The province of Manitoba has a population of 1.47M with over half of residents living in the city of Winnipeg (nearly 850,000). Winnipeg is also the seat of government for Manitoba. To understand it’s size, Calgary is double in size. Winnipeg also has about the same population as San Francisco, but SF packs all those people into 46 sq. miles while Winnipeg’s area is almost 4 times that (about 179 sq. miles), so it doesn’t feel crowded.
Despite being one of the smallest mainland Canadian provinces, Manitoba has the largest Legislative Building in Canada. Why? Big dreams.
Given Manitoba’s central location in Canada, Winnipeg city planners were certain in the early 1900’s that they’d grow to at least 3 million so they adopted the motto “Chicago of the North” and built this massive Legislative Building that cost them over 9 million dollars and that was over 100 years ago!
The building was completed in 1920 and is a prime example of neoclassical architecture. It’s 250,000 sq. feet and 242 feet tall. It’s constructed of Manitoba limestone, Italian marble, brass and mahogany. The bronze “Golden Boy” atop its dome stands 17 feet tall and the grand staircase features a pair of life-sized bison sculptures each weighing several tons. The original plans called for a ballroom to be built between the main dome and the top / outer dome, but when the budgeted 2-million-dollar building was nearing 9 million, this feature was cut from the plans.
Winnipeg’s geographic location made it an ideal choice for distributing coins across the country and one of two Royal Canadian Mints is here. Winnipeg has access to transportation networks, including rail, road and air that allow for efficient distribution domestically and internationally. This facility specializes in producing circulation coins for Canada and more than 75 other countries! This modern facility is one of the most advanced mints in the world and the mint estimates that 40% of the world’s coins are made here. It produced 1 billion coins for the Philippines alone last year and they brag at having a less than 1% defect rate.
During the tour we learned about the blanks made, the master punches needed, electroplating, pad printing used to make colored coins, and how modern vending machines work based on the conductivity supplied by the amount of copper in coins.
Our third activity in Winnipeg was a visit to Assiniboine Park. It is one of the largest urban parks in Canada, spanning over 1,100 acres. In addition to expansive green spaces and gardens, it has several attractions including the Leo Mol Sculpture Garden. This Ukrainian-Canadian artist’s bronze sculptures are set among lush gardens, ponds and along walking paths.
Strolling through the lovely grounds in late summer / early fall it was easy to forget that every year Winnipeg is named in the top 5 coldest cities in the world. On this same list are Dudinka, located above the Arctic Circle in Russia’s Siberian Territory, and Harbin, in China’s far northeastern territory. Winnipeg’s normal January lows are -5 to -9F but bone chilling lows of -54F have been recorded here.
We fit in a lot of activities in just a day-and-a-half in Winnipeg, but we know there is lots more to do in this relatively small sized city with a big personality.
