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Winnipeg, Manitoba

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Winnipeg

Winnipeg (IPA: /wɪ.nɪ.pɛg/ or /wɪ.nə.pɛg/) is the capital and largest city of the Canadian province of Manitoba. Located at the eastern edge of the great plains of Western Canada, Winnipeg plays a prominent role in transportation, finance, manufacturing, agriculture and education. Because all rail and highway traffic between eastern and western Canada must travel through or near the city, it is often called the "Gateway to the West".[3][4]

The city is located near the geographic centre of North America,[5] on a flood plain at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, a point now commonly known as The Forks. The Red River Floodway protects the city from flooding.

It is Manitoba's largest city with a population of 633,451.[1] The Winnipeg Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) has a population of 694,668, as of 2006,[2] and is the eighth largest CMA in Canada.[6]

Winnipeg lies in close proximity to hundreds of lakes. including Lake Winnipeg, Canada's fifth largest lake and the world's eleventh largest, as well as Lake Manitoba and Lake of the Woods.[7]

The city is one of Canada's major cultural centres and is home to the world famous Royal Winnipeg Ballet. It boasts historic architecture, scenic waterways, numerous parks, and numerous distinctive neighbourhoods. Winnipeg hosted the Pan-American Games in 1967 and 1999, the only city other than Mexico City to have hosted the event twice.

Construction on the planned Canadian Museum for Human Rights is slated to begin at the Forks during the fall of 2007. It will be the first Canadian national museum outside of the National Capital Region.

A resident of Winnipeg is known as a Winnipegger.


 History

 Before incorporation

Winnipeg lies at the confluence of the Assiniboine River and the Red River, which is known as The Forks, a historic focal point on canoe river routes travelled by aboriginal peoples for thousands of years. The name Winnipeg is a transcription of a western Cree word meaning "muddy waters".

In 1738, the Sieur de la Vérendrye built the first trading post on the site, Fort Rouge, which was ultimately abandoned.[8] Other posts were built in the Red River region. Fort Gibraltar was built by the North West Company in 1809 and Fort Douglas was built by the Hudson's Bay Company in 1812. The two companies fought fiercely over trade in the area with each destroying the other's fort over the course of several battles. In 1821, the Hudson Bay Company and North West Company ended their long rivalry with a merger.

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 for the Hudson Bay Company. Fort Garry was destroyed in an 1826 flood, and rebuilt in 1835. It played a small role in fur trading, but housed the residence of the Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company for many years.

In 1869–70, Winnipeg was the site of the Red River Rebellion, a conflict between the local provisional government of Métis leader Louis Riel and newcomers from eastern Canada. This rebellion led directly to Manitoba's entry 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.

 Railway boomtown

The first locomotive in Winnipeg, the Countess of Dufferin, arrived via steamboat in 1877. The Canadian Pacific Railway completed the first direct rail link from Eastern Canada in 1881, opening the door to mass immigration and settlement of the Canadian Prairies.

Winnipeg experienced a boom during the 1890s and the first two decades of the twentieth century, and the city's population grew from 25,000 in 1891 to more than 200,000 in 1921. Immigration increased during this period, and Winnipeg took on its distinctive multicultural character. The Manitoba Legislative Building reflects the optimism of the boom years. Built of Tyndall Stone and opened in 1920, its dome supports a bronze statue finished in gold leaf titled "Eternal Youth and the Spirit of Enterprise" but commonly known as the "Golden Boy". The Legislature was built in the neoclassical style that is common to many other North American state and provincial legislative buildings of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Winnipeg's growth slowed considerably after the opening of the Panama Canal in 1914. The canal reduced reliance on Canada's rail system for international trade, and the increase in ship traffic helped Vancouver surpass Winnipeg to become Canada's third-largest city in the 1920s.

 Winnipeg General Strike

As a result of appalling labour conditions following World War I, 35,000 Winnipeggers walked off the job in May 1919, in what came to be known as the Winnipeg General Strike of 1919. The government broke the strike through arrests, deportation and violence. The strike ended June 21, 1919, when the Riot Act was read and a group of Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officers charged a group of strikers; two strikers were killed and at least thirty others were injured, resulting in the day being known as Bloody Saturday. The lasting effect was a polarized population. One of the leaders of the strike, J.S. Woodsworth, went on to found Canada's first major socialist party, the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF), which would later become the New Democratic Party.

