Where's the hoopla? Winnipeg turned 150 but pomp and pageantry is non-existent

Thick crowds lined the sidewalks multiple rows deep — many scrambling to higher vantage points on rooftops — as a nearly six-kilometre-long parade wound its way along Main Street and Portage Avenue in 1949 to mark the 75th anniversary of Winnipeg's incorporation.

It was a spectacle of floats, marching bands and acrobats that drew a crowd of 125,000, which was more than a third of the city's entire population of just over 348,000.

The same type of pageantry took place in 1924 for the city's 50th anniversary, and would again in 1974 for the 100th, with the days being declared civic holidays.

Now, in the city's 150th year, the streets are filled only by commuters. There are no processions, no banners on street posts declaring the occasion.

"Really underwhelming would be the word I would use," said Gordon Goldsborough, head researcher of the Manitoba Historical Society.

But that's not necessarily a bad thing. The muted fete is indicative of an overall shift in consciousness around colonization, he said.

"I think there's simply a different perception of the value in marking these sorts of anniversaries. In the past it was seen as a sign of progress, in terms of positivity."

But we now have a more nuanced view of history and the shameful events underlying European settlement, he said.

It "involved the subjugation of Indigenous people, the theft of their land, and they were confined to reservations and given paltry annuity payments from treaties and many of the [government] obligations under the treaties were never fulfilled," Goldsborough said.

"I think there's a feeling that celebrating an event that, at least in some people's minds, wasn't something celebratory, isn't the right way to do it."

But that also doesn't mean ignoring what happened. You can still observe milestone anniversaries and historical events, but with the right terms, Goldsborough said.

"I don't think I would ever want to call it a celebration because that's implying that things are favourable. I think the better word is commemoration," he said.

"If there are not entirely good things that have occurred, at least it's worthwhile remembering that … and pledge that we will work hard to ensure they don't happen again. We can't go back and change the past, but we can at least atone for it."

The City of Winnipeg was incorporated in 1873 but it wasn't until January 1874 that the first civic election and council meeting was held, which is why that is the acknowledged anniversary year.