A great place to live – 25 reasons why

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 17/07/2017 (3172 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

In honour of Canada’s 150th anniversary this year, here are 25 great places, people or things that make North Winnipeg a neat place to live.

If I get the go-ahead I will write five more columns until I reach the magic number of 150. This list does not include many worthy people or places so please email me your suggestions! 

1) Kildonan Park — A place of beauty with Rainbow Stage, flower gardens, the Witch’s Hut, skating pond and a restaurant in the middle of it all;

2) Scotia Street — Beautiful historic homes and a self-guided walking tour with plaques;

3) Seven Oaks House Museum — Built in 1853 for John Inkster and now a wonderful museum;

4) Burton Cummings — The former member of The Guess Who grew up on Bannerman Avenue;

5) St. John’s Cathedral — The oldest Anglican parish in Western Canada;

6) Chief Peguis — Signed the first treaty with Lord Selkirk in 1817 and helped the Selkirk Settlers survive;

7) St. John’s Library — Historic Carnegie library built in 1914;

8) Randy Bachman — The former member of The Guess Who and BTO  is from West Kildonan;

9) Our History — We grew from one of the oldest parishes in the area;

10) Vince Leah —  The newspaper columnist, author of local history books was from the North End;

11) David Steinberg — A famous comedian from the North End;

12) Mary Kelekis — Owned the iconic North End C. Kelekis Restaurant and was also a founding member of Folklorama;

13) Bleak House — A Red River frame style home built in 1874;

14) Sylvia Todaschuk — She opened the Ukrainian boutique on Selkirk Avenue in 1985 and volunteered extensively with many organizations;

15) Cultural diversity — Immigrants came here in the 1800s and are still settling here adding to the unique colourfulness and distinctiveness of the area;

16) Tommy Douglas — Known as the ‘Father of Medicare,’ he once lived in Point Douglas;

17) William Stephenson — The spy from Point Douglas. James Bond is modelled after him;

18) John Hirsch —The first artistic director of the Manitoba Theatre Centre  lived in the North End;

19) Murals — North Winnipeg has many amazing murals;

20) Harry Lazarenko Bridge — Formerly the Redwood Bridge, it’s the oldest surviving bridge in Winnipeg;

21) Katherena Vermette —  Grew up in the North End. Her North End Love Songs won the 2013 Governor General’s Literary Award for poetry;

22) Ukrainian Catholic Metropolitan Cathedral of Sts. Vladimir and Olga — Many of its beautiful stained glass windows were designed by Leo Mol;

23)  The Red River — Runs through our district;

24)  Ross House Museum — Located in Point Douglas it was the first post office in Western Canada;

25)  Martin Cooper — The developer of the first cell phone is from the North End. 

Cheryl Girard is a community correspondent for West Kildonan. You can contact her at girard.cheryl@gmail.com

Cheryl Girard
West Kildonan community correspondent

Cheryl Girard was a community correspondent for West Kildonan.

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