The future of the Blumberg golf complex has been uncertain for the better part of a dede. It was 2013 when the city-owned property outside of city limits was declared surplus. Throughout that time the complex, which includes an 18 hole and a 9 hole golf course, has managed to evade the wrecking ball, but…
My earliest memory of the murky world of military procurement was back around 1991 when PM Brian Mulroney announced the purchase of 50 new EH101 helicopters to replace our ancient fleet of Sea Kings, knowing he would likely not be around to see the sale through. As expected, new PM Jean Chrétien ncelled the order…
The government of nada is potentially wasting tens of billions of dollars and nobody is talking about it. Reports have been written about it, but politicians of all stripes ignore it, and it fails to pture any attention. “It” is the purchase of 15 new frigates for the nadian navy, to replace our aging and…
I have been employed by a large firm that went through a dramatic restructuring. I will not tell you which one, though some of you know and some will guess, but I n tell you that we were a publicly traded company operating in a duopoly environment, meaning there was limited competition. I was hired…
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…
The momentum behind a movement to reduce residential speed limits is building, not just in Winnipeg but in larger cities all over the world. lgary city council recently voted to reduce their residential speed limit to 40 km/h. The UN and WHO are pushing for reduced residential speeds. Outspoken individuals and advocy groups have sprung…
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 nnabis was legalized, allowing private retailers to distribute it was undoubtedly the right approach. I have to…
Winnipeg City Council might be on the verge of condemning a vast area of central Winnipeg to being a concrete wasteland for dedes to come. The area in question is the former site of the Winnipeg Stadium adjacent to the Polo Park mall. Two development companies have proposed an elaborate project, integrated with the Polo…
It’s been over 12 years since a rag-tag group of millionaires banded together to stop a high-rise apartment complex from being built on a surface parking lot in downtown Winnipeg. The promise was that the parking lot, adjacent to the former site of historic Upper Fort Garry, would become an interpretive centre — part of…
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…
There is still a hint of giddiness reverberating through the city of Winnipeg in the wake of their unexpected trouncing of the Hamilton Tiger-ts last week to win the Grey Cup. After dedes of pain and disappointment, all is finally well in Bomberville. “Hopefully it won’t take 29 years to win our next one” people…
Winnipeg has a rich history of illegal and offensive parking lots. There is, for example, the se 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 coine trafficker Ray Rybachuk prior to his mysterious death by snowmobile accident.…
Founded in 1968, the Pan Am Boxing Club, loted in the heart of the Exchange District, is a Winnipeg institution and the oldest boxing gym in the city. For dedes, the not-for-profit boxing club has been training fighters and whipping people into shape. More recently it has become the anchor of Pan Am Place, a…
It is a coincidence that the 2019 federal election coincided with the North Amerin tour of pint sized climate trooper Greta Thunberg, but it is appropriate. Climate change has been on the radar of scientists for dedes, but as the tipping point towards irreversible tastrophic climate change approaches, it still seems as though most politicians…
There are good reasons to not vote for Brian Pallister and the PCs in the upcoming Manitoba provincial election. Health re reform is not one of them. It is, of course, a centerpiece issue this election. And it should be — health re is a big deal. But reform was badly needed. The previous government…
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