People want change. You hear this every election. Sometimes it is just wishful thinking on the part of an opposition leader, but in this case it is absolutely true. After 15 years of NDP rule, the people of Manitoba want change. Yet, a majority of Manitobans are reluctant to vote for the main opposition, the…
It wasn’t that long ago that everybody was criticizing Rana Bokhari and the Manitoba Liberal Party for a lack of substance in their platform. Rana’s performance was called “underwhelming” and specific policy ideas had been slow in coming. ‘Just wait’ Rana said to the skeptics, ‘the policies are on their way’. Well, true to her word,…
A new development at Winnipeg’s iconic Confusion Corner was announced this past week through the media. In fact, construction is already underway, with piles being driven into the ground as you read this. “We’re pleased that Osborne Place will meet and exceed the goals outlined by the City of Winnipeg’s Corydon-Osborne Area Plan” said the…
There is a move afoot to gather data about people’s experience booting it around town. The project is called Winnipeg Winter Walkway Survey. It asks 17 questions, most of them multiple choice (’cause I know how you feel about those long form written questions) and many are optional. The survey asks about the conditions that…
Cities in Europe are sometimes cited as examples for Winnipeg to model itself after by those who advocate for better cycling infrastructure. For example: Anders Swanson, the head of Winnipeg Trails, spent a couple of months in The Netherlands and has touted the miles of dedicated bike lanes and grade separated intersections with roads as…
It was a couple of days after a camping trip in the summer of 2014 when I noticed a suspicious bull’s eye shaped rash on my arm. Rashes like this are sometimes associated with Lyme disease transmitted by deer ticks, and given the lengthy list of potential complications of lyme disease ranging from hair loss…
As I was sitting in northern Italy, the domes and spires of ancient cathedrals peaking above the rooftop gardens and terracotta shingles of the buildings across the river, Canadian politics should not have been at the top of my mind. Yet I still found myself checking Canadian news on my phone from time to time…
True or false: ISIS is a threat to Canadians. ISIS is a brutal entity that has butchered a legitimate faith to justify mass murder and a violent power grab in the Middle East. My gut tells me that we should be fighting them. We have a proud military history and I would like nothing more…
If we’re doing these blog posts in order of importance, Prime Minister Harper would expect me to write about national security next. I will not. I will write about the environment next because to me it’s the next biggest issue facing this nation. I do believe that national security is important, but not necessarily for…
In an informal survey of voters sitting in my hotel room, all one of the respondents agreed that the economy was the biggest issue of the campaign. This is good news for Prime Minister Stephen Harper (to be called “Harper” henceforth, just as Justin Trudeau and Thomas Mulcair will be called by their last names).…
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