Events in the long life of Britain’s Prince Philip

No Christmas trees, no Christmas trees — the lots are empty as can be

It might take a Christmas miracle to get your hands on even a scraggly Charlie Brown-style tree this holiday season.

Winnipeg garden centre owners interviewed Monday morning said they are totally sold out and they’ve never seen stock vanish this quickly in all their years in the business.

They likened it to the holiday version of panicked shoppers binge-buying toilet paper when the COVID-19 pandemic first arrived in the province back in March.

“I’m sold out,” declared Ray DuBois, owner of Ron Paul Garden Centre on St. Mary’s Road. “I could see it coming back in August. When we placed our order, I bumped it up by 10 per cent.”

‘Thank you, Winnipeg’: Gillingham wins second term as city’s mayor

Scott Gillingham won a second term as Winnipeg mayor in Wednesday’s municipal election, while Noah Redden surged to a top-three finish and more than half of the city’s 15 councillors seats were claimed by political newcomers.

Unofficial results gave Gillingham 39.82 per cent of the vote, followed by Kevin Klein (20.71 per cent), Noah Redden (19.84 per cent) and Mike Vogiatzakis (9.66 per cent) in a field of 12 candidates — the most since 1992.

“Tonight, you have given me the honour of serving as your mayor once again,” Gillingham, joined by his wife Marla and other family members, said in front of more than 100 cheering supporters who waved blue and orange pompoms at the Birchwood Inn in St. James. 

“I have to tell you, it means even more to me this second time. Thank you, Winnipeg. I will never take your trust for granted. I still believe our city’s best days are ahead of us.”

Events in the long life of Britain's Prince Philip

With the latest COVID-19 stay-at-home order in Ontario preventing theatre companies from even rehearsing or recording content, organizations are cautiously planning late spring or summer shows, including the outdoor production ‘C-O-N-T-A-C-T.’

Multi-year budget to force councillors, bureaucrats to focus on the big picture

City hall is putting the final touches on the 2019 preliminary budget -- but the real tough job will start after that.

The city is committed to developing a four-year budget beginning with 2020, and having it in place by the end of this year.

It's a process that is filled with uncertainties, trying to balance four successive annual budgets at the same time, using assumptions on revenues and expenses that can change without notice: a provincial government that has frozen funding to city hall at 2016 levels and is reluctant to disclose annual funding commitments or share in unexpected revenues; erratic fuel prices; a possible change in government in Ottawa, which could bring new spending priorities. And in the middle of that four-year span, another civic election where new members of council may have other priorities than those laid out by the current crop of office holders.

Municipal governments across Manitoba are required to approve their annual operating and capital budgets by the end of March each year. But the criticism of decision-making at city hall has been that all the decisions are made on a year-to-year basis, keeping voters happy with an eye on the next election.