Newflyer,
Thank-you very much for the info you had put up back on the first page of this thread. I was always wondering about maps and the capital region.
So, the CMA is really a StatsCan thing for population analysis, I knew that but hadn't really seen a map of it. The capital seems to be for the purposes of economic analysis. Obviously, "Wpg Proper" is the defined city of Winnipeg.
Guess where I get confused, or perturbed, is when people boast about the population of the Capital Region, as though it is the population of Winnipeg and the area directly surrounding it. Specifically, people seem to love to point to the Capital Region and say "wow, is Winnipeg ever growing."
I don't really like the definition of "50% of the workforce working in the core city." I prefer to think of the Winnipeg population area in terms of proximity of built-up townships (in short, if you're on a highway leaving Winnipeg, as soon you're clearly in a farming area, you're no longer in what I consider the Winnipeg region).
In actuality, however, the Capital Region is for economic analysis. There are significant amount of people living in the Capital Region who are so far from Winnipeg, that it seems drastically inappropriate for Winnipeggers to boast about the population of "Winnipeg's Capital Region."
This is became quite clear to me when I considered, upon looking at the map you put up, that those with year-round properties in the beaches area of the southern bay of Lake Winnipeg are certainly too far away to be counted as a person who can be attributed somehow to Winnipeg. Is it fair for a Winnipeger to boast that the Capital Region population is X, when in fact, it's including people that far away (who need not rely on Winnipeg for basic services). Same goes with Saint Francois Xavier, which is illustrated on the map.
Anyway, I guess it's totally clear to me now that while the population of the capital region is X, that stat is completely deceptive as it leads one to believe that it's the population of the COW and neighbouring townships that are bordering the COW. There is no way that people from St. Francois Xavier would consider them to be in any "Winnipeg Region."
I have put together my own version of what I consider to be reasonable when we think about COW and the neighbouring townships:
Any people living beyond the red line, IMO, it's unreasonable to attribute them as being in any Winnipeg population area. It's also unacceptable for Winnipeggerss to boast that people beyond that red line are part of some population of near-by Winnipeg area... when this happens, it's just Winnipeggers unreasonably stretching as best they can to get the population numbers as high as possible in an attempt to impress those who do not live here.
The capital region, I'm sure, has a purpose for economic analysis. It is just deceptive to attribute people beyond my red line as being some sort of a Winnipegger, or to make it seem as though Winnipeg has that population bordering it. From now on, I have no use for statements like "we're sure on our way to being a big city, look at the capital region's population" etc.
Yup, I sure like my map, which I'm thinking of calling "The Realistic Winnipeg Population Region," or something along those lines with a condescending undertone.
Anyway thanks again, Newflyer, for taking the time to provide the info based on an earlier question of mine. Have a good weekend.