ward
Ward may refer to:
Division or unit
* Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward
* Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...
and neighbourhood of
Winnipeg
Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...
,
Manitoba
Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
.
Located in the south-central part of the city, it is bounded on the north by Carrière Avenue; on the south by the northern limit of the
Rural Municipality of Ritchot
The Rural Municipality of Ritchot (french: Municipalité rurale de Ritchot) is a rural municipality in the Winnipeg Capital Region, bordering the south side of Winnipeg in Manitoba, Canada. The separately-administered town of Niverville lies adja ...
; on the west by the Red River; and on the east by the
Seine River
)
, mouth_location = Le Havre/Honfleur
, mouth_coordinates =
, mouth_elevation =
, progression =
, river_system = Seine basin
, basin_size =
, tributaries_left = Yonne, Loing, Eure, Risle
, tributaries ...
rural municipality
A rural municipality is a classification of municipality, a type of local government, found in several countries.
These include:
* Rural municipalities in Canada, a type of municipal status in the Canadian provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, ...
, called the RM of St. Boniface. After the Town of Saint Boniface was formed in 1883, the RM continued operating as its own government, and was renamed to the Rural Municipality of St. Vital in 1903 to avoid confusion. In 1960, it became part of the
Metropolitan Corporation of Greater Winnipeg
Metropolitan Corporation of Greater Winnipeg was a governing body that served as part of the leadership for the metropolitan area of Winnipeg. It was established by Premier Douglas Campbell after he was given a commission to do so by the Great ...
, achieving
city status City status is a symbolic and legal designation given by a national or subnational government. A municipality may receive city status because it already has the qualities of a city, or because it has some special purpose.
Historically, city status ...
soon after in 1962 until the Winnipeg merger.
As a city ward, St. Vital is represented by a member of
Winnipeg City Council
The Winnipeg City Council (french: Conseil municipal de Winnipeg) is the governing body of the city of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The Council is seated in the Council Building of Winnipeg City Hall.
History
The community was established by
francophone
French became an international language in the Middle Ages, when the power of the Kingdom of France made it the second international language, alongside Latin. This status continued to grow into the 18th century, by which time French was the l ...
settlers in 1822, and is the second-oldest permanent settlement in Manitoba after Kildonan. This community was named ''St. Vital'' by Archbishop Taché in 1860, in honour of the
patron saint
A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...
of his colleague, Father
Vital-Justin Grandin
Vital-Justin Grandin (8 February 1829 – 3 June 1902) was a Roman Catholic priest and bishop known as a key architect of the Canadian Indian residential school system, which has been labeled an instrument of cultural genocide. In June 202 ...
.
The community became established in 1880 as a
rural municipality
A rural municipality is a classification of municipality, a type of local government, found in several countries.
These include:
* Rural municipalities in Canada, a type of municipal status in the Canadian provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, ...
, called the Rural Municipality of St. Boniface. After the Town of Saint Boniface was formed in 1883, the RM continued operating as its own government, and was renamed to the Rural Municipality of St. Vital in 1903 to avoid confusion.
From 1891, the municipality underwent a series of boundary changes, wherein it was reduced to the east and extended in the west and south. In 1912, the community on the west side of the Red River separated to form the RM of Fort Garry; in 1914, a large tract of land was annexed to the City of St. Boniface and land annexed from the RM of Ritchot. It was bounded on the west and east by the Red and Seine Rivers, Carriere Avenue on the north and Grande Pointe on the south.
The municipality included parts of the
Parish
A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...
es of St. Boniface, St. Vital, and St. Norbert. The original Parish of St. Vital existed in present-day St. Vital in addition to much of
Fort Garry
Fort Garry, also known as Upper Fort Garry, was a Hudson's Bay Company trading post at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers in what is now downtown Winnipeg. It was established in 1822 on or near the site of the North West Company' ...
, another present-day suburb on the west side of the Red River. It began in 1861 when Bishop Taché, on the east side of the Red River, built a small
school
A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compuls ...
house inside which a small
chapel
A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...
was built. The parish was home to many French-speaking settlers, particularly Métis.
