Report and Recommendations

GREATER WINNIPEG INVESTIGTATING COMMISSION

Winnipeg, Manitoba 1959

Table of Contents CHAPTER 2—SPREAD OF THE BUILT-UP AREA ............................................................................3 Winnipeg's Early Beginnings ...............................................................................................................3 Coming of the C.P.R. ...........................................................................................................................4 The Western Boom, 1900-14 ...............................................................................................................5 The 1920's ............................................................................................................................................8 The Depression of the Thirties .............................................................................................................9 Post 1945 Expansion ............................................................................................................................9 Summary ............................................................................................................................................11 Residential Buildings .........................................................................................................................12 Commercial and Industrial Buildings .................................................................................................12 The Auto and Truck ...........................................................................................................................12 Attractions of Suburban Industrial Zones ..........................................................................................12 Suburban Retail Shopping Centres .....................................................................................................13 Advantages of the Central Business District ......................................................................................13 The Outlook ........................................................................................................................................14 CHAPTER 3C — INTER-MUNICIPAL MIGRATION, 1946-56.........................................................15 CHAPTER 3D — THE OCCUPATION OF WINNIPEG AND SUBURBAN RESIDENTS, 1946–56 ..................................................................................................................................................................17 CHAPTER 4 PART II - MUNICIPAL ORGANIZATION IN THE GREATER WINNIPEG AREA, 1880 to 1956 ............................................................................................................................................19 The First Municipal Division, 1880....................................................................................................19 The First Boundary Change - Annexation of Adjacent Territory by Winnipeg, 1882.......................19 The Town of St. Boniface Incorporated, 1883....................................................................................20 The Rural Municipality of St. Boniface Extended to the West and South, 1891................................20 Rosser Organized, 1893......................................................................................................................20 Elmwood - Ex St. Boniface and Kildonan to Winnipeg, 1895 to 1906..............................................20 Annexation of Adjoining Strip of Kildonan West of the Red River, 1906.........................................21 Huge Growth of Winnipeg's Population, 1900-1914..........................................................................21 The First Split-ups of the Suburban Municipalities - the Rivers as Barriers to Unity―1912 - 15.....22 The Towns of Tuxedo and Transcona.................................................................................................23 Major Expansion of Territorial Limits by the City of St. Boniface, 1914..........................................23 Municipal Splits Arising from Urban-Rural Conflicts, 1920-24........................................................23 CHAPTER 6 — MUNICIPAL ADMINISTRATION.............................................................................24 Powers of Municipal Corporations......................................................................................................24 The Regulations re Incorporation........................................................................................................25 Elected Representatives to Municipal Councils..................................................................................26 Public Interest in Local Government...................................................................................................27 Present Municipal Offices...................................................................................................................27 Municipal Administration Costs.........................................................................................................29

CHAPTER 2—SPREAD OF THE BUILT-UP AREA Winnipeg's Early Beginnings The present location of Greater Winnipeg's residential, commercial and industrial districts reflects primarily the outward spread of the build-up area from its first beginnings around present day Main Street, between the Assiniboine River and Point Douglas. The first group of Selkirk settlers located in 1812 at Point Douglas, on the west bank of the Red River about a mile east of the present C.P.R. station. From this beginning rural settlement spread slowly during the course of the next half century, with new settlers generally taking up land along the river banks — along the Red River to the north and south, and along the Assiniboine to the West. The Hudson's Bay Company built its first Fort Garry post just north of the Assiniboine River in 1822, near the present C.N.R. station. The post was intended primarily to serve the fur trade, but also carried supplies and provisions required by local settlers. Shortly after the Hudson's Bay post was erected, private traders set up small stores north of it, along the trail which led to the settlements further down the Red River. These first traders, like the Hudson's Bay Company post dealt in furs, and supplied the needs of local settlers. Their stores, together with the Company post, located approximately along present day Main Street, between the sites of the present C.P.R. and C.N.R. stations, constituted Winnipeg's, and Western Canada's, first business district. Its growth was for many years extremely slow. Until the 1870's, only a trickle of immigrants moved in to the territory to take up land on the rim of the original settlements and there was no need for elaborate commercial facilities. By 1869, more than half a century after the founding of the settlement, the business district consisted of only the Hudson's Bay post and two dozen small private stores clustered nearby, involving a total population of less than one hundred persons. Across the Red River from Winnipeg lay the even smaller community of St. Boniface, a settlement which originated in a Roman Catholic mission established in 1818. During the following half century were built educational and religious institutions which served the Catholic population of the settlement, including a cathedral and bishop's palace, a college, a boys' school, a girls' school and a convent. These institutions, with their staffs and students, comprised virtually the entire community. The dramatic developments of 1870 produced an abrupt transformation of the size and character of the local community. The Government of Canada had arranged to take over the administration of the West from the Hudson's Bay Company, as of December 1, 1869. Louis Riel led a local uprising, however, and the Federal Government sent in regular troops to quell the disturbance; volunteers from Ontario accompanied the regulars. The arrival of a large body of troops keenly stimulated local business activity; the fact that many of the soldiers elected to remain in the territory following their discharge, and wrote to friends and relatives in Ontario urging them to come out, brought a marked expansion of the agricultural settlements within a few years.

By 1873 the business community had become many times larger than it had been just four years before. To equip newcomers to the settlements, and to serve the already established population, there were now hotels, boarding houses, livery stables, blacksmith shops, carriage makers, gun makers, watchmakers, saw mills, planing mills, paint shops, hardware, dry goods, grocery and general stores. Winnipeg had now become a town of some 900 buildings, with a population estimated at between 2,000 and 3,700 persons. The new business establishments were concentrated in and around the original business community along Main Street from the Assiniboine River to Point Douglas. Stores and shops tended to locate on Main Street itself, while other businesses tended to locate on side streets such as Portage, Notre Dame, McDermott and Logan Avenues. Because the Red River was at this time the main channel of communication with the outside world, those business firms which imported large quantities of goods were concentrated on the streets which led down to the wharves and docks, located at the foot of present day Alexander, Lombard and Higgins Avenues. The main residential district of the time was the area between Main Street and the Red River, in Point Douglas. Some housing had already been built west of Main Street, just beyond the business district, while many of the business buildings had living quarters above the commercial premises on the ground floor. The new city (incorporated in 1873) grew rapidly during the later 1870's, as continuing immigration brought an expansion of agricultural settlement and a corresponding increase in demand for the services of the Winnipeg business community. In 1878 a railway was completed from East Selkirk to Pembina, where it made connections with an American line coming up from St. Paul; the Red River settlement thereby gained an all rail connection with the outside world. Being built on the east side of the Red River, the railway, known as the Pembina Branch, did not actually pass through Winnipeg; it did, however, pass through St. Boniface. Winnipeg merchants were able therefore to import goods by rail, bringing the merchandise across the Red River by boat or ferry during the summer, and over the ice in winter, from the freight shed in St. Boniface. (No bridge existed as yet across the Red River; the first was completed in 1880.) A small commercial and industrial district developed in St. Boniface, in the vicinity of the railway freight shed. What with these new business buildings, the long established Catholic religious and educational institutions, and the associated dwellings and population, the urban community on the east bank of the Red River reached substantial proportions. In 1883 the community became incorporated as the Town of St. Boniface, thereby separating out from the Municipality of St. Boniface of which it had been a part. The Municipality of St. Boniface itself had only been organized in 1880, when the provincial government had divided the settled area of the province into municipalities, for the purpose of local self-government.

Coming of the C.P.R. A new era opened for Winnipeg in 1881. In that year the C.P.R. built a station, shops, freight sheds and yards in the City, thereby ensuring that it would be the railway centre of Western Canada. The prospect that the West would soon be opened to settlement by the completion of the transcontinental railway, and that Winnipeg would play a key role in the development of the West, gave rise to a spectacular real estate boom. The population of the City doubled within a year, rising to more than twenty thousand in 1882. the boom collapsed in 1882, but after a short relapse, growth resumed, at a slower steadier rate. By 1900 the population of Winnipeg had risen to some forty thousand persons, and the City was the key distribution centre of the growing West.

