separation. This is the same type of blackmail that Quebec has used over the years. Sad that it comes from Manning who has generally been considered to be not be as extreme. It could be that speaking to the volatile male base of the party makes him presume such an outcome. The enormous gender gap in what polls are saying could make for some surprises. Some men are just not opposed to Liberals. They are angrily opposed. However, if that is the case then it can be said women are even more resolutely opposed to Conservatives. 

This is something to keep in mind when voting on separation takes place. What do women think about this? Truly. A landlocked Conservative province separating? Most polls suggest that only a small minority want a 51st state in Alberta. That same percentage is in Quebec in terms of 51st state. The most recent polling on separation from Canada in Alberta stands at about 20. Still a minority view. Manning's 

If Poilievre is having a hard time figuring an angle with Carney, it is the same problem with all the opposition leaders including Blanchet from the BQ. The more Trump fills the airwaves, the more a unity movement grows. For the moment it is in support of Carney since he is the prime minister. And as such, Carney's response generally has the backing of all the premiers. It is enviable position to be in during the election. Usually the caretaker role is less pronounced. However, it can be said that the authority to respond to an emergency overrides this. Looking like a prime minister is what many Canadians are looking for. 

The premier of Alberta flirts with separation but also calls it nonsense. She knows the polls show it to be a possible loser for her. Danielle Smith already has enough problems in the province as she breaks the crockery. And yet Poilievre does little to distance himself. The person he does need help from his Doug Ford from Ontario and yet never seems to ask. Ford has found it easier to deal with Trudeau and Carney.

At this point in the election, it is clear that neither the premier of Alberta or Poilievre are interested in talking about separation of Alberta or Quebec. Even flirting with it is likely to do harm in Ontario. And that is where he need seats. According to polls, the heavily Conservative Alberta has a loathing for any Trudeau Liberals going back 60 years. However, when they've elected two Conservative majorities, they have felt pretty miserable about that too. 

The polls could be the most off we have ever seen in Canadian history given the crowds turning up for Poilievre. However, Winnipeggers know that just because we loved and turned up in numbers for Phantom of the Paradise, it didn't mean it was a blockbuster. 

It is possible that Carney's French might hold him back or that he stumbles badly in upcoming debates but the desire for stability is something the electorate craves. Poilievre has said he will disturb that but he has said everything is broken. That message is tone deaf when the public fears the country will be carved up by external enemies. Many take a dim view that Conservatives may in fact desire that outcome. For this reason, the polls have been reflecting a new dynamic not seen in Canada ever.

Three weeks are left in the campaign and the only thing we can say is that it is volatile out there.

 

The Out of Town Visitor to Jets Fan Experience

 

Once again an influencer has come in to town to see the Winnipeg Jets and offer commentary on the city and its offerings when it comes to the fan experience. I won't post his links here but for those interested, it was in regards to the team playing Buffalo Sabres. The game was a loss and the crowd was not at their most animated. It happens. A dull, cold day and an afternoon game on a Sunday is more likely to attract young families, especially for last place Sabres.

Jets were ripe for the picking with some of the Winnipeg players on Sabres having great games. Good for those guys. As for Jets, the first place team is still pushing to stay on top and go to the playoffs all the way. It has drawn notice from hockey and sports fans all over North America. Some of them have come all the way to the city to experience the team. And in some cases rip the city for even having a team.

This is what happened with the vlogger who visited the city for three days and questions why the NHL ever gave Winnipeg a team. To put it bluntly, the Jets got a team because Atlanta Thrashers was just not able to succeed despite a small passionate fanbase. With only one playoff run, the Thrashers struggled and not even first round picks, big acquisitions and patience from the NHL was able to change that. Winnipeg got the team because they built a new arena, had an ownership group and ready to bail out the league if a franchise was about to go. 

The Thrashers team that Winnipeg got was a one line team with literally not much in draft and development. None of the coaching staff moved over. And yet overjoyed Winnipeg fans bought all the tickets and provided years of waiting lists. I think it is quite undeniable that the Jets have built one of the strongest franchises today for draft and development, coaching and player enrichment. They have frequently updated their facility and added the iceplex and have done much to improve the fan experience around the arena.

The ownership of the Winnipeg Jets is held by the Chipman and Thomson family. The Chipmans, known for the Birchwood Auto Group, and the Thomsons, known for Reuters. David Thomson is thought to be richest owner in the NHL. He came to be owner after a long business association with Winnipeg as owner of the Free Press and CKRC. He was also a long time fan of the Jets.

The Jets ownership, management and facility are not in question. Could the arena be bigger? Sure. It has been expanded as much as it can be in its present form. It has three professional teams that use it and has a full concert docket. It is a moneymaker. Jets owners have also purchased the Burton Cummings Theatre to help manage its concerts and event business. They have built real estate investments around the arena to enhance the entertainment district.

