Village Gamer

With less than a week to go before nominations close, there are a few cities that have not yet fielded a candidate for the Great Places in Canada contest. There are 57 nominations so far that have collectively received over 18,000 votes. If your nomination wins, you’re eligible for some great prizes which include Via Rail vouchers, gift cards from Mountain Equipment Co-Op and Roots Canada, and a write up in WestJet’s inflight up! magazine.

“We have great competition from across the country and a lot of strong contenders, but a few major centres remain unrepresented,” said Andrea Gabor, President of the Canadian Institute of Planners.

“We have candidates from places like Fernie, Lake Koocanusa, Creighton, Warkworth, Lac-Saint-Jean, and Dayspring, and some of them are beating the pants off the larger centres for the honour of being named one of Canada’s greatest places.”

Still absent from the list are nominations from Calgary, Edmonton, Quebec, Hamilton, Oshawa, Victoria, Windsor, Saskatoon, Sherbrooke and St. John’s. “We think residents in these centres, urged on by their local media, will exhibit a sudden burst of civic pride in the final days,” said Gabor.

Nominations close on January 31, 2012, and voting ends February 29, 2012. The judges will then decide on the semi-finalists in early April and announce the winners at the end of April 2012. People’s Choice awards will also be made in each of the three categories.

Below is the list of all the places that are currently in the running. Is your community represented?

Great Streets		Kakabeka Falls Provincial Park, Kakabeka Falls, ON		Ducks Unlimited Trail “Miner’s Marsh”, Kentville, NS
Queen Street, Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON		Parc Regional Educatif Bois de Belle-Rivière, Mirabel, QC		Maligne Canyon Hike, Jasper, AB
Icefields Parkway, between Banff and Jasper, AB		Lake Koocanusa, BC		Rainbow Stage Theatre in Kildonan Park, Winnipeg, MB
High Street, Grand Falls Windsor, NL		Lost Lagoon in Stanley Park, Vancouver, BC		The Lunenburg Heritage Society Bandstand, Lunenburg, NS
Yonge Street, Toronto, ON		Heartland Forest, Niagara Falls, ON		Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario
Main Street, Summerland, BC		Mississauga Celebration Square, Mississauga, ON		Great Neighbourhoods
Niagara River Parkway, Niagara-on-the-Lake to Fort Erie, ON		Village de Sainte-Jeanne-d’Arc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC		Saint-Boniface, Winnipeg, MB
Osborne Street, Winnipeg, MB		Miller Point Peace Park, Dayspring (near Bridgewater), NS		Victoria Park Neighbourhood, Kitchener, ON
Victoria Row (on Richmond St.), Charlottetown, PEI		Wascana Park, Regina, SK		Plateau Mont-Royal, Montreal, QC
Main Street, Warkworth, ON		Bowen Park, Nanaimo, BC		Parkdale, Toronto, ON
Portage and Main, Winnipeg, MB		Assiniboine Forest, Winnipeg, MB		City of Fernie, Fernie, BC
Great Public Spaces		The Dog Park, Kingston, ON		Town of Churchill, Churchill, MB
Botanical Beach, near Port Renfrew, BC		City Market, Saint John, NB		LaHave River, near Bridgewater, NS
The Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden, Vancouver, BC		St. Victor Petroglyphs, St. Victor, SK		Old Montreal, Montreal, QC
Hecla Provincial Park, near Riverton, MB		Minden Boardwalk, Minden, ON		Town of Creighton, Creighton, SK
Nathan Phillips Square, Toronto, ON		Richmond Olympic Oval, Richmond, BC		Beauty Bay, Kenora, ON
West Montrose Covered Bridge, Waterloo, ON		Bronte Creek Provincial Park, Oakville, ON		Roncesvalles Village, Toronto, ON
Komoka Provincial Park, London, ON		Brewer Park Oval, Ottawa, ON		London Road Neighbourhood, Lethbridge, AB
Old Port, Montreal, QC		Liberty Street Linear Park, Toronto, ON		Woodfield, London, ON
Central Library, Vancouver, BC		Cultus Lake Park, Cultus Lake, BC		Town of Gravelbourg, Gravelbourg, SK