Winnipeg working around the clock to clean up for Junos

WINNIPEG – The cleanup is on in Winnipeg.

As the melt continues, garbage, dirt and snow line city streets, and Juno organizers want it gone by the time the award show comes to Winnipeg Sunday.

“Because it has been a terribly cold winter, we want to showcase the city,” said Kenny Boyce, co-chair for the Winnipeg host committee. “We have people coming from all over Canada, United States, so we have several thousand people coming to the downtown and we want Winnipeg to look its best.”

Some Winnipeggers think that won’t be possible in just a few days.

“You can’t clean it up,” said one resident. “There’s not enough time or the resources to do it. We can try … but there’s just no time and resources to do it. Just apologize on the stage, we’re sorry to the nation.”

Darcy Ballantyne, part of the Downtown BIZ street-cleaning crew, said he’s been told to make sure downtown is all cleaned up by the weekend.

“They want us to do 550 bus shacks this spring,” he said. “There’s still lots to do.”

Boyce said things will ramp up Tuesday with a 48-hour effort to clean the streets and sidewalks.