 Great Depression and Second World War

The stock market crash in 1929 only hastened an already steep decline in Winnipeg. The Great Depression resulted in massive unemployment, which was worsened by drought and depressed agricultural prices.

The Depression ended when World War II broke out in 1939. Thousands of Canadians volunteered to join the forces. In Winnipeg, the old established armouries of Minto, Tuxedo (Fort Osborne) and McGregor were so crowded that the military had to take over other buildings to increase capacity.

Winnipeg played a large part in the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP). The mandate of the BCATP was to train flight crews away from the battle zone in Europe. Pilots, navigators, bomb aimers, wireless operators, air gunners, and flight engineers all passed through Winnipeg on their way to the various air schools across Western Canada. Winnipeg served as a headquarters for Command No. 2. [9]

 After World War II and the 1950 flood

The end of World War II brought a new sense of optimism in Winnipeg. Pent-up demand brought a boom in housing development, but the building activity came to a halt in 1950 when the city was inundated by the 1950 Red River Flood, the largest flood to hit Winnipeg since 1861. The flood held waters above flood stage for fifty-one days. On May 8, 1950, eight dikes collapsed and four of the city's eleven bridges were destroyed. Nearly 70,000 people had to be evacuated. Premier Douglas Campbell called for federal assistance and Canadian Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent declared a state of emergency. Soldiers from the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry regiment staffed the relief effort for the duration of the flood. The federal government estimated damages at over $26 million, although the province insisted it was at least double that.[10]

To prevent future floods, the Red River Basin Investigation recommended a system of flood control measures, including multiple diking systems and a floodway to divert the Red River around Winnipeg. This prompted the construction of the Red River Floodway under Premier Dufferin Roblin.

 Since Unicity

The current city of Winnipeg was created when the City of Winnipeg Act was amended to form Unicity in 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.

In 1979, the Eaton's catalogue building was converted into the first downtown mall in the city. It was called Eaton Place but would change its name to Cityplace following the controversial demolition of the empty Eaton's store in 2002.

Immediately following the 1979 energy crisis Winnipeg experienced a severe economic downturn in advance of the early 1980s recession. Throughout the recession the city incurred closures of prominent businesses such as the Winnipeg Tribune and the Swift's and Canada Packers meatpacking plants. [11]

In 1993, feeling that their community needs were not being fulfilled, the residents of Headingley seceded from Winnipeg and officially became incorporated as a municipality.

 Government

 Municipal politics

Since 1992, the city of Winnipeg has been represented by 15 city councillors and a mayor elected every three years. The present Mayor Sam Katz was elected to office in 2004 and re-elected in 2006. Katz is the first Jewish mayor of Winnipeg.

Prior to 1972, Winnipeg was the largest of several cities and towns in a metropolitan area around the Red and Assiniboine rivers. "Unicity" was created on July 27, 1971 and took effect with the first elections in 1972. The City of Winnipeg Act incorporated the R. M. of Charleswood, R. M. of Fort Garry, R. M. of North Kildonan, R. M. of Old Kildonan, Town of Tuxedo, City of East Kildonan, City of West Kildonan, City of St. Vital, City of Transcona, City of St. Boniface, City of St. James-Assiniboia, City of Winnipeg and The Metropolitan Corporation of Greater Winnipeg into one city.

Winnipeg is a single-tier municipality governed by a mayor-council system. The structure of the municipal government is set out by the province of Manitoba in the City of Winnipeg Act. The mayor is elected by direct popular vote to serve as the chief executive of the city. The City Council is a unicameral legislative body representing geographical wards throughout the city.

 Provincial politics

Winnipeg is represented by 31 provincial Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs), 25 of whom are members of the New Democratic Party, four are members of the Progressive Conservative Party and two are members of the Liberal Party. In the provincial election in 2007, the NDP won two ridings from the Conservatives, rising from 23 to its present 25 seats in the city. All three leaders of the provincial parties represent Winnipeg in the legislature.

 Federal politics

Winnipeg is represented by eight Members of Parliament: three Conservatives, three New Democrats and two Liberals. There are six Senators representing Manitoba in Ottawa. Only two list Winnipeg as the division they represent although all of them were residents of Winnipeg when appointed to the Senate. The political affiliation in the Senate is three Liberals, two Conservatives and one Independent.