St. Vital remained a strongly francophone community in the early decades after Manitoba's incorporation as a Canadian province in 1870, with every reeve and councillor being of a francophone background until 1910. The anglophone population grew throughout this period, however: in 1912, Richard Wilson was elected as St. Vital's first anglophone reeve, and after 1913, Council business was conducted in English. The municipal government became more pro-business after this period, and supported municipal expansion.Stewart, pp. 19–21.
From 1920 to 1958, St. Vital was part of the provincial
electoral division
An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other poli ...
single transferable voting
Single transferable vote (STV) is a multi-winner electoral system in which voters cast a single vote in the form of a ranked-choice ballot. Voters have the option to rank candidates, and their vote may be transferred according to alternate p ...
system for its municipal elections, using this system until 1972.Bowler and Grofman, Elections in Australia...(2000), p. 208, 233) Between 1925 and 1927, the municipality lost its mandate to govern, when the Winnipeg Suburban Municipal Board stepped in due to financial difficulties. Moreover, with less than 10,000 people in the area, the municipality faced
bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...
in 1926, as municipal growth outstripped
tax revenue
Tax revenue is the income that is collected by governments through taxation. Taxation is the primary source of government revenue. Revenue may be extracted from sources such as individuals, public enterprises, trade, royalties on natural resou ...
s. Control of the municipality was assumed by the provincial government's Municipal and Public Utilities Board for one year.History of St. Vital Fire Hall. Accessed October 8, 2009.
In 1950, the district was seriously affected by the Red River flood, with the entire developed area of St. Vital being under water at one point. The neighbourhoods of Kingston Crescent and
Elm Park
Elm Park is a suburban planned community in East London within the London Borough of Havering. Located east-northeast of Charing Cross, it is identified as a district centre in the London Plan with several streets of shops and a priority for ...
were the hardest hit. The fire hall in Elm Park was protected with sandbags and sheltered dozens of evacuees, as shown in a photo published in the 1 May 1950 edition of ''
Life
Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energ ...
'' magazine.
In 1960, St. Vital became part of the
Metropolitan Corporation of Greater Winnipeg
Metropolitan Corporation of Greater Winnipeg was a governing body that served as part of the leadership for the metropolitan area of Winnipeg. It was established by Premier Douglas Campbell after he was given a commission to do so by the Great ...
, achieving
city status City status is a symbolic and legal designation given by a national or subnational government. A municipality may receive city status because it already has the qualities of a city, or because it has some special purpose.
Historically, city status ...
soon after on 9 June 1962 with the passing of ''An Act to provide a Charter for the City of St. Vital''. The city became involved in a school controversy in 1963–64, when six francophone families took their children out of school to protest bus fees for parochial school students. The matter was resolved following a 3-month standoff.
In 1972, the City of St. Vital and several other municipalities merged with
Winnipeg
Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...
as part of the Unicity project laid out in the 1971 ''City of Winnipeg Act'', whereupon it became a ward of the city and moved to
first-past-the-post voting
In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast their ...
. Some residents were reluctant to amalgamate with Winnipeg, and the former municipal government held a mock burial of the city crest.
Former reeves and mayors
Prior to its amalgamation into Winnipeg in 1972, St. Vital was led by a reeve or
mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...
.
Demographics
St. Vital remained a strongly francophone community in the early decades after Manitoba's incorporation as a Canadian province in 1870, with every reeve and councillor being of a francophone background until 1910.
St. Vital's population increased from only 1,800 at the end of
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
to 11,000 in 1933. By 1951, 63% of St. Vital's population was of
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
background, and the francophone population had fallen to under 13%. As of 2006, 17.4% of residents of St. Vital speak either both English and French or French only, while 82% speak English only and 0.6% speak neither English nor French.2006 Census returns - St. Vital Accessed October 21, 2009.
middle-class
The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. Comm ...
neighbourhoods. Among them are Alpine Place,
Elm Park
Elm Park is a suburban planned community in East London within the London Borough of Havering. Located east-northeast of Charing Cross, it is identified as a district centre in the London Plan with several streets of shops and a priority for ...
