MHS Centennial Business: Manitoba Government Telephones / Manitoba Telephone System / MTS Allstream / Bell MTS

Link to:
Commissioners / Chairman | Superintendents | Chief Engineers | Buildings | Sources

On 15 January 1908, the Manitoba government completed the purchase of the telephone system belonging to the Bell Telephone Company in Manitoba. It paid the sum of $3,300,000 and established Manitoba Government Telephones to operate the system. It was renamed the Manitoba Telephone System around 1921. Later known by the acronym MTS, in 1996 the firm was privatized by the provincial government of Gary Filmon. All assets of the company were purchased by Bell Canada in March 2017, and it now operates as Bell MTS.

On 5 April 2008, an MHS Centennial Business Award was presented to MTS Chief Executive Officer Pierre Blouin, at the Third Annual Manitoba Business Adventurers Banquet, by Manitoba Lieutenant-Governor John Harvard, MHS President J. M. Bumsted, and Asper School of Business Dean Glenn Feltham.

Commissioners / Chairs

Period	Commissioner / Chair
1908-1912	Francis Charles “Frank” Paterson (1865-1955)
1912	R. L. Barry
1912-1921	George A. Watson
1921-1945	John Edmond Lowry (1880-1951)
1945-1954	Peter McAusland Millar (1889-1964)
1954-1974	James Ferguson “Jim” Mills (1909-1996)
1974-1980	Gordon William Holland (1929-2024)
1980-1981	William John Antliff Bulman (c1929-2023)
1981-1985	Saul Alecs Miller (1917-1993)
1985	Myrna Phillips MLA
1985-1987	Jean Warna King Edmonds (1921-1994)
1987-1989	Paul G. Thomas
1989-1996	Thomas E. “Tom” Stefanson

General Managers / Presidents / CEOs

Period	President / CEO
1962-1974	James Ferguson “Jim” Mills (1909-1996)
1974-1986	Gordon William Holland (1929-2024)
1986-1987	Edward J. Robertson
1987-1990	Reg Bird
1990-1991	Dennis H. Wardrop
1991-1993	Oz Pedde
1993-1996	Bill Fraser

Superintendents

Period	Superintendent
?-1948	Henry “Harry” Coddington (1883-1965)

Chief Engineers

Period	Chief Engineer
1912-1940	Harold Edward Brockwell (1870-1945)
1940-1945	Ernest Henry Williams (c1879-1965)
1945-1952	James Ferguson “Jim” Mills (1909-1996)
1952-1956	?
1956-1972	Gilbert Alexander Muir (1912-1973)

Noteworthy Employees

Name	Period	Position
R. C. Brown	c1921	District No. 2 (Portage) District Superintendent
F. W. Brownell	c1921	Construction and Maintenance Superintendent
J. W. Delaney	c1921	Auditor
William Alexander Dyer (1866-1931)	c1921	General Agent, newsletter editor
Edwar Gilbert Hunt (1876-1943)	1908-?	City Plant Superintendent
A. P. Jamieson	c1921	Cash and Paymaster
W. F. Minty	c1921	Supplies Superintendent
H. M. Patterson	c1921	District No. 1 Superintendent
H. A. Reed	c1921	Traffic Superintendent
Claude Hilton Snider (1872-1935)	1908-1935	District No. 3 (Brandon) District Superintendent

