[thewave46]

In the context of winning an arbitrary race to 1 million, yeah, edge to Winnipeg.

In the context of the city being a 'great city' as in what the locals want, not so sure there. In the SSP fashion, statistics are the easy points to argue.

So, if we're doing the statistics game, sure, one can make a case for Winnipeg. Here ya go:
NHL teams: Winnipeg = 1, Quebec City = 0.
There it is, folks, statistically proven. Winnipeg>Quebec City.

In the more arbitrary sense, is Winnipeg leveraging the growth it is getting to make a better city for its inhabitants? Or is Quebec doing a better job there, despite lower growth? Is growth unto itself what makes a city great? Is Phoenix, AZ a great city because of its rapid growth?

Greatness - to myself, at least - seems to be a measure of the holistic nature of a city. Does it feel like a place like has a centre, a direction, the infrastructure to make that happen, and the willingness to invest for the future? History is harder to pin down, but longer-lived cities have an edge there that younger ones don't.

So, in the sense of Quebec City, I get more the sense of a city trying more for the goal of greatness versus just growth. It's the depth of the planning for transit, the preservation of its centre, how its culture is steeped into it, the undeniable advantage of the long history of place. It has a sense of who it is, what it wants to be, and is trying to get there.

Alas, Winnipeg doesn't give that same vibe. It's been a long while since I've been, but the current state of affairs more portends a 'growth with less vision to greatness' angle. It has potential, but that potential seems unrealized. There's fits and spurts, but never a sustained momentum. Which is a shame, because mid-sized Canadian cities always did pretty well at the infrastructure bit - Calgary, Edmonton, and Ottawa had transit systems befitting cities of their stature as they grew to cities of a million. Sure, the former had the oil boom and the latter being the national capital, but I think Winnipeg could be something if it wanted to be.