Trouble in Thompson Town

From a profile of our Thompson neighbours the Hawkins printed in Inco's In Manitoba magazine, circa 1972.

I'm a little appalled that I didn't hear about this news until celebrity Michael Moore waded into the debate, but apparently a Brazilian mining company bought out Manitoba mainstay Inco and is now shutting down major operations in Thompson. Thompson is a mining town, and this is going to have a devastating effect on the community. When the mine shut down in Leaf Rapids, it became, if not a ghost town, then a shambling zombie town. The difference this time is that Thompson is Manitoba's third-largest city.

Playing with Matthew and Michael Hawkins in front of the Woods home in Thompson.

The way I remember it, Inco played fair as far as corporations go, establishing good labour relations and even paying their share of infrastructure costs. I haven't investigated too deeply yet, but on the surface it sure seems like this deal stinks. I hope Thompson doesn't go the way of Leaf Rapids; the north is an important frontier, and the people living there deserve better.