Within the City were now located major facilities and enterprises which served the entire West. Through the middle of the City ran the main line of the C.P.R., together with the marshalling yards in which cars of Western grain were received and sorted for onward shipment. The Weston shops of the C.P.R. were built at the Western edge of the City, just south of the yards. On Princess Street, just across the market square, the Grain Exchange Building was erected in 1886, and became headquarters for the Winnipeg firms which dominated the Western grain trade, Banks, hotels, and other business establishments were built around the traditional business district on Main Street, many of the buildings being located on the Avenues leading down to the Red River. On Main Street itself were located the City's leading retail stores and shops. While the bulk of the industrial and commercial development of this period was carried out in what is now central Winnipeg, i.e. between the Assiniboine River and the C.P.R. tracks, some development occurred elsewhere as well. The C.P.R. built its local stockyards on Jarvis Avenue, just north of its yards, where Western cattle were received and sorted before onward shipment to Eastern Canada and Europe. A few stores and other commercial establishments had come into being on Main Street north of the C.P.R. tracks. In St. Boniface, across the Red River, and since 1880 linked with Winnipeg by a bridge, additional industrial and commercial development took place during the 1880's and 1890's. The substantial growth of population required a corresponding increase in housing. The great bulk of new residential construction was carried out between the Assiniboine River on the south and the C.P.R. tracks on the north, spreading out westward from the Main Street business area. During the 1880's and 1890's practically all lots in the Hudson's Bay Reserve had been built upon, with large fine houses on spacious lots predominating in the southerly part near the Assiniboine River. (1) Further north houses tended to be smaller, and built on narrow lots; a broad belt of housing along the C.P.R. tracks consisted of cheap, flimsy shacks and cottages, together with poor quality tenements While the great proportion of housing was built between the Assiniboine Rive and the C.P.R. tracks, some residential construction was carried out south of the Assiniboine, and north of the tracks. South of the River, on Mayfair, River and Stradbrook Avenues and on Wellington Crescent, a number of mansion type homes were built on ample grounds. Just north of the C.P.R. tracks were built cheap cottages and tenements akin to those immediately south of the tracks.

The Western Boom, 1900-14 The years from 1900 to 1914 constituted a boom era for Winnipeg and Western Canada. Settlers poured into the prairies by the scores of thousands each year, and the population of the West rose from about four hundred thousand in 1901 to one and three quarter millions in 1916. Winnipeg, strategically located in relation to the booming West, expanded mightily. Its population rose four fold during the period, reaching over a hundred and fifty thousand in 1914. The city's business community expanded in due proportion; major new industries were established and industries already existing increased many fold. The original business district between Main Street and the Red River, and just west of Main, was developed more intensively, as giant wholesale buildings were erected, many on lots formerly occupied by smaller buildings or residences. The C.P.R. built the Princess Spur in 1904, running from its yards south to Notre Dame, in the lane west of Princess Street; the availability of trackage induced the construction of numerous wholesale buildings and warehouses along both sides of the line. The financial district, hitherto concentrated around the Grain Exchange on Princess Street, shifted to a new locality. The Grain Exchange built its new building on Lombard Avenue in 1906, just east of Main and north of Portage. Banks and grain firms during the next several years erected in its vicinity new

office buildings, far larger and more imposing than those of the original financial district on Princess Street. The latter area relapsed to inferior uses, as the area around Portage and Main became the financial centre of the City. Major railway facilities were added. South of the Assiniboine River, in the Fort Rouge area, the Canadian Northern Railway built large repair shops, handling yards and a freight terminal. Just north of the Assiniboine River, grouped around Main Street, were built the Union Terminal, freight sheds and Fort Garry Hotel, all designed to serve jointly the government built National Transcontinental Railway from Moncton to Winnipeg, and the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway from Winnipeg to the Pacific Coast. The Great Northern and Northern Pacific Railways laid out yards along Ross Avenue, built a freight terminal, and acquired land for a proposed passenger terminal (which was never built). The west end of the City, on both sides of the C.P.R. tracks, became a major industrial area, with the location here of iron and steel plants, flour mills, fuel yards and construction material yards. Following the construction of new stockyards here, just south of the C.P.R. yards, the area became the main centre of the local packing house trade, with most of the large firms located in the vicinity. Portage Avenue came to be the City's premier shopping district, following the construction in 1905 of the Eaton department store on the Avenue, four blocks west of Main Street. During the decade following completion of the mammoth store, dozens of office buildings were built on and near the Avenue, usually with stores and other retail establishments on the ground floor, and offices on the upper floors. The four fold increase in population between 1900 and 1914 required a corresponding increase in housing accommodation. Existing residential districts were developed more intensively and new districts emerged. In the established residential area between the Assiniboine River and the C.P.R. tracks, extending westward from the business district, vacant lots were built upon, apartment blocks erected, and large homes converted to boardinghouse and rooming house use. A tide of new housing poured westward between the Assiniboine River and the C.P.R. tracks, reaching nearly to the City limits by 1914. As in the older district near Main Street, large well built homes predominated in the southerly section, near the Assiniboine River. The quality of housing tended to become progressively inferior, further from the River and nearer to the C.P.R. tracks. A housing tide flowed northward over the C.P.R. tracks, over the newly built Salter and Arlington bridges and the Main Street subway; another tide of new housing flowed southward as well, across the Assiniboine River, over the Main Street, Osborne and Maryland bridges. Only sparsely settled hitherto, these areas became thickly populated, with each district possessed of distinctive characteristics. The North End came into being as a predominantly working class district, characterized by large numbers of persons and families recently arrived from continental Europe. South of the Assiniboine, the Crescentwood and River Heights districts were developed as residential areas, with many streets characterized by large and handsome homes on spacious grounds. The Fort Rouge district came into being, occupied chiefly by employees of the Canadian Northern Railway, which had here its shops yards and freight sheds. Between the Red River and Osborne Street, the Riverview district was built up as a middle class residential area. A considerable amount of industrial and residential development was carried out in adjoining municipalities outside the limits of Winnipeg. The Federal Government completed railway shops in 1912 in the newly incorporated Town of Transcona, which were designed to serve both the National Transcontinental and Grand Trunk Pacific Railways. Just north of the shops a residential community was developed, with several hundred houses, stores and other facilities. In St. Boniface, already the home of several industries, new firms established themselves, including flour mills, grain elevators, metal fabricators and a paint factory. Here as well were completed in 1912 the Union Stockyards,

largest in the British Empire when built, financed jointly by the Manitoba Government and the local railways. In the Town of Tuxedo, incorporated in 1911, the Canada Cement Company built in 1912 a large plant which utilized local clay, and served markets in Ontario and Saskatchewan, as well as Manitoba. To provide necessary facilities for its citizens, the City of Winnipeg acquired and developed substantial tracts of land in adjoining municipalities. In 1904, the City acquired, from the Municipality of Assiniboia, a 300 acre tract on the south bank of the Assiniboine River, which it developed as a major park. A 195 acre tract on the west bank of the Red River was acquired from the Municipality of Kildonan in 1910; half was developed as a park, and the other half reserved for an Exhibition site. The Exhibition failed to materialize, and the property was developed into a public golf course. The City had already acquired, years before, land for a municipal cemetery in the adjoining Municipality of Rosser. While a good deal of land suitable for residential use was still vacant within the City, in the north, west, and south, enterprising promoters developed residential subdivisions in adjoining municipalities, beyond the City limits. By now the street railway's lines were radiating out from the City in half a dozen different directions, providing cheap and speedy communication to the centre of Winnipeg, and enabling home owners outside the City to commute to their place of work in the City. The street railway was extended beyond the city limits as follows: • • • • • • • • • •

To St. Boniface, via Norwood Bridge 1903 To Sturgeon Creek, in St. James 1903 To Headingley, along Portage Avenue 1905 To Elmwood and East Kildonan, via Redwood Bridge 1908 To Selkirk 1908 To Stonewall 1912 To St. Norbert 1913 To Morse Place in East Kildonan 1914 To St. Boniface, via Provencher Bridge 1925 To St. Vital, via St. Anne's Road 1926

The majority of the residential subdivisions developed outside the City limits were designed for working class people, and featured narrow, cheap building lots, low municipal taxes, and virtually no provisions in regard to minimum standards of construction. Such working class districts were developed in East and West Kildonan, in St. James and in St. Vital. Two additional working class districts emerged just outside the City Limits, each occupied chiefly by persons employed in large Winnipeg establishments located close by. In the Municipality of Rosser, there emerged the Brooklands district, just west of the City limits characterized by lower cost homes, and occupied largely by employees of the C.P.R.'s Weston shops, located nearby, just within Winnipeg's limits. Across the Red River there emerged the Elmwood district, (2) in the Municipality of Kildonan, characterized by small, cheaply built cottages on narrow lots, with many of its residents employed in the J. Y. Griffin packing plant on the east bank of the Red River, and the Ogilvie flour mill in Winnipeg, just over the Louise Bridge. Middle and upper income residential subdivisions were developed as well in adjoining municipalities. Following the construction of the Main Street bridge over the Assiniboine River and the Norwood bridge over the Red River, the Norwood district of St. Boniface was built up as a middle class residential district. Its proximity to downtown Winnipeg rendered it particularly attractive to persons employed in the downtown commercial and financial district. A group of real estate promoters secured the incorporation of the Town of Tuxedo in 1911, composed of land hitherto in the Municipality of

Assiniboia, and planned to develop the Town as an exclusive residential suburb. Thus by 1914, when World War I broke out, the present Greater Winnipeg area was occupied in the following fashion: Within the City itself, the central area was quite fully developed, but a good deal of land lay vacant in the North, West and South. Across the Red River in St. Boniface, with an industrial district that was essentially part of the Winnipeg business district, and connected to down-town Winnipeg by bridges across the Red River; two distinct residential areas in St. Boniface, the older being occupied mainly by French-speaking persons who were descendants of original settlers; the newer Norwood district being inhabited primarily by English-speaking persons who worked in downtown Winnipeg, from which Norwood was conveniently accessible. Immediately north of Winnipeg were newly developed residential subdivisions in East and West Kildonan; to the west, along Logan Avenue, within the municipality of Rosser, was the Brooklands district, occupied mainly by persons employed C.P.R.'s Weston yards and shops; to the west along Portage Avenue lay the residential subdivisions of St. James (at that time in the municipality of Assiniboia); to the south, the sparsely populated municipality of Fort Garry; to the south-east, across the Red River, a substantial subdivision in St. Vital; to the southwest, the Town of Tuxedo, incorporated in 1911 with a view to its being developed as a high class residential district, and containing, on its southern limit, a large cement plant which served much of Western Canada. To the east, beyond St. Boniface, and separated from the built-up areas of Greater Winnipeg by half a dozen miles of vacant land, lay the Town of Transcona, where in 1912, the Federal Government had completed huge railway shops designed to serve the national Transcontinental and the Grand Trunk Pacific Railways (both of which subsequently became part of the Canadian National Railways system). A town site had been developed adjacent to the shops, and numerous homes built there by shop employees. (Many of the latter lived in Winnipeg, however, commuting - free - to and from Transcona by special trains.)

