Empty Winnipeg hockey rink could become year-round farmers’ market
A long-vacant hockey rink in Winnipeg could soon find new life as a space for a year-round farmers’ market.
An item in the city’s planning and development committee agenda for June 27, proposes the public service department look at converting the empty Roland Michener Arena to a year-round farmers’ market.
The motion, brought forward by Coun. Russ Wyatt (Transcona), says the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the risk of global supply chain issues and the impact it could have on Winnipeg’s economy and food supply.
“A lot of our fresh food to this day still comes – if you go to the grocery store – from south of the border,” he said on Monday. “If we have another pandemic and if it's more severe or we don't have a vaccine, the Americans would not hesitate to shut the border down to fresh food coming north. We need to ensure we have local food security.”
Kristie Benyon is executive director of Direct Farm Manitoba, an organization that represents farmers’ markets and small farmers.
She said the possibility of a market in the arena is a benefit for producers and vendors.
“Having more opportunities for producers who have year-round produce, for a lot of our meat producers and vegetable producers, as well as these artisans that sell at farmers' markets and our bakers and makers, an opportunity like that would be great for them,” Benyon said, adding she is hoping to be consulted if the city moves forward.
Wyatt said the proposal includes a building assessment of the Roland Michener Arena, which was decommissioned by the city and declared surplus last year. If the building meets the needs, discussions on the conversion into a year-round market would begin.
Public works has 180 days to report back.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
NEW These two chemists were friends for decades. A DNA test revealed they were actually cousins
Jim Arner was always interested in genealogy and discovering more about his ancestry. But after submitting his own DNA test, he learned an old work colleague was actually a distant cousin.
Norovirus spreading at 'higher frequency' than expected in Canada
Norovirus is spreading at a 'higher frequency' than expected in Canada, specifically, in Ontario and Alberta, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada.
'Deeply unhappy' grocery shoppers plan to boycott Loblaw-owned stores in May
A boycott targeting Loblaw is gaining momentum online, with what could be thousands of shoppers taking their money elsewhere in May.
U.S. CDC says it's identified 1st documented cases of HIV transmitted through cosmetic needles
Three women diagnosed with HIV after getting 'vampire facial' procedures at an unlicensed medical spa are believed to be the first documented cases of people contracting the virus through a cosmetic procedure using needles.
Tractor-trailers with no one aboard? The future is near for self-driving trucks on U.S. roads
On a three-lane test track along the Monongahela River, an 18-wheel tractor-trailer rounded a curve. No one was on board.
Road closed in Oak Bay, B.C., so elephant seal can cross
Police in Oak Bay, B.C., had to close a stretch of road Sunday to help an elephant seal named Emerson get safely back into the water.
Ontario to ban use of cellphones in school classrooms starting in September
Ontario is introducing a suite of measures that will crack down on cellphone use and vaping in schools.
Deadly six-vehicle crash on Highway 400 sparked by road rage incident
One person was killed in a six-vehicle crash on Highway 400 in Innisfil Friday evening.
Aerial photos show wide devastation left by a deadly tornado in China's Guangzhou
Aerial photos posted by Chinese state media on Sunday showed wide devastation in part of the southern city of Guangzhou after a tornado swept through the day before, killing five people, injuring dozens others and damaging more than 140 buildings.