One of the Nationalistic Park in Manitoba. Fort Garry was commemorated as the place where treaty #1 was signed between the Ojibwa and Swampy Cree of Manitoba, and the Crown.

Steve Childerhouse (1991)

“I was the bad cop, and Sandy (Hopkins — incoming president) was the good cop,” says Steve

Childerhouse, who admits as Chamber president he was often in “attack mode.”

The memory is painful, but relations with City Hall soured after he was accused of calling the mayor a liar during a rally on the steps of the Legislature. Speaking out against an increase in city council pensions, things got misconstrued when he used the quote “there are lies, damn lies and statistics.”

He remains proud, however, of his efforts to get The Chamber onside in support of Sunday shopping.

“The board had defeated Sunday shopping. They couldn’t make up their minds because of the religious aspect and the day off versus more opportunities for businesses to be available to the public. In my term, they finally said OK, we’ll support it.”

He also got The Chamber involved in CAP-IT, the Coalition Against Perpetually Increasing Taxes.

“It was not just The Chamber complaining about taxes. The Consumers Association, the Manitoba Society of Seniors, the CFIB and maybe one or two other organizations came together to formulate a plan and spoke out in the media. What resulted was a city review looking at business and property taxes. Later, the city froze property taxes.”

Sandy Hopkins (1992)

“Others have told me the biggest impact I had was on the relationship with City Hall. The change of tone, working co-operatively to make Winnipeg a better place to live,” says Sandy Hopkins.

However, he personally cites the role he played with respect to Sunday shopping and the creation of the Bannatyne Fund.

“The Chamber was often working from a position of instinct rather than from solid information. The board needed better intelligence, but it didn’t have the money. We set up the Bannatyne Fund with the idea that we’d fund research projects — one important study per year.”

Hopkins was also instrumental in changing the organizational structure of The Chamber — so the senior staff person became the president.

“There was tremendous resistance from the older presidents, who came out en masse to the AGM, attended by some 200 people. As president, I chaired the meeting. I stepped down from the podium to argue the case. My successor, Terry Cristall, became the first ever board chair.”

Along with that, The Chamber’s year-end changed.

Ironically, it was during his term that The Chamber actively promoted the Jimmy Carter Build for Habitat for Humanity. More than a decade later, he is CEO of Habitat for Humanity Winnipeg.

Terry Cristall  (1993)

When it came to issues, “the big one” for him was Sunday shopping, says Terry Cristall,,

“It was definitely fascinating and somewhat entertaining with so many votes against us at City Hall.”

To try to persuade the powers that be that the public was behind The Chamber on Sunday shopping, an article was put in the newspaper with a ballot to clip and send to The Chamber, he says.

“We got bags and bags of mall coming in just before Christmas. So someone dressed up as Santa, took all the bags and delivered them to City Hall.”

The campaign was successful and in 1994, Sunday shopping was introduced.

On another front, The Chamber opened the doors to businesses in other countries, very aggressively pursuing relationships with countries such as India.

“For me, personally, discovering how much activity was going on in the province — the diversity of economic opportunities — was incredible,” Cristall says. “Mixing in the community and providing service, you start to bond and understand the potential synergies. The best people I’ve n in the world are here, and I’ve traveled a fair bit.”

Hotel Near University of Manitoba

Winnipeg St Vital Long Stay Hotel

Furnasman’s One  Hour Heat and Air

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Gerald Reimer

Gerald Reimer (1980)

Gerald Reimer (1980)

Gerald Reimer

At the age of 42, Gerald Reimer became the youngest Chamber president in its history up until then and one of the city’s biggest boosters.Reimer has said that Winnipeg is a great city, yet it is somewhat sad that the media in those days did their best to tear apart the  city rather than build it up. The construction of the Bank of Montreal building (the tall building near Portage and Main) was announced when Reimer was president. It was very positive but the The Free Press headline was read as ‘Bank down on Manitoba.’ It was like a totally different event. He went to see the editors and suggested that if his neighbour’s house was burning and he rescued them, the paper would run a headline like: ‘Gerald Reimer breaks into neighbour’s house.’ They told him, oh no, they’d do much worse. They’d likely say: ‘Gerald Reimer rapes neighbour’. There’s been a big improvement in newspaper coverage since then.

As for other memories of his time in office, he fondly recalls being seated at a Chamber luncheon with two provincial premiers, Sterling Lyon and Alberta’s Peter Lougheed. It was an interesting day, he says.

Another event that stands out, but for opposite reasons, was a fire that destroyed The Chamber Club. He was on vacation in Bermuda that time.

Jack Hignell (1981)

Jack Hignell

Jack Hignell will always remember a trip to Japan, at the invitation of the Japanese government, and the insight he gained into how they do business. The Japanese were clearly less confrontational when it came to labour/management relations — yes, there were strikes, but workers would be back on the job within an hour or two. During his term, Hignell would face a prolonged postal strike. They went into competition with them (Canada Post). They had their own postal service between chambers. They’d collect mail (from our members) and send it by courier. They’d sort it and then phone to let members know it had arrived.

“By the end of the strike, they (strikers) were as sick of it as we were,” he laughs.

It was also during his presidency that The Chamber moved into the Grain Exchange Building.

“We were on the lower level of what had been the trading floor,” he says, adding although it was never publicized, there was a suspicion that the fire the year before had been arson— occurring at night and gutting the place.

Ed Martens (1985)

Ed Martens

Their first attempt at crossing the Gulf of Mexico had nearly killed the three of them. They were grounded in Veracruz for three months, waiting for spring to bring calmer waters to the gulf and in the meantime, were searching for someone to replace Jeff.

Most Mexicans assumed Don and Dana were crazy when they said they had paddled to Mexico from Winnipeg, Delgado laughs. Did he believe them? “Their skin was black and their hair white. It was incredible, but yes.”

Delgado befriended the duo, rescuing them from their stifling, ant-infested hotel and bringing them to live in his boarding house. There, the Starkells learned Spanish and Delgado learned English, and a strong bond developed.

For so many months, Dana explains, he and his father had come to block out everything that didn’t relate to their survival. Now Gabby, as he calls himself, was part of that survival. He helped them get needed supplies, translate for the various immigration officials, and keep them out of trouble in a different country.

For Gabby, the Starkells were the first Canadians he had ever met. Their trip sounded fantastic and more and more he began to think about joining them.

At the time, Delgado says, he was struggling to overcome what was the start of a drug habit. “I was a little bit into drugs. Life was not going well.”

Gabby looked at the Starkell challenge as an opportunity to turn his life around, and build his self-esteem.

Famous People Personalities of Manitoba Canada

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