I knew we were in for a good evening when two polar bears swam over my head. Seventeen Action Canada Fellows and our honoured guests looked on like kids in a candy store, safely huddled in our underwater glass tunnel. It’s unlikely more pictures will be taken anywhere else in our fellowship year
Winnipeg’s Assiniboine Park Zoo was the opening event of our second conference. The zoo’s redevelopment is a story of partnership, a theme that emerged again and again in Winnipeg. The $200 million campaign has taken years and brought together public and private partners. The Journey to Churchill exhibit is truly a cultural partnership between the city of Winnipeg and the town of Churchill. The site is an opportunity to learn about life in this remote and historic community (boasting evidence of human presence dating back 4000 years) that most Canadians will never get to visit.
The wildlife is just the beginning. The replica of Churchill’s weather station is a lesson in practical innovation: “If the rock is wet… it’s raining; If the rock is hot… it’s sunny.” The night was capped with a panoramic video capturing the journey north to Churchill, Northern Lights and all. The narrator told the story of the changing landscape through the seasons – and through climate change – and how those cycles shape the lives of both animal and human inhabitants.
As we left several Fellows daydreamed of visiting Churchill in person. Indeed, though the zoo set out to build an immersive experience, it has also achieved an enduring signpost pointing the way to Churchill.
