‘DON’T SLAM IT UNTIL YOU’VE BEEN HERE’

Winnipeggers push back over online mocking

Winnipeggers are pushing back against online commenters who have been mocking a recent episode of the Price is Right that featured a winter getaway to the city as one of its end-of-show grand prizes.

Once you get past the frigid sub-zero temperatures, there are plenty of unique winter experiences, such as endless ice-skating trails, outdoor steam baths and ice fishing, they said.

“Don’t slam it until you’ve been here,” said Dave Turnbull, co-host of the 92.1 CITI morning radio show. “You can’t just go off of what you hear. Come experience it on your own. … Just bring a couple extra pairs of socks.”

On the Dec. 4 airing of the long-running game show, a trip to Winnipeg was among the prizes featured during the end-of-show “showcase.” Promising a “winter you’ll never forget,” the show’s announcer said the trip included a six-night stay at the historic Fort Garry Hotel, as well as a day-trip to Churchill to “watch polar bears in their natural habitat.”

When a local resident posted a video of the segment on Facebook, the clip went viral and there were close to 200,000 views by midday Tuesday. Some online commenters expressed delight that the Manitoba capital was getting recognized. Others wondered what the show’s producers were thinking.

“Who in their right mind would want to come here in the winter!” one person wrote on Facebook.

“Might as well send him to Siberia” another person wrote on Twitter.

“The Price is Right must be hitting the bottom of the barrel for prizes if they’re including trips to Winnipeg lol,” read another tweet.

The contestant who ultimately won the prize, Lee Norton of Rollinsford, New Hampshire, reportedly turned down the vacation, not as a slight against the city but because the taxes he would’ve had to pay for the prize were too high. (In addition to the trip to Winnipeg, Norton won a motorcycle, a snowboard package and a Jeep).

Norton did not respond to the National Post Tuesday. In a previous interview with the local Seacoast Media Group, Norton described his experience on the show as “so friggin’ awesome.”

Turnbull and his co-host TJ Connors are among the Winnipeggers in recent days who’ve spoken up in defence of the city. During their program, they took aim at Clayton Kroeker, host of the morning show on 96.3 Cruz FM in Saskatoon, who had poked fun at Winnipeg as “not that exciting” of a city.

Turnbull and Connors decided a little payback was in order and devoted a segment to taking jabs at “Saskabush.” Using Price is Right theme music as a backdrop, they described Saskatoon in game show-announcer voices as “Regina’s lower-common-denominator-cousin city” and the “crime capital of Canada.” (A Statistics Canada report earlier this year put the city at the top of its crime severity index).

“We know all the jokes that make fun of our city. We can make fun of our city,” Turnbull told the Post. “But it’s like your little brother — you can beat up your little brother, but as soon as someone else does it, they’ve crossed the line.”

Dayna Spiring, president and CEO of Economic Development Winnipeg, said Tuesday her city’s appearance on the Price is Right was evidence “the world is starting to take notice” of the region, noting that the Lonely Planet travel guide listed Manitoba among the top places to travel to in 2019.

She added that Winnipeg boasts one of the world’s longest naturally frozen trails for ice skating that features warming huts, a pop-up restaurant and, new for this year, an ice bar.

“We do winter better than anyone else in the country,” she said. “Yeah, it gets cold, but we’ve cocktails to keep you warm.”

In an emailed statement, Linda Whitfield, vice-president of marketing and communications for Travel Manitoba, noted that visitors can also enjoy Scandinavian-style aromatic steam baths and saunas and excursions up north in large tundra vehicles to view the lights of the aurora borealis.

Winnipeg residents have endured years of not-so-flattering publicity.

In 2015, Maclean’s magazine described Winnipeg as arguably “Canada’s most racist city” that was “quickly becoming known for the subhuman treatment of its First Nations citizens, who suffer daily indignities and appalling violence.” A followup article a year later struck a more positive tone, saying the city was becoming a “capital of reconciliation.”

CBS Lee Norton