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Winnipeg

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Template:Canadian City Winnipeg (49°53′N 97°09′W / 49.883°N 97.150°W / 49.883; -97.150, CST) is a Canadian city and the provincial capital of the province of Manitoba. Located in Western Canada, Winnipeg plays a prominent role in transportation, finance, manufacturing, agriculture and education. It is known as the Gateway to the West.

The city is located near the geographic centre of North America. It lies in a flood plain at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers and started around the point now commonly known as The Forks. It is protected from flooding by the Red River Floodway. Winnipeg is the province's largest city with a population of 619,544 people (2001 Canadian Census). The Winnipeg Metropolitan Area (which includes Winnipeg and the surrounding municipalities including Selkirk, East and West St.Paul, Headingley, Cartier, MacDonald, and Springfield) has a population of 702,400 (Statistics Canada 2004 estimate). The climate in Winnipeg is very extreme; overall, it is one of the coldest large cities in the world, with temperatures averaging below freezing from mid-November through much of March (and most nights below −18 °C (0 °F) in mid-winter), although from May to September temperatures often reach 30 °C (86 °F) and sometimes exceed 35 °C (95 °F). The city receives more precipitation in the forms of both rain and snow than other Prairie cities, but the weather is characterized year-round by an abundance of sunshine.

History

In 1738, the Sieur de la Vérendrye built the first post on the site, Fort Rouge, but it was later abandoned. Other posts were built in the Red River region, which was fiercely contested by the North West Company and the Hudson's Bay Company. Fort Gibraltar, a post of the North West Company on the site of present-day Winnipeg, was renamed Fort Garry in 1822 and became the leading post in the region. In 1835, Fort Garry was rebuilt after the devastating flood of 1826 and although it played a small role in the actual trading of furs, it housed the residence of the Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company for many years. In 1869-1870, Winnipeg was the site of the Red River Rebellion, a conflict between the local Métis people led by Louis Riel and newcomers from eastern Canada. This rebellion led directly to the entry of Manitoba into Confederation as Canada's fifth province in 1870. On November 8, 1873, Winnipeg was incorporated as a city. In 1876 the post office officially adopted the name "Winnipeg", three years after the city's incorporation.

The name Winnipeg is a transcription of the western Cree word wīnipēk (ᐑᓂᐯᐠ), meaning "muddy waters" from wīni (ᐑᓂ) - dirty, or soiled - and nipiy (ᓂᐱᐩ) - water. It is the Cree name of Lake Winnipeg, some sixty kilometres to the north (about forty miles).

Winnipeg experienced an economic boom during the 1890s through 1920s. The population rose from about 25,000 in 1891 to more than 200,000 by 1921. The Manitoba Provincial Legislature Building reflects the optimism of these boom years. Built of Tyndall Stone in 1920, it is topped by the "Golden Boy", a 5.25 metres tall (17.2 feet) from his toes to the tip of his torch, sculpture sheathed in 23.5 karat (98%) gold. The Golden Boy carries a sheaf of golden grain in his left arm, while his right hand holds high a torch. The Golden Boy's torch was illuminated in December 31, 1966, as part of Manitoba's Centennial Celebration. The lamp was removed in 2002 in the course of a refurbishment of the famous statue, when it was discovered the cable supplying power to the lamp also contributed to the erosion of its internal frame. The statue is now lit at night by floodlights.

The current city of Winnipeg was created by the Unicity Act of 1971. The municipalities of St. James-Assiniboia, St. Boniface, Transcona, St. Vital, West Kildonan, East Kildonan, Tuxedo, Old Kildonan, North Kildonan, Fort Garry, and Charleswood were amalgamated with the Old City of Winnipeg. Small portions of the city have since seceded, but the vast majority of the populated area of the city remains within one single municipality. In order to prevent urban sprawl, the city restricted development to inside an urban limit line and in most cases left several kilometres of open space between the municipal boundary and suburban developments. Surrounding municipalities have a combined population of fewer than 100,000.