History

The first elections for city government in Winnipeg were held shortly after the city was incorporated in 1873. On January 5, 1874, Francis Evans Cornish, former mayor of London, Ontario defeated Winnipeg Free Press editor and owner William F. Luxton by a margin of 383 votes to 179. There were only 382 eligible voters in the city at the time but property owners were allowed to vote in every civic poll in which they owned property. Up until the year 1955, mayors could only serve one term. City government consisted of 13 aldermen and one mayor. This number of elected officials remained constant until 1920.

The inaugural Council meeting took place on January 19, 1874 on the second floor of Bentley's, a newly constructed building on the northwest corner of Portage and Main.

Construction of a new City Hall commenced in 1875. The building proved to be a structural nightmare and eventually had to be held up by props and beams. The building was eventually demolished in favour of building a new City Hall in 1883.

A new City Hall building was constructed in 1886. It was a "Gingerbread" building built in Victorian grandeur and symbolized Winnipeg's coming of age at the end of the nineteenth century. The building stood for nearly 80 years. There was a plan to replace it around the World War I era, during the time that the Manitoba Legislature was under construction, but the war delayed that process. In 1958, falling plaster almost hit visitors to the City Hall building. The tower eventually had to be removed and in 1962 the whole building was torn down.

Winnipeg City Council embraced the idea of a "Civic Centre" as a replacement for the old city hall. The concept originally called for an administrative building and a council building with a courtyard in between. Eventually, a police headquarters and remand centre (the Public Safety Building) and parkade were added to the plans. The four buildings were completed in 1964 in the brutalist style, at a cost of $8.2 million. The Civic Centre and the Manitoba Centennial Centre were connected by underground tunnels in 1967.


 Geography and climate


Winnipeg is situated just east of the longitudinal centre of Canada (near the geographical centre of North America), and approximately 100 kilometres (60 miles) north of the border with the United States. It is near the eastern edge of the Canadian Prairies, and about 70 kilometres (45 miles) south of Lake Winnipeg. It is situated in the floodplain of the Red River and is surrounded by rich agricultural land. The closest urban area with over 500,000 people is the twin cities of Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota.

Winnipeg has an extreme humid continental climate (Koppen climate classification Dfb). In the summer months the climate is influenced by low-pressure air masses originating in the Gulf of Mexico, often clashing with drier airmasses in the north and west, which results in hot and humid conditions and frequent thunderstorms. Temperatures exceed 35°C (95°F) numerous times each summer, and the combination of heat and humidity can bring the humidex value to the mid-40's(°C), and the dewpoint to the upper 20's(°C).

The summers in Winnipeg are similar to those experienced in cities in the Midwestern United States. Spring and autumn are highly variable seasons. In a typical year temperatures range from -30° C to 30° C, recorded extremes are 40.6° C and -50° C (105.1° F to -52° F).[12] The weather is characterized by an abundance of sunshine throughout the year. July is the sunniest month, and November the least sunny. Winnipeg is the second sunniest city in Canada in the winter and has the second clearest skies year-round.[13]


Winnipeg Climatological Data
Temperature
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Mean
Record high °C (°F) 8 (46) 12 (53) 23 (74) 33 (94) 37 (99) 38 (100) 38 (100) 41 (105) 39 (102) 31 (90) 24 (75) 12 (53)
Average high °C (°F) -13 (9) -9 (17) -1 (30) 10 (51) 19 (67) 23 (74) 26 (78) 25 (77) 19 (65) 11 (51) -1 (30) -10 (15) 8 (47)
Mean °C (°F) -18 (-0) -14 (8) -6 (21) 4 (40) 12 (54) 17 (63) 20 (67) 19 (65) 12 (54) 5 (42) -5 (22) -14 (6) 3 (37)
Average low °C (°F) -23 (-9) -19 (-2) -11 (12) -2 (28) 5 (41) 11 (51) 13 (56) 12 (53) 6 (43) -0.3 (31) -10 (15) -19 (-2) -3 (26)
Record low °C (°F) -42 (-44) -45 (-49) -38 (-36) -26 (-15) -11 (12) -3 (26) 1 (34) 0.6 (33) -7 (19) -17 (1) -34 (-29) -38 (-36)
Precipitation and Sunshine Hours
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Total
Total mm (in) 20 (0.8) 15 (0.6) 22 (0.9) 32 (1.3) 59 (2.3) 90 (3.5) 71 (2.8) 75 (3.0) 52 (2.1) 36 (1.4) 25 (1.0) 19 (0.7) 514 (20)
Rainfall mm (in) 0 (0.0) 3 (0.1) 8 (0.3) 22 (0.9) 58 (2.3) 90 (3.5) 71 (2.8) 75 (3.0) 52 (2.0) 31 (1.2) 6 (0.2) 2 (0.1) 416 (16)
Snowfall cm (in) 23 (9.1) 14 (5.6) 16 (6.2) 10 (3.4) 0.8 (0.3) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0.4 (0.2) 5 (2.0) 21 (8.4) 20 (7.8) 111 (44)
Sunshine hours 120 138 178 239 286 283 318 280 186 147 96 100 2372
Data recorded at Winnipeg International Airport by Environment Canada. Data spans 1971 to 2000.