Buildings

Building	Location	Built	Status
Arborg	?	1922
Austin	?	1967
Baldur	?	1928
Beausejour	75 Third Street South	1930
Binscarth	Municipality of Russell-Binscarth	1929
Boissevain	460 South Railway Street	1938
	500 Mountain Street	1963
Brandon	19 Ninth Street	1917
	816 Princess Avenue (CKX Radio)	1928	Demolished (1941)
	220 Eighth Street (CKX Radio)	1941
Carberry	121 Main Street	c1941
Carman	?	1956
Cartwright	?	1929
Cranberry Portage	?	1968
Crystal City	210 Broadway Street	1928
Dauphin	305 Main Street North	1916-1917
	39 Third Avenue Northeast	1951
Dominion City	118 Waddell Avenue East	1922
	Waddell Avenue East	1968
Elgin	?	1927
Elie	?	1968
Elkhorn	210 Richhill Avenue West	1932	Demolished (?)
Elm Creek	?	1929
Emerson	15 Main Street	1928
	Dominion Street	1967
Eriksdale	?	1966
Flin Flon	31 Third Avenue	1950
Foxwarren	?	1921
Gilbert Plains	113 Main Street North	1927
Gimli	?	1963
Gladstone	24 Dennis Street	1947
Grandview	228 Roland Avenue	1927
Grey	RM of Grey	1950
Hamiota	59 Fourth Avenue	1936	Demolished (2005)
Hartney	315 East Railway Street	1947
Headingley	?	1968
MacGregor	?	1967
Miami	?	1930
Middlebro	?	1968
Minto	?	1927
Morden	357 Stephen Street	1923
	Seventh Street	1960
Morris	RM of Morris	c1952
Neepawa	Hamilton Street	1966
Newdale	?	1921
Oakland-Wawanesa	Municipality of Oakland-Wawanesa	1950
Oakville	Third Avenue	1967
Ochre River	?	1921
Pinawa	Burrows Road	1963
Pine Falls	?	1950
Plum Coulee	?	1923
Poplarfield	New Plains Road	1966
Portage la Prairie	16 Royal Road South	1910
Reston	401 Third Avenue	1917
Rivers	?	1930
Roblin	130 Second Avenue NW	1928
Roland	?	1928
Russell	Westbourne Street West	1918
St. Malo	?	1968
Ste. Rose du Lac	First Avenue East	1967
Selkirk	321 Manitoba Avenue	1921
Shoal Lake	?	1921
Sidney	?	1921
Souris	27 Crescent Avenue West	1928
Sperling	Main Street	1931	Demolished (2011)
Steinbach	222 Main Street	1958
Stonewall	336 Main Street	1941
Swan River	114 Fifth Avenue North	1921
Teulon	52 Main Street	1938
The Pas	154 Third Street West	1928
Treherne	?	1923
Victoria	RM of Victoria	1950
Virden	560 Seventh Avenue South, Virden	1930
	Wellington Street West	1968
Vita	?	1968
Wawanesa	24 Government Road	1924	Demolished (?)
Winkler	Third Street	1963
Winnipeg	405 Burrows Avenue (St. John’s)	1911
	628-640 Corydon Avenue (Fort Rouge)	1907-1968
	691 Gateway Road (East Kildonan)	1969
	464 Hargrave Street	1919
	474 Hargrave Street (Garry)	1907
	567-579 Henry Avenue (Warehouse)	1910-1911
	230 Martin Avenue West (Elmwood)	1928
	413 Niagara Street (River Heights)	1929
	2765 Pembina Highway (Fort Garry)	1966
	2491 Portage Avenue (St. James	1952
	340 Rutland Street (St. James)	1916	Demolished (2022)
	460 St. Anne's Road (St. Vital)	1956
	297 Sherbrook Street (Sherbrook)	1909
	235A Horace Street (Norwood)	1919
	101 Victoria Avenue West (Transcona)	1930	Demolished (?)
	166 Portage Avenue East	1930-1932
	235A Horace Street (Norwood)	1938
	489 Empress Street	1960-1962

See also:

A History of the Telephone in Manitoba by Gilbert A. Muir
MHS Transactions, Series 3, 1964-1965 Season

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Manitoba Government Telephones War Memorial (Winnipeg)

Manitoba Organization: Telephone Curling Club

Frequently Asked Questions: Winnipeg Telephone Exchanges

Sources:

“Reorganization is proceeding in telephone dept.,” Winnipeg Tribune, 29 June 1912, page 8.

“Tenders,” Russell Banner, 18 July 1918, page 11.

“Lowry will be new telephone commissioner,” Winnipeg Tribune, 9 February 1921, page 1.

“Tenders,” Manitoba Free Press, 28 March 1921, page 12.

“Tenders,” Manitoba Free Press, 29 July 1922, page 18.

“Tenders,” Manitoba Free Press, 29 May 1923, page 14.

“Tenders,” Manitoba Free Press, 30 August 1927, page 17.

“Awarded contracts for three exchanges in telephone centres,” Manitoba Free Press, 17 September 1927, page 38.

“Peter Millar named 'phones commissioner,” Winnipeg Tribune, 28 February 1945, page 25.

“Tenders Manitoba Telephone System,” Winnipeg Free Press, 12 June 1950, page 28.