Geography and Climate

Winnipeg lies at the bottom of the valley of the Red River and has an extremely flat topography. There are no substantial hills in the city or in its vicinity. Downtown Winnipeg is centred at the intersection of Portage Avenue and Main Street about one kilometre (0.6 mile) from The Forks of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers. From this intersection, known as the windiest in Canada, all roads radiate outwards. The city uses the grid system for streets although there are several different grids in place which correspond to old Red River Lots and the meandering courses of the rivers. This creates some very irregular intersections. As a result many visitors find it difficult to get around in Winnipeg. There is no absolute numbering system in place but usually street addresses become higher the farther one moves away from either river. For example west of the Red River street addresses will increase as one heads west, but east of the river they will increase as one heads east. In general avenues run east and west and streets north and south. Unlike many cities in North America, all streets are named, not numbered. Of interest, many of the main thoroughfares in Winnipeg are extremely wide due to the spring soil conditions and the historical use of the Red River Cart which created wide ruts in the (then) muddy roads. Portage Avenue has four lanes of traffic in each direction plus a central boulevard for much of its run through Winnipeg.

Downtown Winnipeg is the financial heart of the city, and covers an area of about one square mile (2.5 km²) which is quite large for a city this size. Although downtown Winnipeg once housed what was for a time one of the world's most successful department stores, the Eaton's store on Portage Avenue, it is no longer the retail or commercial centre of the city. The Eaton's store was torn down and replaced by an arena, the MTS Centre in November, 2004. Surrounding the downtown area are various residential neighbourhoods. Urban development spreads in all directions from downtown but is greatest to the south and west, and has tended to follow (and has been determined by) the course of the two major rivers. The urbanized area in Winnipeg is about 25 km (15 mi) from east to west and 20 km (12 mi) from north to south, although there is still much land available for development within the City Limits. Areas include Downtown/Exchange District, The Forks, Fort Rouge/Crescentwood, River Heights, Tuxedo, Charleswood, St. James/Assiniboia, The West End, Weston, Wolseley, The North End, Elmwood, East, West, and North Kildonan, St Boniface, St Vital, Fort Garry, St Norbert, and Transcona. Winnipeg is known for its urban forest particularly its beautiful elm trees. The two major parks in the city, Assiniboine Park and Kildonan Park, are both located in the suburbs. The major commercial areas are Polo Park (West End and St. James) Kildonan Crossing (Transcona), South St. Vital, and Garden City (West Kildonan). The main cultural and nightlife areas are the Exchange District, The Forks, Osborne Village and Corydon Avenue (both in Fort Rouge), Sargent and Ellice Avenues (West End) and Old St. Boniface.

Because of its extremely flat topography and substantial snowfall, Winnipeg is subject to severe flooding. The Red River reached its greatest flood height in 1826, and this event still remains the highest flood stage of the last two hundred years. Another large flood occurred in 1950, which caused millions of dollars in damages and thousands of evacuations. This flood prompted Duff Roblin's government to build the Red River Floodway (sometimes colloquially refered to as Duff's Ditch), a 49 kilometre (30 mile) long diversion channel that protects the city of Winnipeg from flooding. Other related water diversion projects farther away from Winnipeg include the Portage Diversion (also known as the Assiniboine River Floodway) and the Shellmouth Dam. The flood-control system prevented flooding in 1974 and 1979 when water levels neared record levels. However, in the 1997 flood, flooding threatened the city's relatively unprotected southwest corner. Flood control dikes were reinforced and raised using sandbags and the threat was averted. Winnipeg suffered very limited damage compared to cities without flood control structures, such as Grand Forks, North Dakota, USA.

The generally flat terrain and the poor drainage of the Red River Valley's clay-based soil result in generally poor drainage in the city, which leads in wet years to a seasonal explosion of insects, especially mosquitos. Winnipeg has gained a reputation as the mosquito capital of North America, resulting in the limitation of much outdoor activity during the hot and humid summer months. The fear of West Nile Virus has further exacerbated the problem. In the summer of 2005, mosquito trap counts in some parts of the city went into the thousands, causing immediate city-wide fogging with the chemical malathion. The use of chemicals to combat Winnipeg's insect problem is an extremely controversial issue in the city as many feel that the use of chemicals, and particularly malathion, is unnecessarily dangerous to human and animal health.

