Royal Canadian Mint and the Forks

We toured the Royal Canadian Mint today. Built in 1976, it produces 20 million coins for circulation per year, while Ottawa produces 8 million Collector coins yearly. Winnipeg’s production is 40% for Canada and 60% ordered for 80 other countries. Silver has not been used since 1968. Since 2001, a steel center is electroplated, saving 10 million dollars per year. It costs .9 cent to make one penny. In 2004, Canada was the first of the world’s 40 Mints to use colour for the Red Poppy quarter. The drive into the Mint is winding with the flags of all the client countries displayed with their name. We picked up a gold bar weighing 28 lbs worth $400,000, guarded by the R.C.M.P.

We passed the Legislative Buildings and I ran in and enjoyed the 2 bison flanking the grand staircase. It was larger than Sask but I thought the green marble there was prettier. Here the Golden Boy tops the dome, 16 tall, bearing a torch signifying coming prosperity to all Manitobans and carrying a sheaf of golden wheat showing the well earned fruits of labour.

We went to The Forks. It is the original site of forts where the Assiniboine and Red Rivers meet. It’s like Granville Market and I walked to the Louis Riel Suspension Bridge to the French Quarter on the other side, St. Boniface. You saw the cathedral and old Grey Nuns Convert. At the top of the Tower, you see the rivers and the Union Station, very busy railyards with both C.P. and C.N. meeting here.

Driving through the West end, one of the oldest neighbourhoods, there are neat murals displaying people and events of historical significance to the city.