It’s beginning to look more and more like the Winnipeg Blue Bombers will not host the 2014 Grey Cup but will wait a year later and attempt to secure the 2015 championship game.

A report in the Vancouver Province today suggests the Bombers are not in financial shape to host the 2014 game.

"With Ottawa unable to stage the game it was awarded in 2008 and no certainty of a rebuilt stadium in 2014 for Hamilton, the only other bid reportedly in the running at present is from Winnipeg, which is moving into a new facility this year, but is believed to have cost issues stemming from stadium construction," wrote veteran Province football reporter Lowell Ullrich.

Lions president Dennis Skulsky says the Lions are prepared to host the game and the other candidates, Ottawa, Hamilton and Winnipeg are unable to make it happen."This opportunity came up because of the number of teams putting up their hands," Skulsky said.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/Bombers-may-have-to-wait-until-2015-to-host-Grey-Cup-192316341.html

Complete: If everything goes to plan, a new hotel could swing its doors open by mid-summer in Killarney.

“We’re really excited about it and it’s something that we’ve been negotiating for some time now,” said entrepreneur Will Goodon.

The new lodging will be a single-level hotel that will combine prefabricated units with on-site building. The hotel will offer close to 30 rooms for guests, located right beside the Shamrock Centre, a multipurpose facility that was opened in 2008.

“There will be some parts that we will build ourselves, in particular, the lobby area which will be a good sized entrance,” Goodon said.

Goodon will partner with his father, Irvin Goodon, for the Killarney venture. The father-son business team has proven successful in Boissevain, where the pair own the Wilderness Inn and Goodon expects the Killarney hotel to mirror the Boissevain location with a “outdoorsy, wilderness” feel.

The ability to be located beside the Shamrock Centre is something Goodon believes will be a good fit for both the facility and the hotel. The multi-use facility features a hockey rink, curling rink, bowling alley, community hall, lounge, canteen and fitness centre under one roof. Goodon said part of the agreement worked out with the town is that guests will have access to the fitness room in the new centre.

In the past, the community has had problems hosting major events due to a lack of available hotel space. In 2010, curlers participating in the 2010 Manitoba Scotties Tournament of Hearts had to be billeted for that very reason, and Goodon believes the hotel should help the town attract more events.

“The community has that great big, new centre and it’s beautiful and from what I can gather it’s hard to attract big events, conferences and shows when there is no place to stay.”

Goodon said that the town council has worked hard to attract a hotel to the community, offering incentives to build the lodging.

“There are incentives involved as there are with most developments, but we’ll be bringing people to town and paying our fair share of taxes,” Goodon said. “Then once people are in town, they are going to be spending their money at other places.”

The hotel will not offer a restaurant or lounge as Goodon said those services are already being filled within the community.

He also said the recent oil activity and continued push toward the eastern edge of the Williston Basin played a role in the decision to build in Killarney, but said he understands the hotel will only be successful with “good service, clean rooms and friendly people.”

“Having the oil field right there is a plus, but if you don’t have good customer service, people aren’t going to come back.”

http://www.brandonsun.com/local/new-hotel-will-be-built-next-to-killarneys-shamrock-centre-192470621.html

Complete: Since the introduction of a winter long weekend, Asessippi Resort has been growing the February holiday weekend into a homecoming tradition — one that thousands took part in this year.

"Approximately 4,500 people participated is one of the many activities here over the weekend." said Roz Pulo, director of marketing for Asessippi.

Saturday at the resort kicked off with Rail Wars, an annual event that is a big hit with freestyle skier and snowboarders alike. The 45 competitors split a share of $5,500 in cash and other prozes

"Our newest feature this season, the yellow school bus, was an incredible hit," Pulo said. The bus was added to a terrain park that already includes a cannon, wall ride, kink and rainbow rail, along with all kinds of straight rails and jumps  — giving the run an urban feel. It can be viewed part way up the lift, and makes for excellent entertainment for guests just out skiing for the day.

Sunday, the resort was open late, until 8 p.m. and followed by a fireworks display.

Kids were treated Monday to some extras in the village with face painting, jugglers and more.

"We named the weekend the Asessippi Homecoming Weekend the same year that Manitoba had their province-wide homecoming events and have decided to stick with it," Pulo said.

http://www.brandonsun.com/breaking-news/Thousands-come-to-Asessippi-homecoming-192297391.html?thx=y

WINNIPEG is set to take another swing at staving off financial losses at city-run golf courses.