Winnipeg lies in an unprotected arctic trough which channels cold arctic air south, directly across the Canadian Shield and Canadian Prairie. This results in bone-chilling temperatures as early as the end of October and bitter cold and winds during December, January and February, and cold weather and snow often extending into April. The extremity of its climate in the winter months has caused the (somewhat derisive) nickname of "Winterpeg". Summers are typically warm with average temperatures above 25 °C (77 °F) and much sunshine is received throughout the year. Spring and fall tend to be rather contracted seasons, each averaging little over six weeks. Average maximum temperatures for each month are as follows (source Environment Canada): January −13 °C (9 °F), February −9 °C (16 °F), March −1 °C (30 °F), April 10 °C (50 °F), May 19 °C (67 °F), June 23 °C (74 °F), July 26 °C (79 °F), August 25 °C (77 °F), September 19 °C (67 °F), October 11 °C (52 °F), November 0 °C (32 °F), December −10 °C (14 °F). The city receives an annual average of about 510 mm (20 inches) of precipitation including 115 cm (45 inches) of snow. There is generally snow cover from mid-November to the end of March, though this varies depending on the year—heavy snowfalls in late October and in April are not uncommon. Winnipeg is virtually assured of having a White Christmas as there is only one December 25 on record in the last century where there was no snow on the ground.

 
Winnipeg panorama, from 1907

Demographics

 
Winnipeg skyline

The City of Winnipeg is home to 619,544 people (2001), about 55% of the total population of Manitoba. Winnipeg's population grew by only 1,067 residents from 1996 to 2001. Winnipeg's total annual growth rate has been 0.5% since 1971, with the majority of growth coming from immigration from Asia and Africa and in-migration from the surrounding rural areas, aboriginal reservations, and native communities.

Edmonton and Calgary, however, formerly smaller cousins, have grown 3.0% and 4.5% per year, over the same period, so that each now has a metropolitan population of over 1.0 million. Winnipeg was once Canada's third-largest city (until the 1930s), but, beginning in the 1970s, as the economy evolved away from rural farm-based industry, Winnipeg stalled in growth and dropped to eighth by 2004.

Around 19% of the population is under 14, and 13.7% are over 65.

Visible minorities

Statistics Canada asks census respondents whether they are aboriginal and whether they belong to a visible minority ("non-caucasian in race or non-white in colour").[1] Published figures for 2001:

  • Aboriginal: 8.6%
  • Filipino: 4.9%
  • South Asian: 2.0%
  • Black: 1.8%
  • Chinese: 1.8%
  • Southeast Asian: 0.8%
  • Latin American: 0.7%
  • Japanese: 0.3%
  • Korean: 0.2%
  • West Asian: 0.1%
  • Other minority or multiple minories: 0.6%.
  • All others: 86.6% [2]

Religious affiliation

Religious affiliations with less than 1% are not listed here.

Languages Spoken

The most common languages spoken by Winnipegers are: English (99.0%), French (11.1%), German (4.1%), Tagalog (3.8%), Ukrainian (3.1%), Spanish (1.7%), Chinese (1.7%), Polish (1.7%), Portuguese (1.3%), Italian (1.1%), Punjabi (1.0%), Vietnamese (0.6%), Ojibway (0.6%), Hindi (0.5%), Russian (0.5%), Cree (0.5%), Dutch (0.4%), Non verbal languages (0.3%), Arabic (0.3%), Croatian (0.3%), Greek (0.3%), Hungarian (0.3%), Japanese (0.2%), Creoles (0.1%), Danish (0.1%), Gaelic languages (0.0%), Inuktitut (0.0%), Micmac (0.0%). Source: Statistics Canada, see external link.

