Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - May 28, 2000, Winnipeg, Manitoba Opinion there is nothing to be made of Gary Filmon other than what he made of himself slice of life do you really want to be a Sheldon Oberman asks sunday Azine Winnipeg free press Bruce Owen 6977523 b1 May 2000 there goes the neighbourhood clothing designer Peter Nygard is Worth More than million but that Doest impress his moneyed Neighbours in the in the Man some Call the Canadian Hugh Hefner and others of his Nouveau Riche ilk has offended Many of the longtime residents of the exclusive Lyford Cay Community pageb2 slumber secrets childrens slumber a much feared inevitability of need not descend into chaos see family Page b3 cube Symbol High tech sector sign of life in Ottawa ct3 by Paul Samyn Ottawa it May be time for the peace Tower to move Over As the dominant Symbol for this the National icon standing tall on parliament Hill has Long signalled that this is a government but theres another Tower a few Miles to the West that signifies the new a far less Stuffy and bureaucratic an Ottawa of Flash and increasing economic full of Glass and this landmark rising High Over Nortel networks main Campus Marks the Mother ship of the regions exploding High tech beneath this Tower toil people More than the entire population of Minnedosa in a world of dil Bert Stock options and memory in Nortel has 21 buildings and a workforce More than Strong in the Ottawa and it shows every sign of getting just this week Nortel officials said they planned to build a lion Fibre optic component Plant in Silicon Valley otherwise known As and although its still a Hole in the Nortel is already talking about doubling the size of the Plant in two it wants to capitalize on the huge demand for Fibre optic gear by Telephone companies to handle new internet and corporate internal network and surrounding Nortel Are the spin startups and other High tech stars like corel ads uni phase and Newbridge these companies have helped push the sectors Job count to More than per cent of the cites total workforce and rising at its current rate of a historical Divide is about to be crossed As the High tech sector is expected to soon sur pass the Federal government As the regions top Job most people do a double take when they hear mayor Jim Watson said in an it is a completely Dif Ferent Ottawa than when i arrived in no Back in the Days before anyone had a mouse on their civil servants were in there were about Federal 33 per cent of the cites total then came the dark Days of govern ment Over a 25year the civil service was culled to about what Federal budget cuts took the likes of High tech entrepreneurs like cores Michael Cowpland gave in that same the num Ber of High tech jobs jumped 489 per the High tech sector has been a god Send to our Watson the High tech companies have helped drive Down unemployment and pushed the City to Lead the nation in eco nomic and with their deep pock which pay for everything from the naming rights for the cites hockey rink the corel Centre to luxury boxes to season these same firms have saved the National hockey leagues Ottawa is it any wonder that folks like corp land or new Bridges Terry Matthews have streets named after them in the computer Geek suburb of Kanata the cites reigning with his flashy cars and wife Martens penchant for flashing plenty of began his Seato the pants chutzpah in his basement in the 1970s with Challenge Gates what started with sophisticated Tele phone switching systems ultimately led Cowpland to Challenge software giant Bill Gates and helped drive the Success of what is now known As Silicon Valley once you go into the High tech Market it is a global Market so you Are not restricted by the Small size of the Ottawa Cowpland that is the Beauty of once the Ball got there was no reason it should slow and As it has got to critical it will tend to accelerate while the Road to critical mass was not directly aided by it did get a helping hand by the presence of the National research Council and Federal regulatory that what first lured Bortels Northern electric to the Region in throw in two Strong some poin Tandlick geniuses and the rest is Guys like Cowpland now live in big mansions and a world of conspicuous the Quality of restaurants Here has been going up Cowpland they High tech workers have More spending Power so they can afford More High end instant millionaire sharing in the spoils Are Success Sto Ries like former Winnipeg Ger Albert he became an instant millionaire when the year old firm extreme packet he confounded was sold a few months ago for and then there Are smart software types like Glen he came Here after getting his computer science degree at the University of he now earns pay cheques he never dreamed of while still being allowed to Wear shorts and sport sandals to Back to Manitoba and earn what is available said who began at Nortel in 1994 and like Many been lured to other there is now no Nortel Back in it closed its doors last year and consolidated 172 High paying mostly Back to but even though Ottawa is a world player in the High tech Cowpland said there is still lots of Opportunity for Winnipeg to get a piece of the Cowpland suggests Winnipeg could find some Niche not heavily occupied and specialize in he suggests developing open a Field the promoter of linux believes is wide to help boost the sectors cow Pland says the Manitoba government could adopt that open software As a Way of branding it and encouraging the niches development within the game is just but i think it does need some bold j 9 t i a i corel Cowpland his wife Marlen ire the Vaiuli Inird consumption in Silicon Valley ;