The 1920's The outbreak of the First World War in 1914 brought the expansion of Winnipeg virtually to a halt. Settlement and construction activity throughout the West practically ended, although farm prosperity and war orders enabled Winnipeg to enjoy prosperity during the war years. Owing to enlistments and departures from the City on other grounds, the population of the City actually declined however, and a large number of houses stood empty, with windows boarded up, for the duration of the war. The end of the war brought the return of the troops and a renewal of the chronic pre-war housing shortage. For the first two years after the war, however, the prevailing inflation, coupled with the difficulty experienced in securing finance capital, limited new construction. the Federal Government introduced a national housing scheme in 1919, under which it advanced money to the provincial governments, to be made available to the municipal governments. The latter in turn would lend the money to ex-soldiers and working men to assist in the construction of low cost homes, or the installation of major improvements such as modern plumbing. Under this scheme, hundreds of low cost homes were built in Winnipeg and the suburbs, with a particularly large development being carried out in the Woodhaven district of Assiniboia (a district which is now part of the City of St. James). Economic conditions were generally adverse in Winnipeg (and the West) between 1921 and 1925 and negligible growth occurred during the period. Prosperity returned during the later 1920's, however, thanks to improved conditions in the West, and the substantial developmental activity proceeding in Northern Manitoba and Western Ontario. The return of good times brought a renewal of housing construction in Winnipeg and the suburbs, though on a far smaller scale than during the period

preceding the outbreak of war. The substantial increase in automobile ownership which occurred during the later 1920's contributed to the development, for residential purposes, of riverside drives and their vicinity, in Winnipeg, St. James, St. Vital, Fort Garry, East and West Kildonan and Tuxedo. Such districts, while their location was most agreeable in regard to natural surroundings, were relatively distant from the down-town area and from street car lines; their development was only feasible when more general ownership of automobiles reduced these locational disadvantages. Since these districts became occupied to a large extent by families in the automobile-owning class, the homes built were generally of better than average quality, reflecting the higher incomes of their occupants. The construction carried out in the suburbs during the 1920's was almost exclusively residential in character. There were, however, two notable developments of a non-residential character. Stevenson's Airfield was inaugurated in St. James, serving in its early years as a base for the aircraft which provided communication with the north country, and later, with the introduction of regular airline services, becoming the municipal airport for Greater Winnipeg, as well as a major R.C.A.F. base and centre for aircraft overhaul and repair. The local packing house industry, hitherto concentrated in Winnipeg just south of the C.P.R. tracks, shifted in large part to St. Boniface, taking advantage of the stockyards and public meat market which had been built there in 1912, as well as offers by the St. Boniface Council of specially low municipal taxation.

The Depression of the Thirties Construction activity virtually ceased throughout Greater Winnipeg during the bleak years of the Great Depression. The population of the metropolitan area increased only slightly; in several suburban municipalities population actually declined. Within the City of Winnipeg more old houses were demolished during the years 1931 to 1939 than new ones constructed. Among the homes torn down were some of the most handsome in the City, located in fashionable River Heights, and demolished to avoid the crushing burden of municipal taxation. Construction was of negligible proportions throughout the suburbs as well. One notable industrial development of the period was the construction of the new Swift Canadian packing plant in St. Boniface, replacing the firm's ancient abattoir in Elmwood. (3)

Post 1945 Expansion The outbreak of World War II was followed by a renewal of prosperity, but the drain on population caused by enlistments, and the wartime shortage of labor and materials precluded renewal of private construction activity. During the decade after the end of the war, construction activity was carried out in both Winnipeg and the suburbs on a scale unparalleled since the early 1900's, thanks to the easing of shortages, a greatly increased rate of family formation, and substantial Federal assistance toward home building. Residential construction was carried out simultaneously in Winnipeg and suburban municipalities. Between 1946 and 1956 the population of the City rose from 229,045 to 255,093 or by eleven per cent: by the latter year relatively little vacant land remained within City limits. Among the suburban municipalities, construction activity was particularly heavy in St. James, St. Vital, Fort Garry, East and West Kildonan; by 1956 the population of each of the latter three was more than double that it had been ten years earlier. The total suburban population was in 1956 now about 160,000, or over 60 per cent of that of the City of Winnipeg. The economic structure of Greater Winnipeg enlarged during the post-war decade, as large American

and Canadian organizations established branches or enlarged existing branches, and local men set up new firms or expanded their operations. Of this post-war industrial and commercial expansion, a substantial portion was carried out in the suburban municipalities. Prior to 1946 the suburbs, with the exception of St. Boniface, had been almost exclusively residential in character; practically the only business establishments located in them had been retail stores and shops which served the local community, and typically, such local shops served only part of the community's needs, suburban residents relying heavily upon the stores, offices and service establishments of downtown Winnipeg. (4) During the post-war decade a significant number of industrial firms located plants and warehouses in suburban municipalities, particularly in St. Boniface, St. James and Fort Garry. St. Boniface, already an established industrial centre, gained important additions with the marked expansion of a local oil refinery, enlarged operations on the part of the packing plants, and the establishment of a score of new manufacturing firms. In St. James, manufacturing and wholesale firms hitherto located in Winnipeg's original business district centred on Main Street, built handsome new plants and warehouses, to house their enlarged operations, and to avoid the traffic congestion of downtown Winnipeg. The Winnipeg airfield, intensively used during the war by R.C.A.F. was further developed in peacetime. The R.C.A.F. station was built up into one of the service's largest training establishments; the rapidly growing importance of civil aviation brought a very great increase in airline operations, and in the overhaul, repair and other facilities required by civilian air traffic. In Fort Garry, where the sole industrial enterprise had hitherto been the Manitoba Sugar Company, established in 1940, a dozen firms located manufacturing plants between 1950 and1956. While St. Boniface, St. James and Fort Garry received the largest numbers of industrial firms during the post war decade, some industrial development occurred in other suburban municipalities as well. In Tuxedo, the cement plant was greatly enlarged. In East St. Paul a major oil refinery was constructed, designed to serve the entire Manitoba market. Other firms located plants in East Kildonan, already the home of a small refinery, a box factory and several industrial establishments. In North Kildonan, several small woodworking plants came into being, established and staffed by local men. A notable post war development was the construction of supermarkets throughout the metropolitan area. Featuring ample parking space these new stores tended to attract customers from well beyond their immediate vicinity, including residents of other municipalities. Some industrial expansion occurred within the City of Winnipeg itself, together with a pronounced shift of major enterprise to new locations within the City. The area between Broadway and Portage Avenue, and east of Osborne Street, originally built up as a residential district during the 1880's and 1890's, and subsequently degenerating into a rooming house district, was regenerated by to construction of large modern office buildings, built both by governments and private firms. Both the Federal and Provincial governments constructed, and are constructing, large administrative buildings on sites formerly occupied by private houses. Two large insurance firms recently built new homes for themselves on Broadway Avenue, vacating premises in the old business district centred on Main Street. The City's largest insurance firm, now located just off Main Street, is currently building a magnificent new building on Osborne Street at Broadway. Warehouse buildings in the latter area which were vacated by reason of the movement of occupants to new locations in the City, or to the suburbs, have been taken over by light industry. Vacant land in the western part of the City, north of Portage Avenue, became the site of a new commercial district, and a centre for sports activities. The Provincial Government and private firms built large warehouse buildings here; a substantial tract fronting on Portage Avenue is currently (in

1958) being developed as a suburban type shopping centre, to contain a large department store, dozens of specialty shops, and parking space for hundreds of cars. Just within the City limits sports facilities have been built which serve the metropolitan area, including a football and baseball stadium, a hockey arena, and soccer park.

