Ryan Palmquist

Have your say on LRSD budget priorities

As we plan for the 2023-2024 budget, what should we focus on to ensure the success of every student in the Louis Riel School Division?

Making the most of mixed-use development

A new mixed-use development has risen on St Anne’s Road, holding promise for the future and quality of the urban pedestrian streetscape.

Making the most of green spaces

This summer, while visiting my grandmother-in-law Rita Johnson — “petite mémère” to my wife’s family — with our children, I had the opportunity to explore the green space behind Saint Vital Knights Villa with my stepson.

Glenwood compost project will soon wind up

The sun is setting on Glenwood Community Compost project, but a new day of waste diversion and responsible climate action beckons.

Community centres offer dogs room to run

Both Windsor Community Centre and Norberry-Glenlee Community Centre have converted one of their outdoor hockey rinks into off-leash areas for neighbourhood dogs.

South Winnipeg is home to the wonderful Maple Grove Dog Park along the south Perimeter Highway, which has been a popular destination for dog owners for many years. However, Winnipeg, St. Vital included, is very low on neighbourhood-based dog parks within communities.

Ironically, to take one’s dog for an off-leash walk most of us have to get in our cars and drive quite a distance. That problem is worse for those dog lovers who don’t own vehicles.

Many seniors, apartment residents, and others who rely on public transit and active transportation to get around have no legal or practical means of letting their dogs out for a run.  It may not seem intuitive, but in a neighbourhood with so many dog owners, having neighbourhood dog parks would reduce many car trips, cutting down on traffic and greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change.

Fermor tunnel an active transport thoroughfare

The new active transportation tunnel under Fermor Avenue is transforming the character of Niakwa Road and the movements of North St. Vital residents.

Since opening in 2019, the much-celebrated tunnel beneath Fermor at the foot of Des Meurons Street has had a big impact on its surroundings.

The intersection of its pathway with the existing east-west Niakwa Trail has created a meeting place of sorts, where plenty of smiles, waves and hellos are exchanged between walkers and cyclists crossing in one of four directions, and it is becoming busier every week amid the exploding popularity of cycling amid our third COVID-19 provincial lockdown.

Perhaps nowhere has the impact been more obvious than on Niakwa Road. The semi-paved road, once a sleepy access street for a dozen or so large-lot homes and the Niakwa Country Club, has become a buzzing corridor for young and old alike on foot and bicycle, as an alternative route to the similarly growing usership of the trail on the north side of Fermor.

Service Canada closure prompts questions

The bilingual Service Canada location on St. Mary’s Road has closed its doors, Radio-Canada reported on April 16. The service has moved to an office on Taylor Avenue in River Heights. The move was announced by Service Canada in an ad in the St Boniface-based French weekly newspaper, La Liberté.

The closure follows the 2014 closure of the bilingual service Canada location in St. Boniface on Des Meurons Street. which relocated downtown.

This leaves the ‘Riel district’ of St. Boniface, St. Vital and St. Norbert with bilingual service now available only at the tri-governmental service centre on Goulet Street in the Accès–Access Saint-Boniface building.

When the St. Boniface location was moved in 2014, the change was defended on the grounds that the French-speaking populations most in need of its in-person assistance increasingly live in downtown, Fort Rouge, and other core neighbourhoods west of the Red River, due to the shortage of low-income and affordable housing in St Boniface, especially for new Canadian francophones.

Stay in the local loop online

With the pandemic well over the year mark, we’ve all made big changes to how we connect and interact with one another.

Whether we’re having Zoom calls on a Saturday night with family, bonfires with neighbours or calling old friends we haven’t spoken to in years, there have been many ways we’ve adapted to on/off lockdowns and isolation.

Social media has figured large in many of our lives as well. The year has seen the rise of new opportunities to connect with neighbours, even as community clubs, sports leagues, and other events that bring  us together community have been shut down.

Check out some of the new or growing community based social media platforms to help you keep in touch with St Vital in the coming weeks and months while you await your vaccine:

Local strip mall is a neighbourhood hub

The unassuming strip mall called St. Mary’s Place at the corner of St. Mary’s Road and Bronstone Boulevard is home to five storefronts and has, over time, evolved into one of St. Vital’s most dynamic commercial spots.

In 2019, it saw the arrival of SWISH barbershop, owned and operated by Reagan Tran, whose company website bills him as “a multi-award-winning barber sponsored by Babyliss Pro, entrepreneur,  sneaker head, and founder. He has travelled across Canada educating many industry professionals. Graduating from MITT College, he has used the knowledge he has learnt from his 6+ years educating others in-person and on his youtube channel which garners 1M+ views.”

Neighbours and residents in the strip say the barbershop sees a steady stream of “really cool-looking” customers.

Next is Matrix Mobile, a cell phone and electronics repair shop, followed by Quality Pizza, a mainstay St. Vital business for many years that Is my personal favoUrite.

School liaison says farewell to working life

The upcoming retirement of Paulette Côté is an opportunity for readers of The Lance to learn about the work of this remarkable woman in the community.

Paulette has been the community liaison at École Varennes since the position was created. Her work there has defined the role in many ways for those who will follow her.

From a professional background in mental health at St. Boniface Hospital, Paulette brought a ‘systems approach’ to shaping this new role.

“You start with your base (school, students) work outward (families) then finally to the larger community,” she said.

Elm Park intersection rehabilitated

The rehabilitation of the intersection of Rosewarne Avenue and Kingston Row in the Elm Park neighbourhood is now complete.

