Flin Flon city council is being asked to further assist a union-backed effort to treat workplace fatalities as crimes.
In June 2014, the previous council voted to urge authorities to apply the so-called Westray law, federal legislation that lets criminal charges be pressed against employers whose negligence causes the death of a worker.
At its meeting last week, council was asked to forward a copy of that resolution to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, a lobby group.
“Provincial and Federal officials are hearing our voice and are starting to pay attention,” United Steelworkers national director Ken Neumann and three regional directors wrote in a letter to council.
Without comment, council referred the request to the committee level for further discussion.
The 2014 resolution was not unanimous. Coun. Skip Martin, who is no longer on council, said while he supported the intent of the resolution, its use of the word “killed” to describe workers who have died on the job concerned him.
“Causing somebody’s death – that’s to kill somebody,” he said at the time. “And I would say the majority of these people died in what would be called an accident.”
The federal Westray law, proclaimed in March 2004 following a unanimous House of Commons vote, stems from the 1992 Westray mine explosion in Nova Scotia that killed 26 miners.
Flinty gets due
Flintabbatey Flonatin will be getting his due.
Next week, Flinty will accept a certificate of recognition in honour of his being named Manitoba’s top roadside attraction.
“Which is kind of a neat thing,” said Coun. Karen MacKinnon, who announced the news at last week’s council meeting.
The presentation ceremony, open to the public, will be held Wednesday, April 22 at noon at the Victoria Inn. A buffet lunch will be served, for a fee.
Kirsten Neil, social media specialist with Travel Manitoba, is scheduled to present Flinty with his certificate.
“We welcome everybody to come,” said MacKinnon.
Last month, Flinty beat out Glenboro’s Sara the Camel in the final round of a weeklong online contest put on by Travel Manitoba.
Flin Flonners clicked away as the portly prospector earned 52 per cent of the votes to win bragging rights over Sara.
ReStore ReOpens
The Habitat 53° chapter of Habitat for Humanity will be reopening its ReStore for another season this week.
ReStore accepts donations of building materials, appliances, furniture and other gently used unwanted or discontinued items.
The items are then sold at affordable prices to raise money to build homes for low-income residents.
ReStore volunteers especially like to have people who are building or renovating come by to see what is available or what can be donated.
Habitat 53° will open the ReStore this Friday, April 17 and Saturday, April 18. It will be open every Friday from 1 to 4 pm and Saturday from 10 am to 3 pm until the end of September.
The ReStore is located on the armoury lot beside Twin Motors.
“We have had a lot of items dropped off in the fall and early spring, so there’s even a greater variety of items available this year,” said ReStore manager Kathy McCormick.
ReStore is also looking for volunteers to help during its business hours. Interested volunteers can contact Kathy McCormick at 204-687-6582 or Katie Anderson at 204-687-3935.
Monologues return
A date has been set for the return of The Vagina Monologues to Flin Flon.
The renowned performance will take place Wednesday, April 22 at the Hapnot Collegiate theatre. The show begins at 6:30 pm.
The performance will serve as a fundraiser for the Women’s Resource Centre, which first brought the show to the community in 2010.
More local readers are still welcome. To register, contact Courtney Gieg at the Women’s Resource Centre at 204-681-3105.
Due to the sometimes-graphic nature of the monologues, Gieg has limited readership to those 18 years and older. Audience participation is based on parental discretion.
Northern mine fire
Thirty-nine employees at Thompson’s T-1 nickel mine spent more than 12 hours holed up in refuge stations April 5 and 6 after a remotely operated piece of equipment caught fire.
Ryan Land, manager of corporate affairs and organizational development for Vale’s Manitoba Operations, confirmed there were no injuries and all workers were accounted for.
“We will carry out a joint investigation with United Steelworkers Local 6166 in order to understand the incident, continue to manage risk, and prevent recurrence,” Land wrote in an April 6 email. “While the interruption to production and the damage to equipment are unfortunate, we are reassured that our fire and rescue procedures worked and we achieved zero harm to our people, who will be returning safely to their homes and families today.”
Workers in the adjoining T3 mine were also moved to refuge stations as a precaution when the fire broke out at about 3:30 pm on April 5, but were released by 10 pm that night.
The fire began when an LHD (load-haul-dump) machine caught fire at the 2802 Complex of T-1 mine while being operated by remote inside of a production block.
Fire and emergency procedures were initiated, with stench gas released to alert workers in the mine, who were all moved to refuge stations.