Summary The growth of Winnipeg has been characterized by the spread of the urban area outward from the first settlements on the banks of the Red River. The City's first business district emerged along Main Street, featuring mainly warehouse and wholesale buildings, office buildings and stores. A limited "heavy industry" district developed early in the Point Douglas area. During the1900's Portage Avenue, near Main Street, became the City's main shopping and professional service centre. Heavy industry, such as iron works and packing plants hitherto located only in the Point Douglas area, emerged in the westerly part of the City. The residential area spread outward from the original business district; until 1900 the bulk of the population was contained between the C.P.R. tracks on the north and the Assiniboine River to form the districts of Fort Rouge, Riverview, Crescentwood and River Heights. Small suburban subdivisions came into being, following the construction of street car lines which radiated outward from the City in all directions. Such developments were almost exclusively residential in character, and with the quality of housing for the most part inferior, they involved a kind of leapfrogging, since vacant land still existed within the limits of Winnipeg: - all the suburban developments carried out during the 1900-14 period could have been accommodated in vacant portions of the City itself. Suburban industrial development occurred in St. Boniface, long an industrial centre by virtue of its proximity to downtown Winnipeg across the Red River, and in Tuxedo where a large cement plant was built. The three decades which followed the outbreak of World War I were characterized chiefly by depression and war, and metropolitan Winnipeg grew hardly at all during the entire period. Following the end of World War I, construction resumed on a scale which, though substantial, was much smaller than that which had been carried out during the pre 1914 era. Vacant land within the City was built up, primarily with housing, so that by 1956 practically no vacant land remained within the city limits. Large scale housing construction was carried out in the suburbs at the same time. The leap-frogging was again in evidence; most of the suburban development was carried out in the suburbs nearest the City, but some was carried out in more distant municipalities, despite the fact that vacant land was available closer in. Whereas most of the homes originally built in the suburbs, around the time of the First World War, were generally of inferior quality, homes built in the same suburbs after World War II were generally of good quality. In further contrast to suburban growth of a generation before, the recent suburban expansion was not exclusively residential. In St. Boniface, and St. James particularly, a considerable influx occurred of wholesale and industrial firms - some of which had previously been located in the original and main business district of downtown Winnipeg. Within Winnipeg itself, a shift began during the 1950's of financial firms from the old established district around Portage and Main, to a new district developing around Broadway. Wholesale and warehouse buildings vacated by firms which moved to new premises in West Winnipeg or St. James, were taken over by the City's enlarging light manufacturing industries. THE PROSPECTIVE SPREAD OF THE BUILT-UP AREA A preliminary survey, conducted by the Metropolitan Planning Commission, offers a number of

suggestions as to how the metropolitan community will spread out in the future.

Residential Buildings The greater part of additional housing is likely to consist of single family dwellings built in suburban municipalities on land unoccupied today. The remainder of the additional housing required by population growth will consist of apartment blocks built in or near central Winnipeg, on land now occupied by older buildings - houses chiefly. Where the additional suburban dwellings are to be built will depend upon what land is serviced with street pavement, water and sewer services. This in turn will be decided by the developers - the private firms or the public authorities which undertake to transform raw land into building lots. The direction of such development will - or at least should - be subject to the guidance and control of an overall planning authority, to ensure that new developments are carried out in the optimum locations will depend upon the wisdom of the planning authority, its power to impose its will, and the financial capacity of developers to carry out projects in the locations and in the manner which best conform to the community's interests.

Commercial and Industrial Buildings A considerable portion of the future growth of the local industrial and commercial community is likely to occur in suburban municipalities, where land has been appropriately serviced. In addition some of the firms now located within the City of Winnipeg are likely to move out to the suburbs.

The Auto and Truck The Metropolitan Planning Commission survey indicates, not surprisingly, that the shift in locational patterns which has so far occurred, and is likely to continue, is attributable primarily to the effects of the automobile and truck. The great majority of the business buildings standing in Greater Winnipeg today were built prior to 1914, before the modern automobile age began. They were located with reference to the means of transportation then available; the railway by which firms received goods from the East and distributed to the West; the horse-drawn wagon by which goods were moved about within the City, and the street car which conveyed workers and shoppers along fixed routes. The truck now supplements the railway to an important extent in the long range haulage of goods, and has completely supplanted the horse drawn vehicle in locale cartage. The automobile supplements the street car and bus in the conveyance of workers and shoppers. The greater flexibility and mobility conferred by automotive transport has enabled suburban sites to be brought into use which previously could not be effectively reached. At the same time the great requirements of automotive transport for road and parking space has tended to reduce the value of downtown locations where such space is limited.

Attractions of Suburban Industrial Zones The Metropolitan Planning Commission survey suggests that, for some types of firms particularly, a location in the suburbs has become clearly preferable to one in the central city. Firms which distribute or manufacture bulky goods, and whose operations involve large space requirements are likely to prefer a suburban location, where land is a good deal cheaper than in the central city. Recent advances in goods handling technique have emphasized the advantages of single storey operations which require a large land area, as opposed to multi-storey operations which require a smaller land area. Firms which

foresee the possibility of future expansion also find it desirable to acquire a large site. Firms find that the ability to provide parking space for their employees helps to attract and retain personnel. For these reasons many firms require a good deal more land than formerly, and have been strongly attracted to the suburbs where land is available at lower prices. For firms which market a large proportion of their product outside of the metropolitan area, a suburban location is preferable as the main market can be reached without the need of proceeding through the heavy traffic of the downtown area.

Suburban Retail Shopping Centres Suburban locations are attractive, too, for retail shopping centres, as ample parking space can be acquired relatively cheaply. A suburban shopping centre is conveniently close to the residents of the local community, and readily accessible to other people in the metropolitan area.

Advantages of the Central Business District Despite the departure to the suburbs of some firms, Winnipeg still contains the main elements of the local economy. Its attractions are powerful. The centre of the City, with the main public transit routes converging upon it, can be reached easily by workers and shoppers from the entire metropolitan area. The size and diversity of the business community are themselves powerful attractive forces. With so many people employed in the area, retail stores and service establishments possess a large immediate market to which is added the substantial population housed in downtown Winnipeg. The nearby shopping facilities, the hustle and bustle of downtown streets, is attractive to many people, particularly to female employees, and firms located downtown have less difficulty in recruiting female staff. Advertising agencies, distributors of office equipment and supplies, wholesale distributors, accounting firms all find it convenient to locate near the firms they serve. At the same time the proximity of these service firms makes a downtown location more convenient for the firms which depend upon their services. Certain sectors of the downtown area have become the recognized centres for particular types of business and professions. The special character of a business neighbourhood has been in many cases established by the location there by one or two eminent firms. The construction of the Grain Exchange on its present site was followed by the building of bank head offices in its vicinity, making the area the financial centre of the city. Construction of the T. Eaton Co. store on Portage Avenue turned the Avenue into Winnipeg�s premier retail shopping district. Construction of the Medical Arts Building established the vicinity as the local centre of the medical profession. The wholesale trade centred around Main Street, from Notre Dame Avenue to the C.P.R. tracks, was drawn by the proximity of the railway stations, the availability of spur line trackage, and proximity to the main local retail outlets. In the course of time many of the wholesale buildings were given over to the needle trades and light industry, causing the neighbourhood to become the centre for local light industry. The fact that a certain district has become the centre for a particular industry or profession deters those already located there from moving away, and induces newcomers to move in. Location in the district confers prestige. Helpful contact with competitors and associates can be readily maintained. Supplementary firms and services are close at hand. Buyers know that this area is the best place to obtain the particular product or service. Space can be rented in building already in existence, whereas another location would require the construction of a new building, involving heavy cash investment and probably higher costs for the same amount of space.

The Outlook If recent trends continue, the business community is likely to expand both in the suburbs and in downtown Winnipeg. Expansion of the Prairie market is likely to promote an increase in wholesale and industrial activity in Winnipeg, as has been suggested elsewhere in this Report; a high proportion of this expansion is likely to occur in suburban industrial areas. On the other hand, expansion of the local financial community is also probable, and this will likely occur in the downtown area. The new government buildings now under construction, the new City Hall when completed will add to the number of persons employed downtown and therefore contribute to the immediate market of nearby retail trade and service establishments. The better class apartment blocks constructed in the downtown section in recent years, and those which no doubt will be constructed, will add to the market for these retail establishments. The attractive buildings recently constructed, and those projected, confer prestige on their neighbourhoods, and render them desirable locations for firms and professional personnel. Growth of the metropolitan population will require a corresponding increase in the number of local professional and service personnel; it may be expected that a considerable proportion of this increase will establish in downtown locations. Increase of the metropolitan population and business community will require a corresponding increase in the number of firms which supply goods and services to persons and firms throughout the entire metropolitan area. Whether, in fact, such firms do establish, or expand their operations in central Winnipeg, will of course depend upon whether they are able to acquire suitable sites, in suitable surroundings. If such are not to be had, they might be forced to establish in the suburbs, despite their preference for more central locations.

