The renaming of Bishop Grandin
On Friday, June 21, I attended the formal unveiling of the renaming of Bishop Grandin Boulevard to Abinojii Mikanah. This is how I have been involved and some of my thoughts on the renaming process
Friends of Upper Fort Garry: Is the end in sight?
The Friends are borderline insolvent. Their board has dwindled from 14 members in 2018 to to 5 today. Past Chair and chief booster of the project Jerry Gray has apparently disowned the project. Current Secretary Penny McMillan refuses to comment, saying it’s not her job;
Safe Speeds Winnipeg
On September 24, MPI issued a warning that 2019 was trending towards a new record for pedestrian fatalities in Manitoba in a single year. For every fatality there are on average over 13 injuries, according to MPI’s data. A week ago, two more pedestrians were hit by a driver and sent to the hospital in…
Another illegal parking lot
Winnipeg has a rich history of illegal and offensive parking lots. There is, for example, the case of ‘Jelly Bean Park’ whereby a quaint little park on Portage Avenue was converted into a primitive gravel parking lot in a business deal involving convicted cocaine trafficker Ray Rybachuk prior to his mysterious death by snowmobile accident.…
The Misplaced Priorities of Mayor Bowman
The referendum on opening Portage and Main to pedestrians seemed to dominate the conversation leading up to the 2018 Winnipeg Civic election. Many people, with good reason, argued that the focus ought to be on far more pressing problems like the growing meth crisis, crime, and our struggling transit service to name a few. Any…
Last Round At The Meadows Golf Course
The morning of Sunday, Oct 21 was crisp and clear at The Meadows at East St.Paul Golf Course. Around 10 AM, shortly after the frost on the fairways melted, golfers wearing toques began teeing up for what would likely be their last round at one of Winnipeg’s best public golf courses. When the course first…
The Portage and Main Debate: The Poll
In my previous blog post (here) I did my best to explain why I thought it was important to open up Winnipeg’s “iconic” Portage and Main intersection. Portage and Main, the only square that Manitoba has ever had on the Canadian Monopoly board, is in reality a blight on downtown Winnipeg and an impediment to…
The Portage and Main Debate
Families are being torn apart, coworker is pitted against coworker, and my Twitter feed has turned into a war zone. It’s no surprise, really. If my 10 years of blogging and 5 years on Twitter have taught me anything, it’s that nothing riles up Winnipeggers like transportation issues, and opening up Portage and Main is…
The Upper Fort Garry Saga: Please make it stop
The ongoing saga of Upper Fort Garry dragged on into it’s 10th year this week as the Friends of Upper Fort Garry pushed for an extension on their use of a non-compliant parking lot. You may recall that 2 years ago The Friends received special permission to operate a gravel parking lot adjacent to the…
Is Downtown Winnipeg Safe?
It’s a question that comes up repeatedly in Winnipeg, and I suspect many other cities: Is downtown safe? If it’s NOT safe, then what can we do to make it safe? If it IS safe, then how do we change the perception that it’s not? A casual forum was organized this afternoon to discuss a…
Around This Town 