Varennes
Varennes-en-Argonne (, literally ''Varennes in Argonne'') or simply Varennes (German: Wöringen) is a commune in the Meuse department in the Grand Est region in Northeastern France. In 2019, it had a population of 639.
Geography
Varennes-en-Ar ...
, Worthington, Kingston Crescent,
Minnetonka
Minnetonka ( ) is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States. A western suburb of the Twin Cities, Minnetonka is located about west of downtown Minneapolis. As of the 2020 census, the city's population was 53,781.
Minnetonka is the ...
Trans-Canada Highway
The Trans-Canada Highway ( French: ; abbreviated as the TCH or T-Can) is a transcontinental federal–provincial highway system that travels through all ten provinces of Canada, from the Pacific Ocean on the west coast to the Atlantic Ocean o ...
), Nova Vista, Warde Avenue, Beliveau Road, Meadowood Avenue, and Dunkirk Drive (and its southerly extension, Dakota Street).
Facilities
With the exception of a significant (though diminishing) semi-rural district in the south, St. Vital is almost entirely residential and has never been home to significant industrial or commercial enterprises, other than retail shops.
Among the area's main attractions are the St. Vital Museum, housed in the former residence of the St. Vital Police and Fire Departments;
St. Vital Centre
St. Vital Shopping Centre is a retail shopping mall located at 1225 St. Mary's Road, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
History
The , built on , opened 17 October 1979 and is located by the intersection of St. Mary's Road and Bishop Grandin Boulev ...
, a major regional shopping centre that opened in October 1979; and the National Historic Site of
Riel House
Riel House is a National Historic Site commemorating the life of the Métis politician and activist Louis Riel, and also the daily life of Métis families in the Red River Settlement. The house is situated in the historic St. Vital parish, W ...
, consisting in the home of the family of Métis leader
Louis Riel
Louis Riel (; ; 22 October 1844 – 16 November 1885) was a Canadian politician, a founder of the province of Manitoba, and a political leader of the Métis people. He led two resistance movements against the Government of Canada and its first ...
, restored to its 1886 condition.
Its parks include St. Vital Park, one of Winnipeg's largest city parks;
Maple Grove Park
Maple Grove Rugby Park is an park in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Located in the St. Vital neighbourhood, the park is bordered by the Perimeter Highway to the south, St. Mary's Road to the east, and the Red River to the north and west. King' ...
, which is similar in size to St. Vital Park but more recently established; and Guay Park in north St. Vital, which contains a
war memorial
A war memorial is a building, monument, statue, or other edifice to celebrate a war or victory, or (predominating in modern times) to commemorate those who died or were injured in a war.
Symbolism
Historical usage
It has ...
erected in honour of St. Vital residents killed in the two World Wars and in Korea. A system of
linear park
A linear park is a type of park that is significantly longer than it is wide. These linear parks are strips of public land running along canals, rivers, streams, defensive walls, electrical lines, or highways and shorelines. Examples of linear p ...
s along the
Seine River
)
, mouth_location = Le Havre/Honfleur
, mouth_coordinates =
, mouth_elevation =
, progression =
, river_system = Seine basin
, basin_size =
, tributaries_left = Yonne, Loing, Eure, Risle
, tributaries ...
was under development on the east side of the suburb.
St. Vital Outdoor Pool was opened in 1967 as a Winnipeg Centennial project, and was renovated on 30 June 2016. Upon reopening there, due to increased demand beyond allowable capacity, several swimmers were turned away.
St. Vital is also home to Winnipeg’s only Francophone outdoor market Jardins St-Léon Gardens.