CHAPTER 3C — INTER-MUNICIPAL MIGRATION, 1946-56 Statistics prepared by the Central Mortgage and Housing Corporation indicate the degree and direction of the inter-municipal migration which occurred in the Greater Winnipeg area from 1946 to 1956. Table I, below, indicates the municipality of previous residence of N.H.A. home buyers in the metropolitan area during this ten year period. TABLE I - Previous Residence of Persons who Purchased N.H.A. Homes in Winnipeg and Suburbs, 1946 to 1956. Table 1: - Previous Residence of Persons who Purchased N.H.A. Homes in Winnipeg and Suburbs, 1946 to 1956. Purchasers of Homes in Suburbs 84.1% 37.0%

Municipality of Purchasers of Previous Residence Homes in Winnipeg City of Winnipeg Suburban Municipality Outside Greater Winnipeg

11.1%

57.6%

4.8%

5.4%

100.0%

100.0%

Table I indicates that while only a small proportion of the persons who purchased new homes in Winnipeg lived previously in suburban municipalities, more than a third of the new home buyers in suburbs lived previously in Winnipeg, while more than half had lived previously in either the same or some other suburban municipality in the metropolitan area. (22.2% of those who bought homes in the suburbs had previously lived in the same suburban municipality, while 35.4% had lived in some other suburb in the Greater Winnipeg area.) Winnipeggers showed a mild preference for staying in Winnipeg, while suburbanites showed a strong preference for staying in the suburbs. Of the Winnipeggers who purchased new homes in the metropolitan area during the period, 55% bought homes in the City, and 45% bought homes in the suburbs. Of the suburban residents who purchased new houses in the metropolitan area, 84% purchased in their own or another suburb, and only 16% purchased in Winnipeg. The bases for these preferences were ascertained in a survey conducted by the Sociology Department of the University of Manitoba in January 1957. The reasons given reflected a diversity of motives ranging from the desire to pay low taxes, to the desire to live far away from relatives. The four reasons most commonly given for preferring to live in Winnipeg were the following (listed in order of frequency): 1. 2. 3. 4.

The superior schools and other facilities available. Proximity to place of employment, downtown shopping, etc. Proximity to district of former residence. The presence in the district of friends and relatives.

The four reasons most commonly given for preferring to live in the suburbs were (in order of frequency): 1. 2. 3. 4.

The lower taxes and cheaper houses. Suitability of the District for bringing up children. The absence of noise and heavy traffic. The more spacious building lots.

The survey revealed a considerable divergence in attitude as between residents of one Winnipeg district and another, and between residents of one suburb and another. When asked why they had chosen a particular district in Winnipeg, the interviewees in North and West Winnipeg emphasized the factor of proximity to place of employment; those in South Winnipeg stressed their desire to have as neighbors the type of person already living in this district. On the other hand, in most districts, many interviewees indicated that the main reason why they had moved to their particular neighborhood was because the house they liked best happened to be located there. The four most commonly given reasons for moving to a particular district in Winnipeg were as follows (in order of frequency): 1. 2. 3. 4.

The best-liked house was located there. The district was close to the place of employment. Children would attend the local schools Friends and relatives were already living here.

A slightly different pattern of replies was received from suburban interviewees, when asked why they had chosen to move to a particular suburban municipality. The four most commonly given reasons were as follows (in order of frequency): 1. 2. 3. 4.

Taxes were lower here than in other suburbs. The best-liked house was located here. The district was close to the place of employment. Friends and relatives were already living here.

Attitudes varied from one suburb to another, however. Thus, residents of West Kildonan, Transcona, Assiniboia, and Charleswood emphasized low taxes as the reason for buying where they did, while residents of East Kildonan stressed that they found here the house they liked the best. Transcona residents emphasized, besides the low taxes, the factor of proximity to place of employment; residents of North Kildonan emphasized the desire to have the people of the local community as their neighbors; residents of St. Boniface stressed their desire to have their children attend the local schools. The results of the survey suggest several significant conclusions in regard to inter-municipal movement within the metropolitan area. Firstly, a substantial minority of home buyers are little concerned about the characteristics of the district in which they buy a home; they move to a particular locality primarily because the house they like best is located there, or because the district happens to be near to their place of employment. On the other hand, the majority of house buyers do consider the special characteristics of a district before deciding to buy a home there, i.e. how high the realty tax is, what sort of people are living there already, what quality of public services are being provided by the local authorities. The fact that the metropolitan area contains a number of different districts, each possessing some special qualities and features, is consequently desirable in that it enables the more adequate satisfaction of the diversified tastes and desires of the four hundred thousand people who comprise the metropolitan population.

CHAPTER 3D — THE OCCUPATION OF WINNIPEG AND SUBURBAN RESIDENTS, 1946–56 During the decade 1946-56, a significant alteration occurred in the composition of the metropolitan population, in terms of occupational status of residents of the component municipalities. The newcomers to the suburban municipalities during this decade included a larger percentage of persons in higher income occupations than did the population resident there in 1946; by the same token, the newcomers included a smaller percentage of persons in lower income occupations than did the population resident in 1946. Thus in the major suburbs, (1) members of higher income occupations (comprised of persons in managerial, supervisory, professional work and salesmen), constituted 18.3% of the total population n 1946; of the newcomers to the major suburbs during the next ten years, however, this class comprised 30%. Similarly, whereas members of lower income occupations (including truck drivers, laborers and factory hands) comprised 34% of the total suburban population in the period 1946-56. Hence by 1956, the population of the suburbs included proportionately more persons in higher income occupations, and proportionately fewer in lower income occupations than had been the case in 1946. The proportion of persons in middle income occupations (comprised of clerical workers and skilled tradesmen) remained approximately the same. This development occurred in each of the five major suburbs for which the figures were compiled. The distribution of higher and lower income persons was not, of course, uniform throughout the suburbs in 1946, nor did it become so by 1956. Substantial differences existed between the suburbs in regard to the occupational distribution of their employed populations, and these differences still exist. Thus in 1946, whereas only 20.5% of the employed population of St. Boniface was in the higher income occupational group, 41.0% of the Fort Garry population was in this group; by 1956, members of the higher income group had become 23.1% of the St. Boniface population, but 51.0% of the Fort Garry population. Table 1 indicates the changed composition of the employed population of Winnipeg and the major suburbs (not including St. Vital). While persons in the higher income occupations came to constitute an increasing proportion of the suburban populations, they comprised, by 1956, a smaller proportion of the City of Winnipeg's employed population. (See Table 1.) In each of the three City Wards, persons in the higher income category formed a smaller percentage of the ward's employed population in 1956 than in 1946. Furthermore, in Wards 1 and 2 the proportion (and actual number) of persons in middle income occupations - clerical workers and skilled tradesmen - declined, while the proportion of persons in the lower income occupations - truck drivers, laborers, factory hands - increased. Thus in Ward 1, the category of clerical workers and skilled tradesmen fell from 34.3% to 32.1%, while the category of truck driver, laborer, factory hand, increased from 25.3% to 29.4% of the Ward's employed population. In Ward 2 the middle income group declined from 36.7% to 31.6%, while the lower income group rose from 40.0% to 45.6% of the Ward's employed population. Although the population of Winnipeg increased by 26,048 between 1946 and 1956, the number of persons of working age, 15-64, actually declined. The whole of the population increase in this decade was accounted for by an increase in the number of children under 15, from 42,457 to 62,347, and

persons over 65, from 18,018 to 27,727. Thus, while the City's total population rose by 26,048, the population within the working age limits declined by 3,551. This decline in civic population within the working age limits was reflected in a decline in the number of residents gainfully employed. The above facts and figures indicate that there has been a considerable exodus from Winnipeg of persons in higher and middle income occupations, and that they have been replaced by persons of lower income occupations. Characteristically, persons of average or better than average incomes who had lived in older residential districts, moved out to newer districts, their old homes now being given over to persons of lower income. In Wards 1 and 3 where large numbers of new homes were built during the period, the settlement of average and higher income persons in these new districts substantially offset the decline in the number of such persons living in older districts; in Ward 2, however, where little space was available for new housing, there was no such offset to the exodus of average and higher income persons from older districts. In this Ward a good many ancient homes used as rooming and boarding houses were demolished during the period, to make way for office and commercial buildings and parking lots; the reduction in available accommodation brought a reduction in population. Table 2: Proportion of Employed Population in Higher Income Occupations (Managerial, Supervisory, Professional and Selling) in 1946 and 1956, Winnipeg and Five Major Suburbs Municipality Winnipeg - Ward 1 Winnipeg - Ward 2 Winnipeg - Ward 3 St. Boniface St. James Fort Garry East Kildonan West Kildonan

1946

1956 39.8 22.8 18.8 20.5 20.4 41.0 19.5 23.0

37.8 22.1 18.3 23.1 28.6 51.0 26.2 34.3

CHAPTER 4 PART II - MUNICIPAL ORGANIZATION IN THE GREATER WINNIPEG AREA, 1880 to 1956 The First Municipal Division, 1880 The Provincial Act of 1880 which divided the entire province into municipalities partitioned the area surrounding the City of Winnipeg into three municipalities - Assiniboia on the West and South, Kildonan on the North, and St. Boniface on the East. (See Map III). The former two municipalities were entirely rural in character, while St. Boniface contained a small urbanized district on the East bank of the Red River, across from Winnipeg. The municipal boundaries adopted were based primarily on parish divisions: thus Assiniboia was constituted out of the parishes of Headingley, St. Charles, St. James and St. Boniface West, (1) with portions of two additional townships added on: Kildonan consisted of the parishes of the parishes of Kildonan and St. John's; (2) St. Boniface consisted of the parish of St. Boniface East (i.e. that portion of the parish lying on the East side of the Red River), with an additional township. These three original municipalities included virtually the whole of the present Greater Winnipeg area, and substantial territory as well to the East, West and North; only the Southern extremity of the present metropolitan area was not included in the three original municipalities. (Present-day St. Vital coincides approximately with the original municipality of St. Norbert, while present-day Fort Garry coincides approximately with the original municipality of Cartier. As is evident from the map, Cartier and St. Norbert were not actually adjacent to the City of Winnipeg.) The three original municipalities were, in the following half century, divided and sub-divided, so that from the original three, more than a dozen municipalities were ultimately created. Thus from the original Assiniboia there have emerged the present-day municipalities of Assiniboia, Charleswood, Tuxedo, St. James, Brooklands, part of Fort Garry, and a part of Rosser; the present-day municipality of Old, North, East and West Kildonan spring from the original Kildonan; the City of St. Boniface, and portions of St. Vital, Transcona and Springfield were in the original municipality of St. Boniface.