Winnipeg lies exposed to numerous weather systems including bitterly cold Arctic high pressure systems during the winter months, although people who live in Winnipeg claim their city's dry winter cold is more pleasant than the damper cold in Toronto. According to Environment Canada, Winnipeg is the coldest city in the world with a population of over 600,000.[14]

Winnipeg, like Chicago, is also known as a windy city. The average annual wind speed is 16.9 km/h (10.5 mph), predominantly from the south. The city has experienced wind gusts of up to 129 km/h (80 mph). The windiest weather usually occurs during blizzards or thunderstorms. April is the windiest month, and July the least windy. Tornadoes are not uncommon in the area, particularly in the spring and summer months.

See also: List of Winnipeg neighbourhoods

 Transportation


Winnipeg has had a public transit system since the 1880s, starting with horse-drawn streetcars. 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 city is directly connected to the United States via Highway 75 (a northern continuation of I-29 and US 75). The highway runs 107 kilometres to Emerson, Manitoba, the 8th busiest border crossing.[15] Much of the commercial traffic that crosses in Emerson either originates from or is destined to Winnipeg. Inside the city, the highway is locally known as Pembina Highway.

Winnipeg's airport, recently renamed as Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport, is currently under redevelopment. A new terminal building is scheduled for completion by 2009. The field was Canada's first international airport when it opened in 1928 as Stevenson Aerodrome.[16]

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. A modern four-lane highway called the Perimeter Highway was built in 1969. It serves as an expressway around the city (also known as a ring road) with interchanges and at-grade intersections that bypass the city entirely. It allows travellers on the Trans-Canada Highway to avoid the city and continue east or west uninterrupted.

Winnipeg has also embarked on an ambitious wayfinding program erecting new signage at strategic downtown locations. [17] The intention is to make it easier for travellers, specifically tourists to locate services and attractions.

 Economy


Winnipeg is an important regional centre of commerce, industry, culture, finance, and government.

In 2003 and 2004, Canadian Business magazine ranked Winnipeg in the top 10 cities for business. In 2006, Winnipeg was ranked by KPMG as one of the lowest cost locations to do business in Canada.[18] As with much of Western Canada, in 2007, Winnipeg experienced both a building and real estate boom. In May of 2007, the Winnipeg Real Estate Board reported the best month in its 104-year history in terms of sales and volume. [19]

Winnipeg has the third-fastest growing economy among Canada's major cities as of 2007 released by the Conference Board of Canada with Winnipeg's real GDP growth at 3.7%. [20]

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. Approximately 54,000 people or 14% of the work force are employed in the public sector.

There are several large private sector employers, as well: Manitoba Telecom Services, CanWest Global Communications, Palliser Furniture, Great-West Life Assurance, Motor Coach Industries, Convergys, New Flyer Industries, Boeing Canada Technology, Bristol Aerospace, Nygård International, Canad Inns and Investors Group.

A number of large privately held family-owned companies operate out of Winnipeg. The most famous of these is James Richardson & Sons. The Richardson building at Portage and Main was the first skyscraper to grace that corner. Other private companies include Ben Moss Jewellers, Frantic Films and Paterson Grain.

Winnipeg is the site of Canadian Forces Base Winnipeg and the headquarters of 1 Canadian Air Division, as well as home to several reserve units. See #Military in this article.

The Royal Canadian Mint located in eastern Winnipeg is where all circulating coinage in Canada is produced. The plant, established in 1975, also produces coins for many other countries in the world.

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.

