The capital of Manitoba is not very well known. If it is known to outsiders, it’s usually recognized for being the start of the prairies with the bison symbol even though the provincial animal is the great grey owl. Many mistake the bison for being a buffalo, but buffalo are native to Africa, not North America.
What I think Winnipeg should be known for is Winnie the Pooh. Winnie was a female cub from Northern Ontario that was kept by a veterinarian who went off to WWI and named her after his home town of Winnipeg. Even though the city has a Winnie the Pooh Museum, the bear had never set foot in the province.
The city’s two largest museums are the Canadian Museum of Human Rights, where the 1982 Constitution Act resides, and the Manitoba Museum, where taxidermy bison reside. Both museums have displays on the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike, the largest in Canadian history. After WWI, the Russian Revolution took place in 1917 and the demand for better working conditions echoed throughout the world.
In 1918, the Swiss had a general strike organized from Olten that changed the country’s democracy. A year later, 30,000 workers in Winnipeg went on strike and the mounted police beat strikers after a streetcar was vandalized, leading to two deaths. The city’s streets were occupied by the army and parliament changed the law so British-born immigrants could be deported for the first time.
Winnipeg also has a mint that produces coinage for over 90 countries around the world. Its central Canadian location and railway hub helps export these heavy coins to ports on either coast and then around the world. Winnipeg—the Chicago that never was.
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