The First Boundary Change - Annexation of Adjacent Territory by Winnipeg, 1882 The original boundaries endured only briefly; within two years, the City of Winnipeg carried out a major annexation of adjacent territory, thereby nearly trebling its area. This annexation, far larger in extent than any subsequently undertaken, (See Map III) was an outgrowth of the great Winnipeg real estate boom of 1881-82. When the Canadian Pacific Railway commenced construction of the speculative line across the Canadian West which opened the Prairies to settlement, a feverish speculative boom developed in the City of Winnipeg, the Gateway to the West. The speculative fever and the sudden upsurge in local economic activity arising out of the large scale railway construction activity brought many thousands of newcomers to the city, doubling its population within a single year. Anticipating a continuation of phenomenal growth, the city annexed huge portions of adjacent Kildonan and Assiniboia, extending its northerly boundary from Aberdeen Avenue to Inkster Avenue (approximately), its Western boundary from Maryland Street to St. James Street, and its Southern boundary from the Assiniboine River to Parker Avenue (See Map III).

The Town of St. Boniface Incorporated, 1883 In 1883, the urbanized portion of St. Boniface - the district along the East bank of the Red River across from Winnipeg, was incorporated as the Town of St. Boniface, thereby separating out from the municipality of the same name. The Town, comprising an area of 3586 acres, included the South half of present day Elmwood, which was at that time almost completely uninhabited. During the next twenty years there were consequently two St. Bonifaces in Greater Winnipeg - the town and the rural municipality out of which the town had separated. In 1903, the name of the rural municipality was changed to St. Vital, thereby ending the confusion which existed so long as both the town and rural municipality were referred to by the same name.

The Rural Municipality of St. Boniface Extended to the West and South, 1891 The boundaries of the rural municipality of St. Boniface were substantially altered in 1891, being reduced in the East and extended in the West and South. Approximately three-quarters of the township (ten, range four east,) which together with the parish of St. Boniface East, had constituted the municipality in 1880, was annexed to the neighbouring municipality of Springfield. St. Boniface however was extended in other directions, with the addition of the entire parish of St. Vital, lying both East and West of the Red River, and that portion of the parish of St. Boniface West which had not been annexed by Winnipeg. (1) With this boundary adjustment the rural municipality of St. Boniface included the Northern halves of present-day Fort Garry and St. Vital, as well as territory now contained within the limits of the City of St. Boniface. (See Map III).

Rosser Organized, 1893 The rural municipality of Rosser was organized in 1893, being comprised of land formerly in the municipalities of St. Francis Xavier, Assiniboia, and St. Paul. The portion of Assiniboia which became part of Rosser included the present Village of Brooklands. By a boundary readjustment carried out in 1895, Rosser acquired an area of land hitherto in the municipality of Kildonan, while giving up one township to St. Paul.

Elmwood - Ex St. Boniface and Kildonan to Winnipeg, 1895 to 1906 Present-day Elmwood straddles the original parishes of St. Boniface and St. John's. The North half of Elmwood, lying in the parish of St. John's, was part of the municipality of Kildonan, when that municipality was first organized in 1876; (2) the South half of Elmwood, lying in the parish of St. Boniface, was part of the rural municipality of St. Boniface when it was organized in 1880, and was included within the limits of the Town of St. Boniface, when the latter separated out from the rural municipality in 1883. By the early 1890's, a small community had emerged in the present Elmwood district; the North half, in the municipality of Kildonan, became settled by a number of market gardeners, and the South half, in the town of St. Boniface, chiefly by working men employed in Winnipeg just over the Louise Bridge, or in the local enterprises. (There existed by this time a large packing plant, (1) on the East Bank of the Red River, just North of the Louise Bridge, and a brick yard with associated clay pit which lay between present-day Elmwood and St. Boniface).

While technically they were residents of the Town of St. Boniface, the persons who lived in the South half of Elmwood felt little community of interest with the remainder of the town: physically their district was separated from the rest of the town by two major barriers - the Nairn farm, and the extensive pit from which clay was taken for the manufacture of bricks, and which extended practically from the Red River to the Two Mile Road - now known as the Bird's Hill Road. Differences of language and religion constituted further barriers, for the district was almost entirely English-speaking and Protestant, in contrast to French Catholic St. Boniface. Dissatisfied with the services they were receiving from the Town of St. Boniface, residents of South Elmwood petitioned for annexation to the municipality of Kildonan immediately to the North, and this was formally enacted in 1895. The new arrangement failed to provide a permanent solution. The population of Elmwood increased rapidly during the decade following the annexation of the South half to Kildonan, as large numbers of urban workers built homes in the district. By 1905 the community numbered well in excess of a thousand persons, and its members began to clamour for urban services such as a water supply and a sewage disposal system. These Kildonans were unwilling to supply. The community accordingly sought annexation to Winnipeg across the River, as a means of achieving urban services. Winnipeg expressed its willingness to annex Elmwood. When a group of Elmwood residents voiced opposition to amalgamation with Winnipeg, the Provincial Government insisted that a plebiscite be held of the district's residents, and that the annexation be carried out only if favoured by a majority vote. The plebiscite was held early in 1906, and the majority approved annexation to Winnipeg by the overwhelming vote of 405 to 22. Prior to the plebiscite Kildonan municipal officials made it clear that they were unwilling to retain Elmwood within their municipality: the reeve of Kildonan stated that Elmwood must either become annexed to Winnipeg or incorporate as a separate town. Legislation formally annexing Elmwood to Winnipeg was enacted by the Provincial Legislature in 1906, and Elmwood became Ward Seven of the city, being accordingly entitled to its own representation in the City Council. The City built the Redwood Bridge (in 1908) and across the Red River to serve Elmwood, constructed a Fire Hall, installed a sewage system and water supply, as it had promised to do, and provided to that area the same level of public services as was available to the remainder of the City.

Annexation of Adjoining Strip of Kildonan West of the Red River, 1906 Residents of Ward Four of Kildonan, adjoining the North boundary of Winnipeg on the West side of the Red River also expressed, in 1906, a desire to be annexed to Winnipeg. The City indicated its willingness, provided a majority of the ratepayers in the Ward were agreeable. A plebiscite was held early in 1906 and the majority approved the proposal by the decisive vote of 100 to 47. The Provincial Legislature accordingly passed the necessary legislation in the same year; with the new territory, Winnipeg's North limit was extended to McAdam Avenue (approximately), where it has since remained.

Huge Growth of Winnipeg's Population, 1900-1914 The rapid colonization of Western Canada and the vast construction activity proceeding throughout the West during the fifteen years preceding the outbreak of the Great War supported a huge increase in the population and facilities of Winnipeg. Thanks to its geographical location, its established connections,

and its freight rate privileges, the city occupied a key position in the Western economy, and its expansion paralleled the phenomenal growth of Western Canada. The City's population increased fivefold during the fifteen year period, from about 40 thousand in 1900 to more than 200 thousand in 1914, and its commercial, industrial and public facilities expanded correspondingly. The pace of the expansion increased crescendo: during the six years 1900 to 1914 inclusive, the City of Winnipeg grew at a rate unprecedented at the time and unequalled since; during this period was constructed most of the larger office buildings now standing in the downtown area, and a major proportion of the residential buildings now in use. Responsible people held the view in 1910 that the city's marvellous rate of growth would continue for another generation: only a small fraction of the West's arable land had so far been taken up; the present pace of colonization could easily continue, they felt, into the indefinite future, supporting the continuing growth of Winnipeg. A not uncommon forecast predicted that by 1930 the West would have a population of several millions, and Winnipeg a population of one million. Far-sighted promoters and speculators, envisioning the future growth of the local population, and the spread of the built-up area far beyond its present limits, subdivided land up to twelve miles distant from the city centre. Large areas of empty land within and adjacent to the city, were serviced with water mains and sewers, in anticipation of the houses shortly expected to be built. Winnipeg ratepayers overwhelmingly approved an ambitious scheme to construct a costly 94 mile aqueduct to Shoal Lake that would furnish a water supply adequate for a population of 850 thousand. The Street Railway Company extended its service to points well outside the City limits, including Headingley to the West, Selkirk to the North, and St. Norbert to the South.

