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

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

On 30 December 1907, the Manitoba government purchased the telephone system belonging to the Bell Telephone Company in Manitoba, for the sum of $3,300,000, and established Manitoba Government Telephones to operate them. It was renamed the Manitoba Telephone System in 1933. 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 / Chairmen

Period	Commissioner / Chairman
1908-1912	Francis Charles Paterson (1865-?)
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 W. Holland
1980-1981	William John Antliff Bulman
1981-1985	Saul Alecs Miller (1917-1993)
1985-1987	Jean W. Edmonds
1987-1989	Paul G. Thomas
1989-?	Thomas E. “Tom” Stefanson

Superintendents

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

Chief Engineers

Period	Chief Engineer
1912-1939	Harold Edward Brockwell (1870-1945)
1939-1945	Ernest Henry Williams (c1879-1965)
1945-1952	James Ferguson “Jim” Mills (1909-1996)
1952-1956	?
1956-1972	Gilbert Alexander Muir (1912-1973)

Buildings

Building	Location	Built
Baldur	?	1928
Beausejour	?	1930
Binscarth	Municipality of Russell-Binscarth	1929
Boissevain	460 South Railway Street	1938
Brandon	19 Ninth Street, Brandon	1917
Carberry	121 Main Street	c1941
Cartwright	?	1929
Crystal City	210 Broadway Street	1928
Dauphin	305 Main Street North	1918
Elkhorn	?	1932
Elm Creek	?	1929
Emerson	15 Main Street	1928
Foxwarren	?	1921
Gilbert Plains	113 Main Street North	1927
Gladstone	24 Dennis Street	c1941
Grandview	?	1927
Grey	RM of Grey	1952
Hamiota	?	1936
Hartney	315 East Railway Street	1947
Miami	?	1930
Minto	?	1927
Morris	RM of Morris	1952
Newdale	?	1921
Oakland-Wawanesa	Municipality of Oakland-Wawanesa	1952
Rivers	?	1930
Roblin	130 Second Avenue NW	1928
Roland	?	1928
Selkirk	?	1921
Shoal Lake	?	1921
Sidney	?	1921
Souris	27 Crescent Avenue West	1928
Stonewall	336 Main Street	1941
Swan River	?	1935
Teulon	52 Main Street	1938
The Pas	154 Third Street West	1928
Victoria	RM of Victoria	1952
Virden	560 Seventh Avenue South, Virden	1930
Wawanesa	Third Street West	1924
Winnipeg	405 Burrows Avenue (St. John’s)	1911
	628-640 Corydon Avenue (Fort Rouge)	1907-1968
	474 Hargrave Street (Garry)	1907
	230 Martin Avenue West (Elmwood)	1928
	413 Niagara Street (River Heights)	1929
	340 Rutland Street (St. James)	1916
	297 Sherbrook Street (Sherbrook)	1909
	St. Boniface	1919
	101 Victoria Avenue West (Transcona)	1930
	166 Portage Avenue East	1931
	Portage Avenue	1931
	235 Kenny Street	1938

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:

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

“Peter Millar named 'phones commissioner,” Winnipeg Tribune, 28 February 1945, 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]

We thank Jordan Makichuk for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 5 July 2022