It is important to keep in mind that the Jets are just part of the overall business. The Manitoba Moose and owning the Canada Life Centre contribute to the True North bottom line. Rental of arena to the Winnipeg Sea Bears and concerts help pay for overall operations. Moreover, the Jets have bought Portage Place and the $3 million a year in that parkade money is now in True North's hands. The Hockey for All Centre iceplex in Headingley serves as the practice facility for the Jets and Moose and is the central tournament spot for amateur hockey in Manitoba.

Sales of tickets were up 12% as of January for Jets. Corporate sales have also gone up and it has been a focus for the True North Entertainment group since fall. Millions have been spent to enhance fan experience and most visitors to the arena usually remark at how engaged the fans are. For this year, it might in playoffs where it is most important for the Jets organization to not only fill the arena but the streets. The economic benefits of the playoffs are enormous and the good wills and community engagement is what the team can build on and for the city to prosper.

The Jets have acknowledged they need more corporate sales. How they do a re-set is something that will have to evolve. The are many companies in Manitoba and some will have to be won over again or for the first time. In other words, corporate sales are not just about what is good for the Jets but what is good for the companies. And to thread the needle, the team can't lose the enthusiastic crowd for corporate seats where people don't show up. They need to make going to the Jets as vital to regular season tickets holders as it is to companies.

One accusation about Leafs playoffs is that the regular season ticket holders can't afford the corporate price of their seats later on. And the people who can get those seats just don't respond like the fans who were there for 41 regular season games. Thankfully, that hasn't been what is seen in Jets games. That is sometimes the trade-off that seats are sold out but passionate fans are fewer. It isn't always the case but happens often enough to be commented on.

A few sports operations have reported that the attractiveness of box seats has lessened while corporate meeting rooms at sports facilities has increased. If this true, we might see a reduction in box seats as we presently have within the arena. Apparently, Toronto has started creating more business meeting spaces for Leafs games. I assume regular bowl seats suffice if there is a meeting room before, during and after the game.

Most out of town fans to the Jets come to Winnipeg from all over Manitoba, Northwest Ontario and sometimes Saskatchewan. The rare guests come from elsewhere in Canada or international. Those that travel to Winnipeg for a game are often coming for shopping, visiting family and going out to restaurants. At the old Winnipeg Arena, people used to stay at the Viscount Gort or the Polo Park Inn (later Canad Inns Polo Park). At the Viscount it was possible that visiting fans would run into the visiting team staying in the same hotel.

Today, it is not much different and out of town fans stay in their favourite hotels based on their shopping and entertainment needs. Some will stay where they have always stayed near Polo Park for water slides or for familiar hotels. Others have been staying at downtown hotels even if the shopping is elsewhere. In some ways, the old Polo Park location was already a hugely successful entertainment area. The 20 year old arena downtown is slowly building up to become an entertainment area.

Like most developments in Winnipeg, the entertainment district is years behind schedule. The discussion over the slow pace of Sutton Place Hotel has been made on this blog. It does appear that the speed should increase but it has been 8 years of waiting so far for the hotel and the restaurants that come with it such as Chop. In the good news category, The Keg is building a large restaurant at St. Mary and Donald, kitty corner to Cityplace and the Canada Life Centre. Once Chop goes up, there will be four steakhouses within walking distance of the arena.

A number of restaurants have opened in the Exchange and in Osborne Village which is an indication that restaurants are slowly coming back after the loss of so many over the last five years. Recovery downtown is much slower but the True North development of Portage Place and the new Pan Am Clinic will mean thousands of people in the area seven days a week. Expect some coffee shops, breakfast places and other restaurants to crop up around the area as the food court will be eliminated for the clinic.

It is expected the Portage Place and even further down the street Bay development will proceed faster than other projects. That is good because they have had several years of stalled work between the Canada Life Centre and RBC Convention Centre has been inconvenient and contributes to a sense of no life around the arena. The road is always an obstacle course and year after year of nothing. The moment it opens it will transform the area.

However, returning to the question of why Winnipeg has an NHL franchise. It has a a franchise because despite being a small market, it has a better facility than many other cities in the NHL. It has a richer and more stable ownership than most in the NHL. It has a very good management team that has been able draft and develop players which is what Atlanta was great at. It has owners trying to create a fan experience inside and outside the arena area. It has a good TV and radio broadcast team. It has good print coverage and a fair size podcasting coverage. It has a new strategy to increase corporate sales.

The Jets are number 1 in the league and some people keep thinking the team should be moved. It isn't going anywhere when the league has so many franchises that could be in need before the Jets are. Even the New Your Rangers could be moving to a new facility across the street. The Calgary Flames are in the process of building a new arena but the city of Calgary owns it. Salt Lake City has an old arena and no immediate plans to build a new one. Jets have one of the newer arenas with the only criticism that is should have 3000 more seats. I imagine the Jets have a soon to be announced plan for arena expansion or a second arena. The reason is that the city would like to have a women's pro hockey team, a women's pro basketball team and possibly, a WHL team. Can't very well do that with one arena.