 Demographics
Selected Ethnic
Origins, 2001[21]
Ethnic origin Population
English 135,520
Canadian 131,095
Scottish 109,605
German 97,220
Ukrainian 90,985
Irish 81,910
French 81,905
multiple responses included
Visible minorities, 2001[22]
Total 81,915
Filipino 29,995
South Asian 12,165
Black 11,275
Chinese 10,890
Southeast Asian 5,030
Latin American 4,500
Japanese 1,560
Arab 1,065
Korean 945
West Asian 815
Other 1,960
Multiple 1,710

According to the 2006 Census, there were 633,451 people residing in Winnipeg on 16 May 2006, of whom 48.3% were male and 51.7% were female. Residents 19 years of age or younger accounted for approximately 24.3% of the population. People aged by 20 and 39 years accounted for 27.4%, while those between 40 and 64 made up 34.0% of the population. The average age of a Winnipegger in May 2006 was 38.7, compared to the average of 39.5 for Canada as a whole.[23]

Between the censuses of 2001 and 2006, Winnipeg's population increased by 2.2%, compared to the average of 2.6 for Manitoba and 5.4% for Canada. The population density of the city of Winnipeg averaged 1,365.2 people per square kilometre, compared with an average of 3.5 for Manitoba.

A further 61,217 people live in Winnipeg's Census Metropolitan Area,[24] which apart from Winnipeg includes the Rural municipalities of East St. Paul, Headingley, Ritchot, Rosser, Springfield, St. Clements, St. François Xavier, Taché and West St. Paul, and the Aboriginal community of Brokenhead.

Ethnicity

Most Winnipeggers are of European or Canadian descent. Visible minorities make up 13.4% of Winnipeg's population. Winnipeg is home to 29,995 people of Filipino descent, the highest concentration of persons of Filipino origin in Canada, and the second largest Filipino population in Canada after Toronto which has 86,460 persons of Filipino origin. The Filipino language Tagalog is spoken by 3.4% of Winnipeggers.

Language

More than 20 languages are spoken in Winnipeg, the most common is English, in which 99.0% of Winnipeggers are fluent. In terms of Canada's official languages, 88.0% of Winnipeggers speak only English, and 0.1% speak only French. Eleven per cent speak both English and French, while 0.9% speak neither English nor French. Other languages spoken in Winnipeg are German, spoken by 4.1% of the population; Ukrainian, spoken by 3.1% of the population. Spanish, Chinese and Polish are all spoken by 1.7% of the population. Aboriginal languages are spoken by 1.1 percent of the population, and include Ojibway (0.6%), Cree (0.5%), Inuktitut and Micmac (both less than 0.1%). Other languages spoken in Winnipeg include Portuguese (1.3%), Italian (1.1%) Punjabi (1.0%), Vietnamese (0.6%), Hindi and Russian (0.5% each), Dutch (0.4%), Non verbal languages, Arabic, Croatian, Greek, Hungarian (all 0.3% each), Japanese (0.2%), Creoles, Danish (0.1% each), and Gaelic languages (less than 0.1%).[25]

Religion

The 2001 census states that 72.9 per cent of Winnipeg residents belong to a Christian denomination, 35.1% of which are Protestant, 32.6% Roman Catholic, and 5.2% other following Christian denominations. 5.6% of the population follows a religion other than Christianity—followers of Judaism make up 2.1% of the population, Followers of Buddhism and Sikhism make up 0.9% of the population each, while Muslims make up 0.8% of the population. Hindus account for 0.6% of the population, while followers of other religions make up less than 0.5% of the population. 21.7% of Winnipeggers do not follow a religion.[22]

 Education

Education is a responsibility of the provincial government in Canada.

In Manitoba, education is governed principally by The Public Schools Act and The Education Administration Act, as well as regulations made under both Acts. Rights and responsibilities of the Minister of Education, Citizenship and Youth and the rights and responsibilities of school boards, principals, teachers, parents and students are set out in the legislation.

There are two major universities, a community college, a private Mennonite college and a French college in St. Boniface

The University of Manitoba is the largest university of the province of Manitoba, most comprehensive and only research-intensive post-secondary educational institution. It was founded in 1877, making it Western Canada’s first university. In a typical year, the university has an enrollment of 24,542 undergraduate students and 3,021 graduate students.

The University of Winnipeg received its charter in 1967 but its roots date back more than 130 years. The founding colleges were Manitoba College 1871, and Wesley College 1888, which merged to form United College in 1938.

Winnipeg is also home to numerous private schools, both religious and secular.