Workforce and industry

Approximately 375,000 people are employed in Winnipeg and the surrounding area. Winnipeg's largest employers are either government or government-funded institutions: The Province of Manitoba, The City of Winnipeg, The University of Manitoba, The Health Sciences Centre, The Casinos of Winnipeg, and Manitoba Hydro. There are several large private sector employers, as well: Manitoba Telecom Services, Palliser Furniture, Great-West Life Assurance, Motor Coach Industries, Convergys, Faneuil, New Flyer Industries, Boeing Aerospace, Bristol Aerospace, and Investors Group. Approximately 54,000 people or 14% of the work force are employed in the public sector.

Winnipeg is the site of 1 Canadian Air Division (1CAD), the headquarters of the Canadian Forces "Air Command" (Canada's Air Force). This is also the command structure responsible for strategic coordination and control of NORAD operations over Canada (tactical control is in North Bay, Ontario, in a bunker similar to Cheyenne Mountain in the United States).

Winnipeg is also home to the National Microbiology Laboratory, Canada's front line in its response to SARS and one of only 15 Biosafety level 4 microbiology laboratories in the world.

Transportation

 
Winnipeg from space.

Winnipeg has had a public transit system since the 1880s, starting with horse-drawn streetcars. It had electric streetcars from 1891 until 1955, and electric trolley buses from 1938 until 1970. Winnipeg Transit now operates entirely with diesel buses. For decades, the city has explored the idea of a rapid transit link, either bus or rail, from downtown to the University of Manitoba's suburban campus. The most recent proposal calls for several enhanced bus routes, which would extend across the city. These routes would use bus-only lanes for most of their length, with separate busways being built around congested sections. In 2004 Winnipeg Mayor Sam Katz effectively shelved these plans and the rail-based option is now seen as more viable (and more desirable). Winnipeg is home to large transit bus manufacturers, including New Flyer Industries and Motor Coach Industries. New Flyer Industries supplies transit buses for many major North American cities including New York City and Vancouver.

Winnipeg is unique among North American cities its size in that it does not have freeways within the urban area. Beginning in 1958, the primarily suburban Metropolitan council proposed a system of freeways, including one that would have bisected the downtown area. The plan culminated in the monumental Winnipeg area transportation study of 1968. The extensive freeway plan faced stiff community opposition and was deemed over-ambitious. It was not implemented as a concerted undertaking, but construction of major traffic corridors follows the study to this day, including expressways such as Winnipeg City Route 165/Bishop Grandin Blvd., although most are in the form of urban arterial roads, and no freeways are likely to be constructed within the urban area anytime soon. However, one freeway was built in the 1960s, and that freeway is called the Disraeli Freeway, which is part of Winnipeg City Route 42. A modern four-lane highway (the Perimeter Highway, which is mostly an expressway around the city with interchanges and at-grade intersections) bypasses the city entirely, allowing travellers on the Trans-Canada Highway to avoid the city and continue east or west uninterrupted.

Provincial highways used to enter Winnipeg, but that has been replaced with the City Route System. At present, only two provincial highways enter the Winnipeg area, although provincial highway signs are still posted on Pembina Hwy inside the perimeter, on which part of it outside the Perimeter (part of it still in Winnipeg) gains a provincial highway status. Those two highways are:

The most important highways entering the city are Highway 1 (the Trans-Canada Highway) which runs east-west across Canada, the Perimeter Highway, a highway that bypasses the city, and Highway 75, which is a northern extension of Interstate 29. Other primary highways that reach the Perimeter or the Winnipeg border are:

Reference: Winnipeg Streets and Transit Division, Winnipeg area transportation study, 1968. The Council of the Metropolitan Corporation of Greater Winnipeg, Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Winnipeg is currently served by Winnipeg International Airport. The city is slated to receive a new airport terminal in early 2008 that will replace the existing terminal which was constructed in the early 1960s.

Crime

In 2002, Winnipeg had the fourth highest overall crime rate in Canada with 10,879 Criminal Code of Canada offences per 100,000 population. Only Regina, Saskatoon, and Vancouver had higher crime rates. The crime rate was 50% higher than that of Calgary and more than double the rate for Toronto.