So to those who wonder why Winnipeg has a franchise, it is because they are building an organization to that. And that will mean we'll see the fan experience from NHL to concerts become more important for putting fans in the seats. And for the out of towers, we have to make it is the best experience we can.

Trump Dismisses Pierre Poilievre

https://www.foxnews.com/video/6370211707112

Conservatives in Canada are probably in disbelief. Two months ago it looked as if there were going to face Justin Trudeau and go to get a supermajority of seats in Canada. The latest polls suggest the biggest defeat for the Conservatives in decades. It could be there has been a boost as a result of Trudeau's resignation and for the subsequent Liberal leadership race but the real driver of polls in Canada has been Donald Trump.

Tariffs have dominated the discussion and fear has pervaded across Canada. Trudeau in his final weeks probably showed the best leadership with the provinces that anyone had seen in three years. Every insult aimed at Canada and Trudeau saw Liberal support rise. Showing fortitude worked for Dough Ford as well who rode a wave of unity to a third term for the PCs in Ontario.

Pierre Poilievre literally had to change tact of saying everything was wrong with Canada to defending Canada against Trump. His campaign needed to change as soon as Trudeau announced he was stepping down but his party seems to think that they just have to say that the new PM Mark Carney is just like Trudeau. Clearly the polling suggests that voters don't think so.

Trump has dumped on Poilievre for not being MAGA enough just when Canadians are looking for a leader who will not just stand up for Canada. The problem is that there are a lot of Trump supporters in the Conservative party and a fair number who support being 51st state. Poilievre treads a fine line of being critical of Trump tariffs and not making his base unhappy. He wants to keep the focus on the Liberals leaders but Trump comments on Canada every day. The people of Canada have no choice but to focus on Trump because of the tariff issues ands existential threat to Canada. Pussyfooting is not going to cut it.

If Conservatives thought Trump would be the best thing in the world for them and that his success would be success for them, they can't be more shocked than they are now. Some in the media are saying that Trump saying Poilievre is no friend of Trump's is a good thing. The FOX interview with Laura Ingraham tried to steer the conversation to China multiple times but Trump wasn't having it. He full on said he doesn't support Poilievre and said he'd prefer to work with a Liberal.

Canadians are in a mood not seen since World War II. There is a nationalism and determination to face the challenge.  Shopping habits and travel changes borne of betrayal and anger are happening each day. Buying Canadian and travelling to non-U.S. destinations is producing noticeable numbers. Canadian leaders who are not standing up for the country or who sound like Trump could face resistance.

This is matter of great difficulty for Poilievre because he has pocketed phrases by the bushel from Trump and leans heavily on sloganeering. Given the polls, it might not be working. Or conversely worked so well that he had already defeated Trudeau, Singh and all the policies he has singled out over two years. 

But Poilievre can't overcome Trump himself. And as the election has started, it could be very well that he has no time to pivot. It is early on though. It may not matter if the NDP, Green and BQ support collapse and go the Liberals.

Will The Bay Close in Winnipeg and Elsewhere?

 

It is hard to believe there are only two Bay stores left in Manitoba, both in Winnipeg's largest malls St. Vital Centre and Polo Park but it is a reflection of how far department stores have sunk. This isn't just true of Canada but all around the world. There are a few strong luxury brands out there but a generalist middle income store has struggled.

The Bay has a line of credit from Cadillac Fairview, owner of Polo Park and other top malls in the country. They have not been receiving rent despite the cutbacks from the store to save money. This week BBC went into creditor protection to stop from being seized by landlords. The rumour is that 40 of 80 stores might be closed and that the licensed Sak's and Off Fifth Sak's may end up shuttered as well.

For some who have not shopped at The Bay in years, it is probably no surprise. In recent years, the Bay was trying to cater to the luxury market. Then they went for some Zellers nostalgia. Will it be enough to save HBC? We have seen store after store collapse recently. The Bay is one of the largest department stores out there still.

Some stores that have gone bankrupt and lived to see another another day with new Canadian ownership. HMV, Toys R Us, Northern Reflections and a few others are seeing new life. American ownership is not always going to be the right ownership for Canadian business now more than ever.

If the Bay ends up closing their locations at Polo Park and St. Vital Centre, expect something more dramatic as a replacement. It could be sub-divided into stores but it could also be turned into hotels, food halls and apartments. Even the big malls like Mall of America have been hurt by closures. Sears closing has left a huge hole in their mall and a long time lease has them trying to sort it all out.

Manitoba has been fortunate to turn around most malls that have had a major anchors leave have coped by filling it with other users. Some malls have converted to box stores instead. The ones that didn't like the Portage la Prairie Mall eventually lose one too many anchors and close.

As the details emerge about the precarious financial situation of the The Bay, it seems impossible that any of the company can survive. It owes $1 billion and credit protection will look to see what, if anything, can be done to emerge from that state. Anything of real value, like the real estate, has been sold off over many years.

It shouldn't be too long to see what the outcome will be. There is no doubt that if the company does come out of this, it will be much smaller. And sadly, that might mean that Winnipeg has no Bay stores.