The previous V-shaped intersection, where Kingston Row split into two, one-way streets, has been redesigned. I believe we can learn a lot about how ‘traffic calming’ works on our residential streets from this experience, and use this as an example of how to slow vehicle speeds through design rather than enforcement.

Historically, the intersection featured a wide street with a gentle curve that sloped into Rosewarne from Kingston Row. At some point, the wide intersection was narrowed with concrete bollards, which helped to properly define the lane. Narrower traffic lanes are one of the most common and widely accepted methods of slowing down vehicles.

The recently completed road rehabilitation has created a strict 90-degree-angle intersection where Kingston Row meets Rosewarne with a stop sign. It has also ended parking a short distance from the intersection, creating a single-vehicle-width lane.

‘Bonne fête’ to Brasserie La Shoppe Brewery

This month marks the first anniversary of Brasserie La Shoppe Brewery, a new craft brewery launched by Glenwood resident Marcel Dupas.

Produced in partnership with Torque Breweries, another popular Manitoba craft beer maker, La Shoppe sells Caddy pale ale, a delicious brew that your correspondent has bought and enjoyed more than once from the Riverside Inn vendor, where it can be found along with most places that sell local craft beer in Winnipeg.

Marcel’s craft beer journey began six years ago when his wife bought him a simple, one-gallon all-grain kit.

He began making recipes and learning from others in the craft beer community, including at the Brew Bombers club where he met new friends at brew parties where craft brewers met to share and taste their wares.

Handyside block party proves a big hit

On Sat., Sept. 5, the Handyside Avenue block party was reborn after a decade-plus hiatus.

Community members Meghan (my wife), Tara, Suzanne, Karen and Doug put together the petition, collected the application fee and arranged to close the street to cars for the day in order that young and old alike could come out their front doors and take part in a community event.

An afternoon of family friendly games and events began with a street art and chalk contest, and concluded with an amazing porch concert by Sierra Noble, who livened up the day on what may have been the last day of truly nice summer weather of 2020.

The party was planned through the City of Winnipeg’s block party template. Residents who want to organize one collect signatures from their block (over 50 per cent support is required), pay a $250 fee, make a deposit for the barricades and get started.

Goal of an off-leash dog park remains in sight

The Friends of King George V Dog Park continue to work toward the vision of an off leash area at the southernmost end of Des Meurons Street.

Our association conducted a successful fundraiser, partnering with Windsor Park- based small business Planet Pup, a baker of artisanal dog treats. Between dozens of orders and a profit-sharing agreement with the bakery, the committee made $286 in profit. Our attention is now turning to our next fundraising initiative.

To that end, the association is putting out a call for new volunteers and board members to supplement those who signed up at the founding meeting a little less than a year ago.

The board wishes to thank Rene Bisson for his tireless work and vision in pursuing the idea. Rene has stepped away from the group following a move, but everyone in the area knows this idea would be nowhere without him.

Active transportation routes are a big hit

On May 4, the City of Winnipeg opened St. Vital’s Egerton Road as a Sunday/holiday style active transportation route, seven days a week for the duration of the month.

In this arrangement, non-emergency vehicle traffic is restricted to one block, and encouraged to enter and exit the street at the nearest available intersection.

It is one of nine such routes opened up in Winnipeg during the pandemic shutdown —  the city’s four permanent summer active transportation routes (Lyndale Drive, Scotia Street, Wellington Crescent, Wolseley Avenue) plus five new (Egerton, Kildonan Drive, Assiniboine Avenue, Kilkenny/King’s Drive, Churchill Drive).

The concept was first pitched by Egerton resident Christian Robin, whom I interviewed for an article published in September 2017.

How Pokémon Go reflects our community

My wife Meghan recently started playing Pokémon Go.

As a millennial in my early 30s, I am obviously familiar with the Pokémon universe from my childhood, but I mostly allowed the 2016 summer of Pokémon Go to pass me by. No longer, however, as our family has joined the estimated six million active users worldwide.

For those who don’t know, Pokémon Go   is an “augmented reality” game, in which players use their phone to catch Pokémon (pocket monsters) while walking through real world physical space. Real destinations exist in the game as Pokestops where you get useful items, and “Gyms” where your Pokémon can battle other players.

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and the social distancing which has kept us away from friends and extended family, walks with the kids and our dog around our Old St. Vital neighbourhood and other Winnipeg areas have been the extent of our outdoor activity.

Thinking about French language in community

Festival de Voyageur concluded on Feb. 23, and with it, another opportunity to celebrate and embrace the history and culture of the francophone community in Manitoba.

Though I myself am not a fluent French speaker, my wife Meghan is a native speaker, and both our two boys are growing up fully bilingual, with the oldest — my step son Felix — preparing to begin kindergarten in la DSFM this fall.

Situated in Whittier Park in the heart of St. Boniface, the connection to that community is deep and obvious. However, over a caribou or four last weekend, I found myself reflecting on the French language in my St. Vital community, both historically, today, and into the future.

I’ll begin in one of my favourite places; the census! In a previous article I wrote about the City of Winnipeg neighbourhood census profiles, which tell interesting stories about who exactly it is we are, broken down into basically every neighbourhood piece of St. Vital (and all of Winnipeg).

Talking to locals about infill housing

In the ongoing debate about the pros and cons of infill in Old St. Vital, we’ve heard many voices on different sides of the issue.

Politicians, developers, longtime residents, urban planners and activists. One voice conspicuously missing however, are the opinions of the people who actually have bought and live in these new homes.

I sat down with Glenwood residents Adam and Ava, who bought an infill house three years ago.

“We moved into one of the first infill houses on the street. We had been looking in different areas, like Fort Rouge after a few years in a Corydon apartment.”