School divisions

There are six public school divisions in Winnipeg:

* Winnipeg School Division
* St. James-Assiniboia School Division
* Pembina Trails School Division
* Seven Oaks School Division
* Division Scolaire Franco-Manitobaine
* River East Transcona School Division
* Louis Riel School Division



Higher education

There are four universities and one major college in Winnipeg:

* University of Manitoba
* University of Winnipeg
* Collège universitaire de Saint-Boniface
* Canadian Mennonite University
* Red River College



 Sports


Winnipeg has a long and storied sports history. It has been home to several professional hockey, football, and baseball franchises, and dirt track stock car racing. There have also been many university and amateur athletes over the years who have left their mark.

Current professional franchises

Club League Venue Established Championships
Winnipeg Blue Bombers Canadian Football League Canad Inns Stadium 1930 10
Manitoba Moose American Hockey League MTS Centre 1996 0
Winnipeg Goldeyes Northern League CanWest Global Park 1994 1

Winnipeg is also the only Canadian city to have hosted the Pan-American Games. It has hosted the games twice, in 1967 and 1999.

 Arts and culture

Winnipeg is well known across the prairies for its arts and culture.[26] 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. The Winnipeg International Writers Festival (THIN AIR) rivals similar festivals in Calgary and Vancouver. Other festivals include Folklorama, the Jazz Winnipeg Festival, the Winnipeg Folk Festival, the Winnipeg Music Festival, the Red River Exhibition, and Le Festival du Voyageur.

The Winnipeg Public Library is a public library network with 20 branches throughout the city, including the central Millennium Library.

Winnipeg is well known for its murals.[27] Many buildings in the downtown area and extending into some suburban areas have murals painted on the sides of buildings. [28] Although some are advertisements for shops and other businesses, many are historical paintings, school art projects, or downtown beautification projects. Murals can also be found on several of the downtown traffic light switch posts and fire hydrants.

Winnipeg also has a thriving film community, beginning as early as 1897 with the films of James Freer to the production of local independent films of today, such as those by Guy Maddin. It has also supported a number of Hollywood productions, including Shall We Dance (2004), the Oscar nominated film 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. The National Film Board of Canada and the Winnipeg Film Group have produced numerous award-winning films .

There are several TV and Film production companies in Winnipeg. Some of the prominent ones are Frantic Films, Buffalo Gal Pictures, Les Productions Rivard and Eagle Vision.

Winnipeg is also associated with various music acts. Among the most notable are Neil Young, The Guess Who, Bachman-Turner Overdrive, Venetian Snares, Chantal Kreviazuk, Bif Naked, Comeback Kid, The Waking Eyes, Jet Set Satellite, the New Meanies, Propagandhi, The Weakerthans, The Perpetrators, Crash Test Dummies, and The Duhks.

Winnipeg is the subject of the song "One Great City!" by the Weakerthans (a music group that originated in Winnipeg). The song makes allusion to the slow growth and lost industry in the town.[29] The title of the song is the slogan on signs welcoming visitors to Winnipeg. The city is also mentioned in Neil Young's "Don't Be Denied". Aaron Funk, a Winnipeg-based Breakcore artist better known as Venetian Snares, released a concept album in 2005 based on his hatred of Winnipeg.

Winnipeg has also achieved some acclaim for being the "Slurpee Capital of the World," since 1999, as its residents have a year-round penchant for the icy slush served in convenience stores.[30]

Local media

Winnipeg has two daily newspapers, six English television stations, one French television station, 25 AM and FM radio stations and a variety a regional and nationally based magazines that call the city home.

Winnie-the-Pooh

* Winnipeg bear, the inspiration for Winnie-the-Pooh, was not actually born in Winnipeg. Instead, Winnipeg bear was purchased in White River, Ontario, by an officer (Lieutenant Harry Colebourn) 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.

* An E.H. Shepard painting of "Winnie the Pooh" is the only known oil painting of Winnipeg’s famous bear cub. It was purchased at an auction for $285,000 in London, England late in 2000. The painting is displayed in the Pavilion Gallery in Assiniboine Park.

 Military

Canadian Forces Base Winnipeg, co-located at the Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport, is home to many flight operations support divisions, as well as several training schools. It is also the headquarters of 1 Canadian Air Division (1CdnAirDiv, formerly Air Command Headquarters) and the Canadian NORAD Region Headquarters. The base is supported by over 3,000 military personnel and civilian employees.

17 Wing of the Canadian Forces is based at CFB Winnipeg. The Wing comprises three squadrons and six schools. It also provides support to the Central Flying School. Excluding the three levels of government, 17 Wing is the fourth largest employer in the city.

