One Million is a nice round number. It is the unofficial population benchmark of a Big City. It is also the number of trees that Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman once pledged to plant. But between destructive bugs, an underfunded tree program and infill development, it may take a million years to get there. How do…
There is an impression, often a correct one, that governments and consumers don’t mix. Let government set the rules and the taxes and allow the private sector handle retail and service delivery. I buy into that, generally. When cannabis was legalized, allowing private retailers to distribute it was undoubtedly the right approach. I have to…
I don’t know how or why the idea of a solstice day outdoor adventure came to me, but it did several years ago and it stewed in my brain until I finally made it happen 3 years ago and again this year. Here’s how it works: you go camping by yourself somewhere in the wilderness…
The large makeshift rink in Baker Park is bustling with kids and parents having fun on a pleasant Saturday afternoon. There are multiple, informal hockey games going on at the same time on the two halves of the rink. It’s an idyllic Canadian scene, and a reminder that Cranbrook B.C. is a hockey town. For 20…
Way back in 1913, a rapidly expanding Winnipeg pushed the Winnipeg Canoe Club golf course out of its previous home into the middle of a planned residential development just across the Red River. Here it stayed, providing generations of golfers with a space to socialize and knock some balls around. You can still sense the…
I sometimes feel bad for the Manitoba NDP party. After 16 years in power they have mangled almost every portfolio so badly that they have very little to brag about. They want to be the party of health care, but after dumping hundreds of millions into the health system, wait times are the worst in…
Are you stressed and panicked because you’re running out of time to find a Christmas gift for somebody? Are you exhausted from walking through crowded malls and stores, aimlessly looking for some ideal gift that doesn’t seem to exist? Well, here’s an idea that might save the day: Art classes. Seriously. It’s unique and easy…
Although traffic was sparse, I crept along the avenue at 15 mph, my eyes darting from the road to the sidewalk and back again. One has to be careful driving around here. They’re everywhere — the stoners — stumbling around, oblivious to their surroundings, often strolling out into the road while mindlessly drawing potato chips…
Canada Day, July 1 2014, was a cold and miserable day. A terrible beach day. The five park employees playing cards on the deck of the life guard cabin outnumbered the three 20-somethings drinking beer in a tent-like shelter at the far end of the lake. I was there cooling down after a jog around…
Around This Town 