Sports
The St. Vital area contains a number of community centres, including the St. Vital Centennial Arena and the Dakota Community Centre, which includes the
Jonathan Toews
Jonathan Bryan Toews ( ; born April 29, 1988) is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre and captain of the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League (NHL). Nicknamed "Captain Serious", Toews was selected by the Blackhawks with the t ...
Manitoba Major Junior Hockey League
The Manitoba Major Junior Hockey League (MMJHL) is a junior ice hockey league in Manitoba, Canada. Founded in 1970, the league was operated as an independent league. MMJHL affiliated with Hockey Manitoba and Hockey Canada in the mid-1990s. Teams ...
while the
Winnipeg Freeze
The Winnipeg Freeze are a Manitoba Junior Hockey League (MJHL) team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The team was founded in 2020 and is owned by 50 Below Sports + Entertainment Inc, owners of the Western Hockey League's Winnipeg Ice and an ...
play in the
Manitoba Junior Hockey League
The Manitoba Junior Hockey League (MJHL) is a Junior 'A' ice hockey league operating in the Canadian province of Manitoba and one of nine member leagues of the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL).
The MJHL consists of thirteen teams all based ...
. The
Winnipeg Saints
The Winnipeg Saints were a Manitoba Junior Hockey League team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The team was known for most of its existence as the St. Boniface Saints and exists today as the Virden Oil Capitals.
History
The St. Boniface Saints wer ...
of the MJHL played out of St. Vital from 2000–2012.
Maple Grove Park
Maple Grove Rugby Park is an park in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Located in the St. Vital neighbourhood, the park is bordered by the Perimeter Highway to the south, St. Mary's Road to the east, and the Red River to the north and west. King' ...
is home to the St. Vital Mustangs
Football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
Club and Manitoba's largest
rugby
Rugby may refer to:
Sport
* Rugby football in many forms:
** Rugby league: 13 players per side
*** Masters Rugby League
*** Mod league
*** Rugby league nines
*** Rugby league sevens
*** Touch (sport)
*** Wheelchair rugby league
** Rugby union: 1 ...
complex.
St. Vital Outdoor Pool was opened in 1967 as a Winnipeg Centennial project, and was renovated on 30 June 2016. Upon reopening there, due to increased demand beyond allowable capacity, several swimmers were turned away.
Education
Most public schools in St. Vital are operated by the
Louis Riel School Division
The Louis Riel School Division (LRSD; , DSL-R) is a school division in Winnipeg, Manitoba, offering English language, English-language and French immersion, French-immersion education to its students.
It was broadly formed in 1998 with the volun ...
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Boniface
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint-Boniface ( la, Archidioecesis Sancti Bonifacii) is a Latin archdiocese in part of the civil Province of Manitoba in Canada. Despite having no suffragan dioceses, the archdiocese is nominally metropolitan a ...
, and a number of private schools.
Health care
The only major health care facility in St. Vital is St. Amant, located on River Road in the
Minnetonka
Minnetonka ( ) is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States. A western suburb of the Twin Cities, Minnetonka is located about west of downtown Minneapolis. As of the 2020 census, the city's population was 53,781.
Minnetonka is the ...
neighbourhood. It was originally a
tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...
hospital, but was repurposed as a facility for developmentally challenged children in 1959. In 1974, it was renamed to honour Beatrice St. Amant. The neighbouring suburb of Fort Richmond is home to the
Victoria General Hospital
Victoria General Hospital (VGH) is an acute care facility located in View Royal, British Columbia, Canada, a western suburb of Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victo ...
Janet Arnott
Janet Elizabeth Arnott (née Laliberte; April 17, 1956 – June 24, 2019) was a Canadian world champion curler and Olympic champion coach.
Curling career
Arnott was the longtime lead for her sister, Connie Laliberte winning the Scott Tournam ...
, curling coach and Olympic gold medallist
*
Yvonne Brill
Yvonne Madelaine Brill (née Claeys; December 30, 1924 – March 27, 2013) was a Canadian American rocket and jet propulsion engineer. She is responsible for inventing the Electrothermal Hydrazine Thruster (EHT/Resistojet), a fuel-efficient rock ...
