I moved away from Winnipeg over a year ago, but I still keep tabs on what goes on there.

One piece of news from last week caught my attention. Travel Manitoba unveiled its new slogan: “Manitoba: Canada’s Heart Beats.”

The Crown corporation is positioning Manitoba’s positioning in the centre of Canada as a reason to visit there.

The corporation announced the new slogan with a four-commercial campaign, complete with beautiful shots of polar bears and beluga whales.

The voiceovers on the commercials focus on how Manitoba is kind of a big question mark for a lot of people who’ve never been there. What does Manitoba have to offer besides winter and mosquitoes? The campaign seems to be using that as its launching point, and answering: come see for yourself.

I’m not sure it’s the most enticing angle, but it beats (sorry for the pun) referencing mosquitoes and winter. I swear, there really is more to Manitoba than mosquitoes and winter.

Since it was launched late last week, the slogan has garnered criticism for being cheesy, and for confusing people who think it’s trying to refer to Manitoba as Canada’s heartbeat, rather than saying Canada’s heart is beating in the keystone province.

It also has its share of proponents, who think it’s nice and simple and plays nicely on Manitoba’s centrality.

It sure beats the province’s previous slogan, which was “It’s Manitoba time.”

I imagine it’s difficult to come up with a slogan that’s vague enough to entice people, descriptive enough to capture the spirit of an entire province, and short enough to be memorable and fit on pens and pins.

Slogans for other provinces range from OK (in Alberta, please “remember to breathe”) to tried-and-true (Nova Scotia has been “Canada’s ocean playground” for decades, and still is — according to the province’s licence plates.)

Ontario is “yours to discover” while Yukon is “larger than life.”

However, I think B.C.’s “Super Natural British Columbia” takes the cake as the best slogan with its simplicity, clarity and longevity.

Here in Merritt, the Country Music Capital of Canada slogan delivers a clear, if wordy, message.

The Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association wrapped up its short-answer survey on what makes up the essence of Merritt on Wednesday. People were invited to submit their qualitative experiences of Merritt to the people preparing the Destination British Columbia tourism plan that will serve as a guide to tourism initiatives here.

It will be interesting to see how this input shapes the initial draft of the plan and to hear what people who live here think of as enticing to others who come to visit.