http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/blogs/welch all blog posts in chron order (most to least recent) en-gb Thu, 20 Jun 2013 05:40:58 CDT http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/blogs/welch/Thanks-baby-137390533.html Normally, I use this space to gripe about government types. This time, I am full of love. Saturday’s feature story on baby names wouldn’t have happened without the speed and forthrightness of the data geeks at Vital Statistics, and the forbearance of provincial media guy Glen Cassie.... Sun, 15 Jan 2012 20:09:38 CST http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/blogs/welch/Alice-Taylor-meets-the-preem-132416708.html Alice Taylor (http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/no-running-water/degrading-third-world-conditions-one-more-hurdle-for-disabled-man-on-reserve-132369633.html), who is quickly becoming my favourite Manitoban, had an unexpected visit the week before the provincial election. Alice, who lives in Sun, 23 Oct 2011 20:25:38 CDT http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/blogs/welch/Conservation-speculation-131619163.html The sexy speculation in political nerd circles seems to swirl around who might be finance minister and, like Dan, I’d put money on Theresa Oswald or Big Mac. Jennifer Howard used to be a health policy wonk, so she’s an obvious choice for health if Oswald moves. For me, though, the Wed, 12 Oct 2011 14:46:35 CDT http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/blogs/welch/Election-bumf-130787618.html The Grits recently got to the bottom of some online shenanigans that have been wasting their time and clogging up their website. The culprit might surprise you. Thu, 29 Sep 2011 13:13:28 CDT http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/blogs/welch/Women-candidates-abhorrently-disgusting-129969233.html We get a lot of crazy emails and phone calls here at the Freep, as does every newsroom. My fave is the anti-Hydro guy who sends me anonymous brown envelopes full of cut-and-paste rants about the rats, "fast-talking, slick con-men" and "blood-sucking unions" that run the province. Someone once Fri, 16 Sep 2011 13:51:49 CDT http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/blogs/welch/Grit-spin-129730023.html Victory for Liberal Leader Jon Gerrard would be four seats, which would give him official party status for the first time in years. Perhaps hoping for a last-minute surge like the one that catapulted the federal NDP into opposition in May, Grit party folk are feeling hopeful (and possibly delusional) about these four: Tue, 13 Sep 2011 11:08:35 CDT http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/blogs/welch/Adam-Beach-Tory-129320818.html Adam Beach is a lot of things – good actor, handsome and charming, clearly committed to Manitoba’s aboriginal people. What he isn’t is politically articulate. I spoke briefly with him Monday during his second appearance on behalf of a Tory candidate, Point Douglas Tory John Tue, 6 Sep 2011 15:45:09 CDT http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/blogs/welch/Elaborate-Mr-McFadyen-129162628.html We had a rather dispiriting scrum with Tory Leader Hugh McFadyen Friday afternoon. I fear it’s the first of many where the guy — who is known to be a policy wonk — does nothing but duck real policy debates. After McFadyen announced his home reno tax credit, CTV’s Jeff Fri, 2 Sep 2011 17:55:32 CDT http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/blogs/welch/Cheesy-move-NDP-128824248.html My boss on our news desk got an innocuous call this morning from a staffer in the Selinger government’s media office. The staffer (who was also at the NDP’s 2015 vision launch yesterday) cheerfully offered us a tour of the new birthing centre in St. Vital. That’s an obvious Wed, 31 Aug 2011 13:00:57 CDT http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/blogs/welch/The-NDPs-Indo-Canadian-problem-122974113.html I dropped by the NDP nomination meeting Sunday afternoon in Concordia, a race that caused a lot of heartburn within the party’s establishment. It offered some stark evidence of the chasm that exists between the party’s old guard and its new Indo-Canadian members. The meeting was held Wed, 1 Jun 2011 21:10:31 CDT