The Wing also supports 113 units stretching from Thunder Bay, to the Saskatchewan/Alberta border and from the 49th Parallel to the high Arctic. 17 Wing also acts as a deployed operating base for CF-18 Hornet fighter-bombers assigned to the Canadian NORAD Region.

Two squadrons based in the city are:

* 402 “City of Winnipeg” Squadron. This squadron flies the Canadian-designed and -produced de Havilland CT-142 Dash 8 navigation trainer in support of the Canadian Forces Air Navigation School’s Air Navigators and Airborne Electronic Sensor Operator training programs.

* 435 “Chinthe” Transport and Rescue Squadron. This squadron flies the powerful Lockheed CC-130 Hercules tanker/transport in the airlift search and rescue roles. In addition, 435 Squadron is the only Air Force squadron equipped and trained to conduct air-to-air refueling of fighter aircraft in support of operational and training activities at home and abroad. The CC-130 Hercules tanker is a key asset for the Canadian NORAD Region in its mission to defend Canada and the United States against aerial threats that originate outside or within North American airspace.

Winnipeg is home to a number of reserve units: the Royal Winnipeg Rifles and Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders of Canada infantry, 735 Communications Regiment, 17 Service Battalion, and 17 (Winnipeg) Field Ambulance at Minto Armoury, the Fort Garry Horse armoured reconnaissance regiment at McGregor Armoury, and HMCS Chippewa naval reserve.

For many years, Winnipeg was the home of The Second Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, or 2 PPCLI. Initially, the battalion was based at the Fort Osborne Barracks near present day Osborne Village. They eventually moved to the Kapyong Barracks located in the River Heights/Tuxedo part of Winnipeg. Since 2004, the 550 men and women of the battalion have operated out of Canadian Forces Base Shilo near Brandon.

 Crime

In 2004, Winnipeg had the fourth highest overall crime rate among Canadian Census Metropolitan Area cities listed with 12,167 Criminal Code of Canada offences per 100,000 population. Only Regina, Saskatoon, and Abbotsford had higher crime rates. Winnipeg had the highest rate among centres with populations greater than 500,000.[31] The crime rate was 50% higher than that of Calgary and more than double the rate for Toronto.

In 2005, Statistics Canada shows Manitoba had the highest decline of overall crime in Canada at nearly 8%. Winnipeg dropped from having the highest rate of murder per capita in the country. That distinction now belongs to Edmonton. Manitoba did continue to lead all other provinces in auto thefts, almost all of it centered in Winnipeg.[32]

To combat auto theft, Manitoba Public Insurance (MPI), also known as Autopac, established financial incentives for motor vehicle owners to install ignition immobilizers in their vehicles. Most new vehicles include these devices as standard features. These devices make it almost impossible for would-be vehicle thieves to "hot-wire" the vehicle. Recently, MPI has advised that they are requiring all "at risk" vehicles to have an immobilizer installed or ones insurance will not be renewed.

Winnipeg is 'protected' by the Winnipeg Police Service, which has over 1350 members.

 Twinnings

This is a list of Winnipeg's sister cities and the date the agreement with each location was signed.

* Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan (October 5, 1970)
* Reykjavík, Iceland (September 7, 1971)
* Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA (January 31, 1973)
* Lviv, Ukraine (November 26, 1973)
* Manila, Philippines (December 31, 1979)
* Taichung, Taiwan (April 2, 1982)



* Kuopio, Finland (June 11, 1982)
* Beer-Sheva, Israel (May 15, 1984)
* Chengdu, China (February 24, 1988)
* Chinju, South Korea (April 1, 1992)
* San Nicolás de los Garza, Mexico (July 23, 1999)

