Northern exposure: Mayors on weathering the economic storms of 2016
'Everyone's working together' to save The Pas, Churchill, Thompson from cold realities
When 332 residents of The Pas, Man. found out they still had a job this December, residents of Thompson, Man. breathed a sigh of relief. Because up north, they weather economic storms together, mayors of both communities said.
"Any blip on the economic environment has an effect on everyone," Thompson mayor Dennis Fenske told the CBC. "The economics of the North are precarious … and everybody's working together."
Fenske joined The Pas Mayor Jim Scott and CBC Information Radio host Marcy Markusa to review 2016, and the economic havoc it brought to northern Manitoba.
First, there was Churchill. Up to 100 people were left out in the cold after Omnitrax closed its seaport. That closure also impacted another 80 or so workers in The Pas.
Weeks later, The Pas faced its own storm. The town's largest employer — Tolko — announced that come December, they'd close the paper mill, wiping out close to 350 jobs in the process.
At the 11th hour, the town got a reprieve when Tolko sold the mill to Canadian Kraft Paper Industries.
All 332 employees were asked to take a 10 per cent pay cut. But it was a "worthwhile" price to pay, said Scott, because they got to keep their jobs.
And it could still be for hundreds of other northern workers. Just outside The Pas, owners of the First Nations-run Aseneskak Casino announced plans to relocate to a larger market, impacting another 147 workers.
Then there's Thompson, where workers learned in 2010 that their nickel smelter would slowly morph into a mill.
Fenske said the city and a consortium of locals who call themselves "Thompson 2020" are exploring ways to retrain smelter workers for in-demand work — for example, offering training towards getting Class 1 trucker's licences — to soften the impending blow. But there will be casualties.
"Basically, it's a change in operations, but directly it impacts potentially 500 jobs," he said.
Diversification key in 2017
Both Fenske and Scott say that looking ahead to 2017, the key to their communities' survival will be to expand their industries.
"Diversification is critically important," Scott said.
Working together to find those ways to diversify is also crucial, he said. The northern mayors are talking all the time and exploring new economic options, both Scott and Fenske said.
To that end, they hope 2017 will bring better opportunities for the majority of their population, Indigenous Canadians.
"We really need to facilitate the opportunity for education, the opportunity for investment by First Nations," Fenske said.
"One of the areas that should be recognized and should really be drilled down into is the investment into Aboriginal communities and bands in the North."
Tourism opportunities
They also want to better promote an industry that's often overlooked, they said.
"We really need to take a good, hard look at the tourism opportunities in the North," Scott said, beyond the polar bears and whales in Churchill.
"That is Manitoba, right? Winnipeg and Churchill," Scott said.
"Between Thompson and The Pas, we probably have some of the best snowmobile trails you'll find anywhere in Canada … there's fishing in probably the second-purest lake on the planet."
'Committed to the North'
Overall, they agree their communities need to stick together and deliver a united message. All of Manitoba needs to care what happens to northern Manitoba communities, the mayors say.
"We're all Manitobans. We happen to live in the North," Fenske said.
"We represent geographically half of the province. Northern Manitobans have a lifestyle and are committed to the North."