, engineer presented with the
National Medal of Technology and Innovation
The National Medal of Technology and Innovation (formerly the National Medal of Technology) is an honor granted by the President of the United States to American inventors and innovators who have made significant contributions to the development ...
by
President Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...
*
Reid Carruthers
Reid Carruthers (born December 30, 1984) is a Canadian curler from Winnipeg, Manitoba. Carruthers was the 2011 world champion—winning gold as a second on Jeff Stoughton's team—as well as a six-time provincial champion, the 2003 junior prov ...
, World Curling Champion
*
Nigel Dawes
Nigel Alexander Dawes (born February 9, 1985) is a Canadian- Kazakhstani professional ice-hockey winger for Adler Mannheim of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL). He has played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the New York Rangers, Phoenix ...
, professional ice hockey player
*
Danny Duggan
Daniel Warren (born March 23, 1987) is a Canadian professional wrestler and business entrepreneur who works for independent promotions all over Canada and United States under the name "Hotshot" Danny Duggan. He has worked for such promotions a ...
, professional wrestler
*
Monica Goermann
Monica Goermann (born September 1, 1964) is a Canadian former Gymnastics, gymnast. She is also the owner, artistic director, and choreographer of Monica's Danz Gym. She was named to the Gymnastics at the 1980 Summer Olympics, 1980 Canadian Olympic ...
, gymnast
*
Jennifer Jones
Jennifer Jones (born Phylis Lee Isley; March 2, 1919 – December 17, 2009), also known as Jennifer Jones Simon, was an American actress and mental health advocate. Over the course of her career that spanned over five decades, she was nominated ...
, curler and 2014 Olympic gold medallist
*
Brad Katona
Brad Devin Katona (born December 12, 1991) is a Canadian mixed martial artist and the reigning Brave CF Bantamweight Champion. Katona formerly competed in the UFC and was the featherweight winner of ''The Ultimate Fighter 27''.
Personal life ...
Scott Koskie
Scott Koskie (born December 14, 1971) is a former volleyball player, who played as a setter for the Canada men's national volleyball team. He was an assistant coach for the Canadian Women's national team in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He was named ''B ...
, professional volleyball player
*
Connie Laliberte
Connie Laliberte (born October 21, 1960) is a Canadian curler from Manitoba and world champion.
In 2019, Laliberte was named the tenth greatest Canadian curler in history in a TSN poll of broadcasters, reporters and top curlers.
Championships ...
Louis Riel
Louis Riel (; ; 22 October 1844 – 16 November 1885) was a Canadian politician, a founder of the province of Manitoba, and a political leader of the Métis people. He led two resistance movements against the Government of Canada and its first ...
, founder of Manitoba whose family home (
Riel House
Riel House is a National Historic Site commemorating the life of the Métis politician and activist Louis Riel, and also the daily life of Métis families in the Red River Settlement. The house is situated in the historic St. Vital parish, W ...
Andrea Slobodian
Andrea Slobodian is a Canadian former television reporter. In October 2012, she became the late night anchor for CTV News in Winnipeg. Previously she was a reporter and commentator for ''The Roundtable'' on Sun News Network. She currently works ...
, reporter
*
Sami Jo Small
Sami Jo Small (born March 25, 1976) is a Canadian former ice hockey goaltender. As a member of the Canadian national team, she was a three-time Olympic medallist and four-time World Championship medallist. One of the founders of the now defun ...
, professional ice hockey player
* Adam Smoluk, actor and director
* Yolande Teillet, professional baseball player
*
Jonathan Toews
Jonathan Bryan Toews ( ; born April 29, 1988) is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre and captain of the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League (NHL). Nicknamed "Captain Serious", Toews was selected by the Blackhawks with the t ...
, professional ice hockey player for the
Chicago Blackhawks
The Chicago Blackhawks (spelled Black Hawks until 1986, and known colloquially as the Hawks) are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago. The Blackhawks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division i ...