On Thursday, the city released a new report that recommends Winnipeg lease four city-run golf courses -- Crescent Drive, Harbour View, Kildonan Park and Windsor Park -- to the private sector to reduce annual losses from $780,530 to $68,854.

The report is the city's latest attempt to stop the bleeding at Winnipeg Golf Services, a special operating agency that owns 12 public golf courses. The agency was projected to lose about $863,500 in 2012 and has a deficit of $7.1 million.

The city initially put out an expression-of-interest in 2011 to see if anyone wanted to purchase or take over the long-term leases of seven publicly owned golf courses after an audit revealed the courses have racked up large debts. Their potential sale prompted backlash from community groups that decried the lack of public consultation and possible loss of green space.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/want-to-lease-a-golf-course-192442871.html

The Canada Tourism Commission (CTC), Canada's national tourism marketing organisation, organised a Canada Experience Workshop in Mumbai today and will organise the workshop in Delhi on February 25, 2013. The workshop is aimed at promoting Canada as an all-in-one destination in India. CTC along with its key provincial partners, Travel Alberta, Tourism British Columbia and Ontario Tourism spearheaded the workshop in Mumbai. The workshop highlighted Canada’s tourism potential in numerous tourism segments, including honeymoon, adventure, leisure, culture and heritage, Bollywood, and family. Many sales calls were made on the sidelines of the workshop.

CTC is working closely with the travel trade, and through extensive advertising, workshops and Familiarisation (FAM) tours is building awareness and establishing a connect with travel agents, tour operators and the media. Commenting on the segments that CTC intends to tap into in the Indian market, Tina Singh, Assistant Vice President, CTC, India, said, “The Tourism Board will continue to focus on FIT's along with visa awareness in 2013. We would also be relaunching Signature Experiences Collection (SEC) in May year. SEC's are once in a lifetime travel experiences found in Canada and it helps trade partners market Canada better."

http://www.travelbizmonitor.com/canada-tourism-commission-to-relaunch-signature-experiences-collection-in-india-by-may-this-year-19492

OTTAWA - Statistics Canada says lower gasoline prices helped push Canada's inflation rate to its lowest level in more than three years in January.

The agency said the consumer price index in January was up 0.5 per cent, the slowest increase since October 2009 and below economists' expectations of a 0.7 per cent increase.

December's gain had been 0.8 per cent .

Excluding gasoline prices, which fell 1.8 per cent year-over-year, Canadain inflation increased 0.6 per cent after rising 0.8 per cent in December. Higher prices for food, up 1.1 per cent, helped offset the lower fuel prices.

Core inflation, which is watched by the Bank of Canada and excludes the most volatile items, was 1.0 per cent for January — at the low end of the central bank's target range.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/canada/canadian-press-newsalertcanadian-inflation-slows-due-to-lower-gasoline-prices-192479051.html

The U.S. continues to be a hot destination for big-spending tourists, setting a new record of $168.1 billion in foreign visitor spending in 2012.

The country last year welcomed 66 million foreign visitors, whose spending represents a 10% increase over 2011, said Rebecca Blank, deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

The greatest increase in visitors and spending came from countries with a burgeoning middle class, including China, Brazil and India.

Spending by foreign tourists has been on the rise for the last three years, with tourist hubs such as Los Angeles, Las Vegas, New York and San Francisco reaping much of the spending, Blank said.

"The coasts that are close to Asia and South America will see the notable effects," she said.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-foreign-tourists-20130222,0,6722710.story

(A complete article published originally in the WFP, Feb.  '52)

LONDON, Feb. 22 (CP) – Imposition of a landing tax on all fare-paying passengers arriving at British state-owned airports, has been announced by the ministry of transport and civil aviation.

The charges, effective May 1, will be five shillings (about 70 cents) for those arriving from European destinations and seven shillings six pence (about $1.05) for each passenger from Canada, the United States and other parts of the world.

No charge will be made for transit passengers who continue their journey without a break.

A ministry statement, said the tax was being introduced as a contribution to the mounting cost of providing services and facilities for passengers at airports.  During the last financial year these operations resulted in a heavy deficit, spokesmen said.

At Montreal Trans-Canada Air lines officials said a similar process is followed at some Caribbean points.