 
 Notes

1. ^ a b Population and dwelling counts, for Canada and census subdivisions (municipalities), 2006 and 2001 censuses - 100% data. Statistics Canada, 2006 Census of Population (2007-03-13). Retrieved on 2007-03-13.
2. ^ a b Winnipeg Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) with census subdivision (municipal) population breakdowns. Statistics Canada, 2006 Census of Population (2007-03-13). Retrieved on 2007-03-13.
3. ^ Imperial Oil website. Winnipeg History. Retrieved on 2007-01-27.
4. ^ City of Winnipeg website. Winnipeg History. Retrieved on 2007-01-27.
5. ^ [1] USGS Survey
6. ^ Population and dwelling counts, for census metropolitan areas (ALL), 2006 and 2001 censuses - 100% data. Statistics Canada, 2006 Census of Population (2007-03-13). Retrieved on 2007-03-13.
7. ^ World Lake Database. Lake Winnipeg. Retrieved on 2007-01-05.
8. ^ The Forks National Historic Site of Canada. Parks Canada. Retrieved on 2007-01-05.
9. ^ World War II. Canadawiki. Retrieved on 2007-05-16.
10. ^ Manitoba Royal Commission. American Review of Canadian Studies. Retrieved on 2007-07-04.
11. ^ Hansard. Manitoba Legislature. Retrieved on 2007-08-08.
12. ^ Environment Canada. "Canadian Climate Normals or Averages 1971-2000". Retrieved on: August 12, 2007.
13. ^ Environment Canada. "Winnipeg MB". Retrieved on: August 3, 2007.
14. ^ Weather Winners WebSite. Environment Canada. Retrieved on 2007-02-05.
15. ^ NAIPN. North American Inland Ports. Retrieved on 2007-02-24.
16. ^ Found Locally. Transportation. Retrieved on 2007-07-17.
17. ^ Destination Winnipeg. Wayfinding Signage System. Retrieved on 2007-07-05.
18. ^ Winnipeg Advantages. Destination Winnipeg. Retrieved on 2007-06-09.
19. ^ Bidders go Big. Winnipeg Feee Press. Retrieved on 2007-06-10.
20. ^ Winnipeg going Strong. Winnipeg Sun. Retrieved on 2007-09-14.
21. ^ Selected Ethnic Origin for Winnipeg, 2001. Statistics Canada. Retrieved on 30 September 2007.
22. ^ a b Community Profile of Winnipeg CMA. Statistics Canada, 2001 Census of Population (2007-09-30). Retrieved on 2007-09-30.
23. ^ Community Profile of the City of Winnipeg. Statistics Canada, 2006 Census of Population (2007-09-30). Retrieved on 2007-09-30.
24. ^ Community Profile of Winnipeg CMA. Statistics Canada, 2006 Census of Population (2007-09-30). Retrieved on 2007-09-30.
25. ^ 2001 Census Data, Languages. The City of Winnipeg. Retrieved 30 September 2007.
26. ^ http://ius.uwinnipeg.ca/pdf/art_report.pdf
27. ^ Bob Buchanan. The Murals of Winnipeg. Retrieved on 2007-08-22.
28. ^ CBC. New Festival. Retrieved on 2007-07-31.
29. ^ Darryl Sterdan (2007). jam! Showbiz, Album Review: Weakerthans. Retrieved on 2007-03-14.
30. ^ CTV. Winnipeg Crowned Slurpee Capital. Retrieved on 2007-07-05.
31. ^ Winnipeg Crime rate - Statistics Canada
32. ^ Neighbourhood Characteristics and the Distribution of Crime in Winnipeg - Statistics Canada, Extracted November 29, 2005

 References

* J. M. Bumsted, The Winnipeg General Strike of 1919: An Illustrated History 1994, 140 pp. heavily illus; ISBN 0-920486-40-1.
* Ramsay Cook; The Politics of John W. Dafoe and the Free Press (1963), 305 pp. B&W illustrations; ISBN 0802051197
* Grayson, J. P., and L. M. Grayson, "The Social Base of Interwar Political Unrest in Urban Alberta". Canadian Journal of Political Science, 7: 289-313 (1974)
* Kenneth McNaught; A Prophet in Politics: A Biography of J. S. Woodsworth (RICH: Reprints in Canadian History) (Paperback) Introduction Allen Mills. (2001), 304 pp.; ISBN 0802084273
* Norman Penner, ed., Winnipeg 1919: The Strikers' Own History of the Winnipeg General Strike (Toronto: 1973)
* K. W. Taylor; "Voting in Winnipeg During the Depression" Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology v 19 #2 1982. pp 222+
* Taylor, K. W., and Nelson Wiseman, "Class and Ethnic Voting in Winnipeg: The Case of 1941". Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology 14: 174-87 1977
* Wiseman, Nelson and K. W. Taylor, "Ethnic vs Class Voting: the Case of Winnipeg, 1945". Canadian Journal of Political Science 7: 314-28 1974
* Wiseman, Nelson and K. W. Taylor, "Class and Ethnic Voting in Winnipeg During the Cold War". Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology 16: 60-76 1979

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