Winnipeg crime is associated with the distribution of factors related to the population and land-uses of the city. In particular, crime in Winnipeg in 2001 was concentrated in the city centre, representing a relatively small proportion of the total geographic area of the city. High-crime neighbourhoods were characterized by reduced access to socio-economic resources, decreased residential stability, increased population density and land-use patterns that may increase opportunity for crime. The level of socio-economic disadvantage of the residential population in a neighbourhood was most strongly associated with the highest neighbourhood rates of both violent and property crime.

(source: Neighbourhood Characteristics and the Distribution of Crime in Winnipeg)

Politics

Starting in 1900, in both provincial and federal elections, central Winnipeg elected politicians from the Labour Party. Winnipeg was the site of a general strike from May 15 to June 28, 1919. This strike saw violent protests, including several deaths at the hands of the Royal North-West Mounted Police, and the arrest of many of Winnipeg's future politicians. Though it was not chartered until 1932, the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation was born not only out of the depression but also out of the labour unrest of 1919. Its successor, the New Democratic Party, has enjoyed much support in Winnipeg since the early 1960s. Winnipeg's longest-serving MPs include J.S. Woodsworth (21 years), Stanley Knowles (38 years), David Orlikow (25 years), Bill Blaikie (25 years and still in office as of 2005), and Lloyd Axworthy (21 years).

Winnipeg is represented in the Canadian House of Commons by eight Members of Parliament. As of 2005, three are from the Liberal Party of Canada, three from the New Democratic Party, and two from the Conservative Party of Canada .

On June 22, 2004, businessman Sam Katz was elected mayor of Winnipeg, receiving 42.51% of the vote.

Aside from being the provincial capital of Manitoba, Winnipeg has served as the capital for two other Canadian territories: the District of Keewatin from 1876 to 1905 and Northwest Territories from 1870 to 1876.

See also

List of mayors of Winnipeg, Manitoba

Sports

Winnipeg is and has historically been home to numerous professional sports franchises, some of which survive today. The Winnipeg Jets were one of the original teams of the World Hockey Association and won three league titles. The Jets entered the National Hockey League in 1979 and played in Winnipeg until 1996. The Jets featured such Hall of Famers as WHA coach Rudy Pilous and players Bobby Hull, Dale Hawerchuk, and (briefly) Serge Savard, as well as potential Hall of Famers Teemu Selanne, Phil Housley, and Keith Tkachuk. In 1996, the team was sold to an ownership group based in Phoenix, Arizona, and it was moved there to become the Phoenix Coyotes. There is considerable optimism that the city may once again host an NHL franchise. Support for the Moose has been good, but the city will most likely never consider itself a minor league town for hockey, and therefore will clamor for another NHL franchise for years to come.

Since 1996, Winnipeg has been home to the minor-league Manitoba Moose, currently a member of the American Hockey League. The Moose are the farm team to the NHL's Vancouver Canucks. Winnipeg has produced Hall of Fame hockey players Andy Bathgate, Bill Mosienko, Art Coulter, Ching Johnson, Frank Fredrickson, Jack Ruttan, Kenny Reardon, Fred Maxwell, and Terry Sawchuk.

Winnipeg also has a team in the Canadian Football League, the Blue Bombers, who have won 10 Grey Cups, the league's championship trophy. Winnipeg has a long history of minor-league baseball, including the Winnipeg Maroons of the Northern League, which existed from 1902-1942; the Class A Winnipeg Goldeyes, an affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals, from 1953-1964; the AAA Whips, the Montreal Expos farm team in 1970-1971; and, since 1994, the Goldeyes, a franchise in the independent Class AA-quality Northern League. Winnipeg hosted the 1967 and 1999 Pan American Games. In addition, the University of Winnipeg's women's basketball team won 88 consecutive games during the 1990s, tying a college sports record. Winnipeg is also home to many of the world's best curling teams and hosted the 2003 World Championships.

Other notable sports figures include Olympic Taekwondo athlete and bronze-medalist Dominique Bosshart, Toronto Blue Jays third-baseman Corey Koskie, Canadian Olympic Women's Hockey Gold Medalist Jennifer Botterill,Philadelphia 76ers center Todd MacCulloch, and WWE Superstar Chris Jericho.