“Tenders, Manitoba Telephone System,” Winnipeg Free Press, 22 May 1948, page 9.

“Tenders, Manitoba Telephone System,” Winnipeg Free Press, 9 August 1948, page 21.

“Tenders, Manitoba Telephone System,” Winnipeg Free Press, 27 February 1950, page 29.

“Tenders, Manitoba Telephone System,” Winnipeg Free Press, 14 August 1950, page 33.

“Tenders, Manitoba Telephone System,” Winnipeg Free Press, 20 July 1951, page 27.

“Tenders, Manitoba Telephone System,” Winnipeg Free Press, 17 September 1951, page 27.

“New $135,000 St. James telephone exchange,” Winnipeg Free Press, 17 September 1952, page 14.

“Tenders, Manitoba Telephone System,” Winnipeg Free Press, 19 February 1953, page 21.

“Tenders, Manitoba Telephone System,” Winnipeg Free Press, 20 February 1953, page 32.

“Tenders, Manitoba Telephone System,” Winnipeg Free Press, 17 March 1954, page 25.

“Tenders, Manitoba Telephone System,” Winnipeg Free Press, 18 March 1954, page 34.

“Tenders, Manitoba Telephone System,” Winnipeg Free Press, 3 March 1955, page 32.

“Tenders, Manitoba Telephone System,” Winnipeg Free Press, 8 June 1956, page 12.

“Tenders, Manitoba Telephone System,” Winnipeg Free Press, 26 November 1956, page 37.

“Tenders, Manitoba Telephone System,” Winnipeg Free Press, 27 June 1958, page 38.

“Tenders, Manitoba Telephone System,” Winnipeg Free Press, 20 April 1959, page 24.

“Tenders, Manitoba Telephone System,” Winnipeg Free Press, 6 November 1959, page 32.

“Tenders, Manitoba Telephone System,” Winnipeg Free Press, 6 April 1960, page 31.

“Tenders, Manitoba Telephone System,” Winnipeg Free Press, 18 October 1960, page 35.

“Tenders, Manitoba Telephone System,” Winnipeg Free Press, 20 March 1962, page 39.

“Tenders, Manitoba Telephone System,” Winnipeg Free Press, 9 March 1963, page 51.

“Tenders, Manitoba Telephone System,” Winnipeg Free Press, 31 August 1963, page 18.

“Tenders, Manitoba Telephone System,” Winnipeg Free Press, 28 May 1966, page 14.

“Tenders, Manitoba Telephone System,” Winnipeg Free Press, 17 October 1966, page 28.

Banner County: History of Russell and District, 1879-1967 by Russell Women's Institute, 1967.

“Tenders, Manitoba Telephone System,” Winnipeg Free Press, 23 August 1967, page 10.

“Tenders, Manitoba Telephone System,” Winnipeg Free Press, 30 August 1967, page 58.

“Tenders, Manitoba Telephone System,” Winnipeg Free Press, 2 October 1967, page 40.

“Tenders, Manitoba Telephone System,” Winnipeg Free Press, 7 November 1967, page 41.

“Tenders, Manitoba Telephone System,” Winnipeg Free Press, 15 November 1967, page 51.

“Tenders, Manitoba Telephone System,” Winnipeg Free Press, 29 March 1968, page 41.

“Tenders, Manitoba Telephone System,” Winnipeg Free Press, 25 April 1968, page 36.

“Tenders, Manitoba Telephone System,” Winnipeg Free Press, 30 May 1968, page 27.

“Tenders, Manitoba Telephone Systemm” Winnipeg Free Press, 29 August 1968, page 56.

“Tenders, Manitoba Telephone System,” Winnipeg Free Press, 20 September 1968, page 18.

“Tenders, Manitoba Telephone System,” Winnipeg Free Press, 15 October 1968, page 42.

“Tenders, Manitoba Telephone System,” Winnipeg Free Press, 9 January 1969, page 47.

“Tenders, Manitoba Telephone System,” Winnipeg Free Press, 25 March 1971, page 25.

People of Service: A Brief History of the Manitoba Telephone System, 3rd edition by Robert H. Drain for MTS Corporate Communications, Winnipeg, 1991. [Manitoba Legislative Library]

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough and Jordan Makichuk.

Page revised: 17 August 2024