The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Fl in Flon MLA Clarence Pettersen delivered the following member's statement in the legislature on Tuesday: Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate the Hudbay Flin Flon Mine Rescue Team who recently won the 53rd Annual Manitoba Mine Rescue Competition held in Winnipeg. Mine rescue is a specialized emergency operation in which trained personnel, wearing protective breathing apparatuses, enter a mine during or after a mine fire, explosion, or other disaster to rescue trapped workers, extinguish the fire and restore the mine to its original safe condition. It was in 1933, Mr. Speaker, that Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting Company Limited in Flin Flon, now Hudbay, became the first Manitoba mining company to have certified mine rescue personnel. Hudbay Flin Flon led the way for other Manitoba mines to develop mine rescue stations, acquire essential emergency equipment and train mine rescue personnel. Now, some 80 years later, Flin Flon's Mine Rescue Team is still leader in mine rescue in Manitoba. T h e f i r s t e v e r Provincial Mine Rescue Competition in Manitoba occurred in 1961 and has flourished into an important tradition in the mining industry. This year's competition took place in the three-level parkade of the Winnipeg Union Centre. The parkade served as a simulated mine for the hour and a half search and recovery component of the competition. In addition to the hands-on challenges, the competition also included a written test component. The competition is the best training that mine rescue teams from across the province can access in a non-emergency setting. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask all members of the Legislative Assembly to join me in congratulating the Hudbay Flin Flon Mine Rescue Team on winning the Provincial Competition and encouraging workplace health and safety. We wish the team good luck in being accepted into the National Western Regional Mine Rescue Competition. The Hudbay Flin Flon team consists of Tracy Knutson, Daren Lyhkun, Bryan Rainville, George Warman, Dustin Patterson, Damian Dominey, Jeremy Beauchamp and their trainers Don Peake and Olaf Hettrick. Th a n k y o u , Mr. Speaker. Clarence Pettersen
