Winnipeg

17-19 June 2008 WINNIPEG, Manitoba

This is an account of our time in Winnipeg.

My friend Iris and her husband Brian very generously had us to stay with them for 2 nights as we explored Winnipeg. They live in an area somewhat reminiscent of Wortley Village in London, only quite a bit bigger, and with easy access to downtown either by busses or on foot. On our first evening Brian took us on a walk pointing out landmarks, such as the legislative building, and giving us a sense of our whereabouts. The next morning we went with Brian by bus to the Red River College where he teaches. The campus, in the so-called exchange district, incorporates the heritage street facades of 6 buildings and has kept many reminders of the early days of Winnipeg in its reconstruction. For example, there is now an enclosed atrium which was once a former lane with a spur rail line.

From there Eric and I went and joined a walking tour of the east side of the exchange district, which lasted about an hour. Winnipeg boasts the largest area (20 blocks) of over one hundred turn of the 20th century buildings in North America. These were the days when Winnipeg was the “economic gateway” to Western Canada and had a booming shipping industry. The exchange district was home to many dry goods wholesale businesses and warehouses. It also included theatres and cabarets drawing people such as Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin. We heard stories such as that of the 1919 General Strike and Black Saturday (June 21) when a protest turned violent and a group of about 200 workers fled into Hell’s Alley and were attacked from both ends by the law keepers of the day. This marked the beginning of the labour movement.

Later we walked down to The Forks of the Red and Asiniboine Rivers, which had originally been where1st nation peoples spent their winters protected by the thick vegetation. There is a memorial there now designating The Forks as a meeting place where people gathered as a community to support one another. I was struck by the contrast of this and the many other monuments one sees, that commemorate war. In the centre of an amphitheatre there were a couple of people tending a fire that was going to burn continuously for 4 days till Saturday 21st June (a day to celebrate 1st nations people). On Saturday there would be activities and festivities. 50% of Winnipeg’s population is 1st nation people.

The next day Iris joined us and we went out of the city about 40 mins. North to the Oak Hammock Marsh. Here there is a great visitor centre that looks out over an extensive marsh area. We took a walk outside along paths and boardwalks and saw a variety of birds, eg redwing and yellow headed blackbirds, plovers and marsh wrens; blowing prairie grasses and lots and lots of scampering, tail-wagging prairie dogs. A beautiful place that I hope we’ll come back on our way back as we didn’t have a lot of time to spend there.
From there we had lunch at Captain Kennedy’s Tea House, an historic stone “fur trade era mansion” overlooking the Red, a “Canadian Heritage River”.

What an interesting time we had in Winnipeg. Thanks so much to dear Iris and Brian.