The First Split-ups of the Suburban Municipalities - the Rivers as Barriers to Unity―1912 - 15 With street railway transportation available to districts well outside the City, many individuals, attracted by the considerably lower price of building lots, and the substantially lower tax rates, built houses in the new suburban subdivisions, despite the availability of land within the City itself. Speculation kept the price of City lots at very high levels, while City taxes greatly exceeded those charged in suburban municipalities which supplied a far smaller range of public services. With the growth of suburban populations to substantial proportions, the existing municipal boundaries became out-dated. Each of the three suburban municipalities straddled a river: Assiniboia was comprised of land on both sides of the Assiniboine, while Kildonan and St. Vital (and St. Paul) straddled the Red River. So long as the rivers had constituted the chief means of transportation and communication, they had joined rather than divided people living on opposite banks, save during the fall freeze-up and spring break-up periods, when rivers could not safely be crossed. By 1910 however, the rivers were supplanted as the chief means of local transportation, by roads and the street railway; the rivers henceforth no longer joined communities, the now divided them. In each suburban municipality the main municipal offices and facilities such as the municipal hall, post office, and schools were located on one side of the river; in Assiniboia on the North side of the Assiniboine, in Kildonan on the West side of the Red, in St. Vital on the East side of the Red River. As the communities on the opposite banks grew to substantial proportions, they objected to the inconvenience of crossing the river to obtain service, and broke away to set up their own municipality. Thus in 1912 the West side of St. Vital separated out to become the independent municipality of Fort Garry; (1) in the following year the South side of Assiniboia was incorporated as the municipality of Charleswood; Kildonan split along the river into East and West Kildonan in 1914, and in the following year St. Paul split into East and West St.

Paul.

The Towns of Tuxedo and Transcona Two additional municipalities were carved out during this period. A group of real estate promoters purchased a substantial acreage of land on the South side of Assiniboia, which they incorporated in 1911 as the Town of Tuxedo, to be developed as a high class residential suburb. The town of Transcona was incorporated in 1912, comprised of portions of Springfield, Kildonan and St. Vital; it was almost exclusively a railway centre, containing the main shops and yards of the Grand Trunk Pacific and the National Transcontinental Railway (ultimately taken over by the Canadian National Railway) and large marshalling yards of the Canadian Pacific Railway.

Major Expansion of Territorial Limits by the City of St. Boniface, 1914 The Town of St. Boniface, incorporated in 1883, comprised an area, approximately square in shape, 3,856 acres in area, on the East bank of the Red River, across from Winnipeg. Loss of the Elmwood district in 1895 reduced the town's size by approximately one-quarter. The town became incorporated as a City in 1908 and therewith acquired additional territory to the East, increasing its area to 3,261 acres. In 1914 the City annexed a huge portion of adjoining St. Vital, increasing its area to 11,641 acres, or more than treble the previous figure. (2) (See map III.)

Municipal Splits Arising from Urban-Rural Conflicts, 1920-24 Four additional municipalities came into existence during the early post-war years in consequence of sharp differences between the urban and rural populations of existing municipalities. The small, urbanized Southeast corner of Rosser separated out to form the Village of Brooklands in 1919, while the Eastern urbanized portion of Assiniboia separated out in the following year to become the municipality of St. James. In both cases the parent municipality, controlled by the rural element, antagonized its urban segment by refusing to provide facilities which the latter demanded; in both cases, as well, the municipal hall was located at a distance of several miles from the urbanized section. In the two Kildonans, on the other hand, where the urban populations were dormant, the rural elements broke away to form their own municipalities. Thus in 1921 the rural portion of West Kildonan, unwilling to participate in the ambitious schemes projected by the urban element, broke away to form the municipality of Old Kildonan. Three years later, complaining that the municipality, dominated by the urban portion, was assessing their land at excessive levels, the rural section of East Kildonan separated out to form the municipality of North Kildonan. Thus by 1924 St. Vital and Fort Garry were the only two municipalities in the Greater Winnipeg area which contained substantial rural as well as urban populations. No further municipal divisions have occurred since East Kildonan was split; municipal boundaries have remained virtually unaltered from that time on. One major change did occur ii regard to School Division boundaries: until 1924 the City of St. Boniface constituted only one School District; in that year however the residents of Norwood, a district of St. Boniface which came to be settled primarily by Anglo-Saxon families early in the twentieth century, petitioned for a separate School District, and the provincial authorities granted the request.

CHAPTER 6 — MUNICIPAL ADMINISTRATION Powers of Municipal Corporations According to the B.N.A. Act, provincial governments are responsible for the administration of all public matters which are of a purely local character. In Manitoba, as in all other provinces, the provincial government divided the settled portions of the province into a number of separate municipalities, for the purpose of local self-government, the first division into municipalities being carried out here in 1870. (1) The original pattern did not long remain; additional municipalities were created as additional territory became populated to a sufficient density to justify local self-government, and the boundaries of the original municipalities were shifted about in conformity with loca desires and developments. While originally n Manitoba all municipalities save Winnipeg were essentially rural in character, the emergence of additional urban communities of varying size made necessary the creation of new municipalities such as cities, towns and villages, to enable these urban communities to enjoy local self-government. Each municipality constitutes a legal corporation, which is empowered by the Provincial Legislature to raise revenue through taxation of local residents, and to use the monies so derived for the provision of necessary services to the local community. The decisions as to how to raise money and on what to spend it are made by a council of citizens, elected from the citizenry of the municipality at large. The Municipal Act, with all its revisions, closely prescribes how the members of the municipal council shall be elected, and what powers they possess. Incorporated cities, however, are exempt, in varying degree, from the provisions of the Municipal Act. Upon incorporation, a city receives a charter which in effect is a constitution according to which it must henceforth rule its public affairs. City charters vary in degree of comprehensiveness; thus their respective charters render Winnipeg, and St. Boniface virtually self-governing, liable to very few provisions of the Municipal Act. The cities of Brandon, Portage la Prairie and the recently incorporated cities of St. James and East Kildonan have somewhat lesser powers, being subject to more provisions of the Act. The remaining municipalities of the Greater Winnipeg area, and Manitoba generally, are fully subject to the provisions of the Municipal Act and must order their public affairs in conformity with the provisions of the Act. The council of a municipality is empowered to provide a wide array of services to residents, and to regulate many phases of commercial and private activity. Thus councils may carry out public works, operate public utilities, maintain fire and police departments, operate public parks and libraries, and provide aid to indigent residents. They may pass and enforce regulations in regard to local health and public safety, and in regard to a variety of retail commercial establishments. To finance their expenditures, municipalities may raise revenue primarily through taxation imposed on local real property and may borrow money for current and capital expenditures. The Municipal Act prescribes limits, however, to the rate of taxation which may be levied by a municipal council, and the scale of its borrowing. So long as its actions do not contravene the Municipal Act, however, a municipal corporation is a sovereign body. No higher level of government may, for instance, order a municipality to desist from an action which is within its rights under the Municipal Act. Such a prohibition could only be imposed if the Municipal Act were amended to make the action in question beyond the powers of a municipal corporation.

As of 1957, the Greater Winnipeg area was divided up among sixteen different municipalities, comprised as shown in Table I. As has already been described in Part I, the multiplicity of administrative bodies for what is essentially a single community, arose from the fact that, as the local economy and population grew in size, the built up area spread beyond the limits of Winnipeg. Urban subdivisions emerged in the rural municipalities which surrounded the City. Because of the difficulty of communication across the local rivers, every municipality which straddled a river was split in two. Table 3: Population in 1956 and Area of Greater Winnipeg Municipalities Type of Municipality City City City Suburban Municipality City Suburban Municipality Suburban Municipality Town Village Town Rural Municipality Rural Municipality Rural Municipality Rural Municipality Rural Municipality Rural Municipality

Name Population in 1956 Area in Acres Winnipeg 255,093 15,660 St. Boniface 28,851 11,641 St. James 26,502 5,073 St. Vital 23,672 14,448 East Kildonan 18,718 2,071 West Kildonan 15,256 1,754 Fort Garry 13,592 17,920 Transcona 8,312 5,503 Brooklands 3,941 630 Tuxedo 1,163 4,606 Charleswood 4,982 23,487 North Kildonan 4,451 5,926 Assiniboia 3,577 21,600 West St. Paul* 1,604 9,900 East. St. Paul* 1,523 20,860 Old Kildonan 1,011 6,400

As a result of conflict within a municipality between residents of the urban subdivisions and the residents of the remaining rural section, further splits occurred, with each rural and urban section becoming a separate municipality.