Arts and culture

 
This unique side spar bridge, the Esplanade Riel, is solely for pedestrian traffic, with a restaurant provided in the spar's base

Winnipeg is well known for its arts and culture. Among the popular cultural institutions in the city are: the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, the Winnipeg Art Gallery (WAG), the Manitoba Opera, the Manitoba Museum (formerly the Museum of Man and Nature), the Manitoba Theatre Centre, the Prairie Theatre Exchange, and the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. The city is home to several large festivals. The Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival is North America's second largest Fringe Festival, held every July. Other festivals include Folklorama, the Winnipeg Jazz Festival, the Winnipeg Folk Festival, the Winnipeg Music Festival, the Red River Exhibition, and Le Festival du Voyageur.

Winnipeg also has a thriving film community, producing local independent films, such as those by Guy Maddin. It has also supported a number of Hollywood productions, including Shall We Dance (2004), Capote (2005), and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2006). Several locally-produced and national television dramas have also been shot in Winnipeg.

Winnipeg has a community college, Red River College. Winnipeg's four universities are the University of Manitoba (undergraduate, graduate school, and medical school), College universitaire de Saint-Boniface affiliated with University of Manitoba, the University of Winnipeg (undergraduate and select graduate programs) and Canadian Mennonite University (private). Winnipeg is also home to several prestigious private schools, including St. John's Ravenscourt, St. Mary's Academy, and Balmoral Hall.

Winnipeg is also known for its host of independent music acts. Among the most notable are Neil Young, The Guess Who, Chantal Kreviazuk, Bif Naked, The Weakerthans, Propagandhi, Projektor, Venetian Snares, Greg Macpherson, Christine Fellows, Fermented Reptile, Mood Ruff, burnthe8track, and many more.

Architecture

File:St Boniface Cathedral Winnipeg Manitoba.jpg
St Boniface Cathedral, Winnipeg, Manitoba

The Exchange District Historical site is the original site of commerce in Winnipeg. After the railroads came to Winnipeg, this area was developed with many fine warehouses, offices and banks. Many of these buildings are still standing and are unrivalled in Canada.

On September 27, 1997, the original core of the city of Winnipeg, the Exchange District, was declared a National Historic Site by the federal Minister of Canadian Heritage. The Historic Sites and Monuments board recommended that Winnipeg's Exchange District be designated an historic district of national significance because it illustrates the city's key role as a centre of grain and wholesale trade, finance and manufacturing in two historically important periods in western development: between 1880 and 1900 when Winnipeg became the gateway to Canada's West; and between 1900 and 1913, when the city's growth made it the region's metropolis.

Winnipeg’s famous North End has spawned a variety of talented writers, artists and entertainers ranging from Let’s Make A Deal’s Monty Hall to The Guess Who’s Burton Cummings. The commercial main street of this neighbourhood, Selkirk Avenue, first saw development in the 1870s and its importance grew with a wave of immigration from Eastern Europe. The old country flavour of the neighbourhood still exists with a variety of boutiques, bakeries and butcher shops. This vibrant area also boasts 49 painted murals, each depicting a different multicultural and historical scenes.


Archiseek: Winnipeg

Local media

Daily newspapers

Ethnic media

Weekly newspapers

  • Uptown - found at various downtown locations

Magazines

Websites

Television stations

Locally based national cable television channels

All of these stations are owned by Global, except for APTN.

Radio stations

FM

AM

Famous Winnipegers

Born in Winnipeg

Winnie-the-Pooh

  • Winnipeg Bear, the inspiration for Winnie-the-Pooh, was not actually born in Winnipeg. Instead, Winnipeg was purchased in White River, Ontario, by an officer of the Fort Garry Horse cavalry regiment en route to his embarkation point for the front lines of World War I. He named the bear after the regiment's home town of Winnipeg. In 1924, on an excursion to the London Zoo with neighbour children, Christopher Robin Milne, son of author A. A. Milne, was introduced to Winnie for the first time.

Raised but not born in Winnipeg

Achieved fame while living in Winnipeg

Neighbouring communities

 

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See also

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Winnipeg.
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