The
Lakehead |
....They
say that Thunder Bay is one of the brightest and sunniest cities in Canada
and from what I saw of it in early May, I would have to agree. I was asked
to join some old friends in that nice city for the annual convention of
the Ontario Forest Products Ac-cident Prevention Association. Dick Ewalt
is their president, and the hos-pitality laid on by Dick, his directors
and staff was real Eastern Hospitality Plus for a salt water logger like
myself from the inlets of B.C. ....As a westerner I had always considered Thunder Bay as being foremost in grain handling, but did not realize that its largest industry is the manufacture of wood into paper, pulp, ties and poles. Four large pulp mills employ almost 5,000 men, and the Great Lakes Paper Co. has one of the largest newsprint machines in the world. Local lumber companies produce over 60 million board feet of lumber and timbers annually. One processor alone preserves 70,000 poles and railway ties a year. ....It is truly a very important part of the forest around us in Canada, this delightful city on the western reaches of Lake Superior. I met there with loggers and millmen from all parts of Ontario who are concerned with the accidents and fatalities that plague our country’s forest industry. The people that were my hosts employ one of the finest teams of accident prevention staff it has been my pleasure to associate with. Jim Nugent is the general manager of a group of twelve with-it safety supervisors, that have nine forested areas of Ontario to look after. They conduct various training courses in power-saws, skidder oper-ations, felling techniques and proper job instructions – out in the camps, and it was easy to see the respect these dedicated men received from the convention delegates. ....Like all men working in the field of safety they know well the frustrations, |
the let-downs, the lip-service
and the reality of their jobs. So, to Jim Nugent, Earl Craig, Toe Ketonen,
Louis Rous-sin and the rest of the F.P.A.P.A. – a tip of the hard
hat to you gentlemen from the shores of the Pacific. And thank you for
showing me so much of your forest around you. ....Mahogany railroad ties! Now I’ve seen a lot of pretty ‘Fancy Dan’ wood products in my wanderings – but to see Mahogany railroad ties – stacked around a mill yard, just taking the air, was a new one. They were part of the inventory of the Northern Wood Pre-servers Co. which is a division of Abitibi. I met Mike Dey, their woods superintendent and discovered he is a great enthusiast of loggers sports. It seems the group of forest companies and work force in this vast Thunder Bay-Drydon-Fort Francis area are really coming into their own with loggers sports. They are always interested in news of our activities in the contests in B.C.—and I would say that it won’t be too long before an east-west loggers sports will develop. Jube Wickheim will be taking care of the second Loggers Show at the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto this August, and a special competition has been set aside for Ontario loggers to compete amongst themselves for some pretty fair prize money. Let’s hope for a good turnout at Toronto from our eastern loggers. ....Marcel Bois and his two sons will certainly be down to Toronto for the Ontario competitions. Marcel has his own contract logging firm and is one of loggers sports great boosters in the east. Come on Marcel – get that power-saw warmed up! ....I spent an interesting conversation with John Macsentuck, foreman of Great West Timber Co. on the shoreline of Thunder Bay. John talked of the tree harvesters and giant transporters that roam the woods dry spot of sorts to sit and eat their today |
52 | British Columbia Lumberman,
July, 1975 |
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and he harkened back to the horse logging of not so long ago. We agreed
that the problems of this Thunder Bay area are just about the same as
elsewhere in Canada’s forest land – lack of skilled loggers
and mechanics, too many accidents, worries about the cost of living
and of course – in early May – who will win the Stanley
Cup. This is hockey country. |
understanding and dedicated
man to safety would be difficult to find. Lincon lives in Sault St. Marie
and his com-pany’s hardwood lumber and veneer plant has an enviable
record in safety achievement. ....I had some most interesting discus-sions with Lincon Dunstone, on the subject of safety, working people, managers, and living, and this soon-to-retire gentleman spoke plain sensible words on all these subjects. We could use many more Mr. Dunstones in our fight to reduce the heavy cost of accidents and lives in this forest industry. ....I believe Lincon will retire from a very active life in our industry in the near future – and I’ll bet those roses in his garden in “The Soo” will get the same kind of understanding he has |
always
shown to people.
................ |
British Columbia Lumberman, July, 1975 | 53 |