The Regulations re Incorporation The basis of incorporation as city, town or village is as follows, according to the Municipal Act. A locality which contains more than 500 inhabitants living in close proximity, wherein the aggregate taxable assessment is in excess of $300,000 may be incorporated as a village. Its area must not exceed 640 acres, unless its population is in excess of 2,000 persons. In that event its area may include an additional 160 acres for each thousand inhabitants in excess of 2,000. A locality may incorporate as a town if it contains in excess of 1,500 inhabitants. (1) It is subject, however, to the same limitations in regard to area as is a village; i.e. its area must not exceed 640 acres, unless the population is greater than 2,000, in which event it may include 160 acres for each thousand of population in excess of that figure. A town may become a city when its population exceeds 10,000. Upon becoming a city it is no longer subject to limitations in regard to area.

While the Municipal Act provides for the incorporation of urban localities as outlined above, a number of incorporations have been authorized, by special Act of the Legislature, which did not meet the requirements laid down in the Municipal Act. Thus Tuxedo was incorporated as a town in 1911, even though it was at the time composed entirely of farm land, and contained no urban population whatsoever. (2) Forty-five years later it still did not contain the minimum population required for incorporation as a town, as stipulated by the Municipal Act. The area of Tuxedo furthermore very greatly exceeds the limit specified in the Municipal Act, being 4,606 acres, whereas the Act specifies that a town's area may not be in excess of 640 acres, with 160 additional acres allowed for each thousands of population in excess of fifteen hundred. (3)

Elected Representatives to Municipal Councils The 16 municipalities which are within the Greater Winnipeg area are administered by a total of 112 elected officials, including 10 mayors, 6 reeves, and 96 councillors. Table II indicates the number of elected representatives in each municipality, showing as well the number of wards from which they are elected in each case, and the ratio of elected representatives to municipal population in 1956. As is evident from Table II, there are striking disparities in the number of citizens represented by the elected representatives of the various municipalities. Thus in Winnipeg, each elected member of Council, including the Mayor, represented on average 13,426 persons in 1956. Members of the councils of the six largest suburban municipalities represented between 1,942 and 3,382 persons each. In the eight smaller municipalities, each council member represented on the average fewer than one thousand persons. In the four smallest, Tuxedo, East St. Paul, West St. Paul and Old Kildonan, each member of the municipal council represented, on the average, fewer than 325 persons. All members of the municipal councils in Greater Winnipeg are paid, the amounts ranging (in 1956) from $6 per meeting in the case of the councillors in the smallest suburban municipalities, to $11,800 per year in the case of the mayor of Winnipeg. Table 4: Number of Wards and Council Members in Greater Winnipeg Municipalities, 1956 Number of Number Aldermen or of Wards Councillors Winnipeg St. Boniface St. James St. Vital East Kildonan West Kildonan Fort Garry Transcona Brooklands Tuxedo Charleswood North Kildonan

3 5 0 0 3 0 2 0 0 0 4 4

18 10 8 6 6 6 6 4 4 4 4 4

Ratio of Population to Elected Members of Council 13,426 2,623 2,945 3,382 2,674 2,179 1,942 1,662 788 233 996 890

Number of Number Aldermen or of Wards Councillors Assiniboia West St. Paul East St. Paul Old Kildonan

4 4 4 4

4 4 4 4

Ratio of Population to Elected Members of Council 715 321 305 202

It should be noted that in Winnipeg and the larger municipalities, members of the municipal council usually are called upon to put in the equivalent of from one to three days per week n public business, in addition to spending a good deal of time in personal discussions with private citizens. The mayoralty of Winnipeg requires full time attention.

Public Interest in Local Government Research staff of the Greater Winnipeg Investigating Commission carried out the following simple study to ascertain the level of public interest in local government in the various municipalities of the metropolitan area. For the municipal elections held in the five years 1953–57 inclusive, it was calculated how many contesting candidates there were , on the average, for each vacant seat. In addition it was calculated, over the same 5 year period, what percentage of the qualified voters actually exercised their franchise in each municipality. See Table IV. Though not of course conclusive, the figures in Table IV suggest that the level of public interest is not significantly different between the various municipalities. On the whole, the figures suggest a low level of interest everywhere. The fact that acclamations have been frequent, and that rarely in elections have there been more than two candidates for each seat contested, suggest that relatively few persons in the metropolitan community are prepared to vie for public office. The fact that the turnout of voters is seldom in excess of 50% of the total number qualified, indicates that a great many electors have a corresponding disinterest in their municipal affairs.

Present Municipal Offices The municipal offices of the various municipalities of Greater Winnipeg, from which they are respectively administered, vary greatly in size, age and type of construction. A brief description is here given of these offices: Winnipeg A three storey brick structure built in 1883, located at Main Street and William Avenue. Replacement of this building with a new City Hall was projected in 1913, but because of the financial depression which developed in that year, the project was not actually carried out. Owing to the inadequate space available in the City Hall Building, an office building was constructed in 1919 on the Market Square facing the City Hall. Additional civic department offices are located in an old office building nearby on Princess Street, and another structure on James Street. (A small annex has recently been completed to the latter.) having been approved by the ratepayers, a new City Hall will soon be built on Broadway, across from the Legislative Building, which will be adequate to contain all

civic offices. St. Boniface A brick-built three-storey City Hall on Provencher Avenue, constructed in 1906, when the Town of St. Boniface was incorporated as a City. The Police Department is located in the basement. St. James A partially completed apartment block at 2000 Portage Avenue which was taken over by the municipality through tax sale proceedings some 25 years ago. A handsome one storey annex has recently been completed. St. Vital A two storey brick structure about 50 years old, located on St. Mary's Road at St. Anne's, which houses the Police and Fire Department on the ground floor, and the municipal offices on the second floor. East Kildonan A modern, two storey brick structure located at 755 Henderson Highway, containing the Health Unit as well as civic offices, built in 1950. West Kildonan A modern one storey, brick building located at 1760 Main Street, built in 1956. Fort Garry A modern, one and a half storey brick building located at 1350 Pembina Highway. The Police and Fire Department and Health Unit are located in the same building. Transcona A one storey brick building about forty years old, originally built as a bank branch, located at 141 Regent West. Brooklands A small, stucco building, located on Alexander at Dee, which houses the police department, as well as the Municipal Offices. Tuxedo An office (324) in the Grain Exchange Building on Lombard Street in Winnipeg. Charleswood A small, old, cottage type structure, located at 5014 Roblin Boulevard. It houses also the local detachment of the RCMP which polices the municipality. North Kildonan A modern, one storey, brick structure, located at 1400 Henderson Highway. Assiniboia A two storey brick building, about 50 years old, built to serve the original municipality of Assiniboia, which included present day St. James, Tuxedo, Charleswood and Assiniboia. Located on Portage Avenue in Kirkfield Park. East St. Paul A small, one storey stucco building, recently completed, on Highway 59, in Bird's Hill Village. West St. Paul A two storey brick structure, built about fifty years ago, designed to serve the original municipality of St. Paul, which included present day East and West St. Paul. Located on Highway No. 1 in the village of Middlechurch. Old Kildonan A small, modern, stucco bungalow on Main Street at Foley Avenue, which contains in the rear living quarters for the Secretary-Treasurer.

Municipal Administration Costs Table V presents the costs of administration in the various municipalities of Greater Winnipeg in 1956. As is evident, the cost per capita varied substantially from one municipality to another. The cost per capita in the three largest cities, with the largest industrial and commercial concentrations, i.e. Winnipeg, St. Boniface, and St. James, was distinctly higher than in the large, essentially dormitory suburbs such as St. Vital, Fort Garry and the Kildonans. On the other hand, the per capita cost of administration was generally higher in the smaller suburban municipalities than in the larger. Thus, in the four large, primarily dormitory suburbs with population in excess of ten thousand (St. Vital, Fort Garry and the Kildonans), administration cost per capita ranged from $2.83 to $3.69. On the other hand in the smaller suburban municipalities, with population under ten thousand in each case, the cost of administration per capita ranged from $3.99 to $17.65. The four smallest, with population under two thousand in each case, showed the highest per capita costs, ranging from $5.47 in the case of West St. Paul, to $17.65 in the case of Tuxedo, the latter figure being over three times as great as the corresponding figure for Winnipeg or any of the larger suburban municipalities. Table 5: Expenditures for Administrative Purposes, Municipalities of Greater Winnipeg, 1956 Expended on Administration Administration Cost per Capita - 19561 - 1956 Winnipeg 1,240,714 4.86 St. Boniface 141,318 4.90 St. James 143,461 5.41 St. Vital 68,439 2.89 East Kildonan 55,868 2.98 West 56,309 3.69 Kildonan Fort Garry 58,490 2.83 Transcona 38,026 4.57 Brooklands 15,712 3.99 Tuxedo 20,530 17.65 Charleswood 23,619 4.74 North 18,614 4.18 Kildonan Assiniboia 17,416 4.87 West St. Paul 8,777 5.47 East St. Paul 9,349 6.14 Old Kildonan 7,418 7.34 ** Administration expenditures referred to in Winnipeg as costs of General Government. 1Does not include pension fund contributions, which, in some suburban municipalities, are included among expenditures on administration.