Winnipeg announced this past week that it intends to create CENTREPORT- an inland port created to use the airport and Winnipeg's geographic location in North America to import goods from Asia and Europe and distribute those goods throughout the rest of Canada and parts of the United States by air, rail and truck. IMHO with the election upcoming, this is Winnipeg's concerted effort to qualify the province and city for millions in federal money to build new roads, rail lines and add new infrastructure like sewers and utilities around the airport.
So does Winnipeg have what it takes to be a port? Winnipeg has a 700,000 population and immigration rate of about 11,000 people a year which it intends to double in the next decade. I would think immigration and population growth, attracting qualified people here would be a major focus to make being a port city a reality.

I wonder what upgrades will this provide to Winnipeg were it to receive substantial federal and provincial funding? I know that some roads are being developed More importantly from my perspective- what might it do to real estate values?? This simply fuels my fire for purchasing investment properties here as many other investors are also doing. I spoke with a realtor who was representing three BC investors who are looking for duplexes to rent out. That’s probably one of Winnipeg’s strengths that make it a strong contender for a port location. This place is cheap like borscht for business.

I can see that in the next few years Winnipeg is really working on making it competitive. The Winnipeg Airport is being upgraded, slated to be ready by 2009-2010, the same time frame for this Centreport development. Over the next few years I would suggest that Winnipeg will have a different face altogether, and a great place to invest while the development is going on.

One thing I DO hope changes is the MEDIA here. Not to bash the Global TV newscasters but just take a look at what they wear on air. Actually, just look at the general image they portray. It’s like the women are forced to wear suit jackets on air that don’t fit them- what’s up with that?! There’s no polished, salon styled hair. No beautiful jewelry or baubles to look at but maybe I’m used to looking at Pamela Martin who has been a BC news anchor since the 70s, and prior to that a teen model. I think on Global TV Winnipeg the meteorologist is 22 years old, I’m not sure. And the Winnipeg newspapers? Get this with the Winnipeg Sun: ONE PAGE for discussions about Money. ONE STINKIN’ PAGE. Absolutely ZERO pages detailing the markets and stocks. No Business section. Three pages of city-wide news, six pages of world news, the same of entertainment and movies, I think 3 pages of classifieds with a dismal number being real estate related and the last HALF of the paper dedicated to sports. Mortgage rates nowhere to be found. Horoscopes exist, as do the comics. But no rates, no business and no stocks in the Winnipeg Sun. Again, I think if Winnipeg is to portray itself as a world player and international port that our media a news should mean serious business. Perhaps we could start by having a business section in the newspaper?!?
(PS to this post- the FREEPRESS in Winnipeg DOES have these details I'm griping about. It's just the Winnipeg SUN that licks. Freepress, interestingly enough, is laid out exactly like the Vancouver Sun...)

Physically I'm not doing so well lately. Stress sits in the pit of my stomach and runs up and down my gut daily. I keep waiting for some sort of resolution with my condo repairs from the flood that was oh, August 4th and it's taking a toll on me. Meanwhile I literally live in a slum condo in River Heights where I continue to pay mortgage payments and condo fees while tripping over the boxed contents of my kitchen. I think I'm going to nickname my condo EKG (east kildonan condo) because it LOOKS like it's from EK and plus it NEEDS an EKG to see if it has any LIFE left in it!!!

This whole insurance process is ASININE. For weeks I have had the Condo Board, the property manager, the condo insurance adjuster and their contractors arguing about who is responsible for paying me out for damages. Everyone points fingers at everyone else and plays telephone tag with me, assuring me that "they'll get back to me by the end of the day". Do they?! Oh, noooooo. I suspect it will be somewhere around Christmas that I am even able to START working on the repairs and see any money from WHOEVER it turns out is responsible for paying me. The good news, I try to tell myself, is that when completed the condo will be worth "so much more" and the equity will soothe my financial woes. It's just that until everything is done and my place re-assessed I can do nothing further financially. I can't refinance my mortgage and assimilate my debts. I can't invest if I wanted to in any of the fantastic deals that are available in the real estate market anytime soon either. I must sit on my hands for the winter. At least they'll stay warm...!!!

Little concerned about the markets this past week, eh? I wonder how much of my RRSPs are left now- I hesitate to look. I was just reading on Garth's blog about the impact of the market failure on the average person applying for loans and credit products. He says there will be "far tighter restrictions on loans and mortgages to new borrowers, to builders, for renovation and lines of credit". It may well be a time to sit tight, fix what's broken, have fun painting and putting up new light fixtures from IKEA. Meanwhile I'll put the cash in the mattress until (as Garth puts it) this "financial nuclear winter" is over!!