End of an era for Thompson, Manitoba as Nickel Belt News to cease publication April 22

By now it is no big surprise to read or hear that a newspaper is ceasing publication. That’s been old news now for a very long time. Still, when a newspaper’s birth very much mirrored the birth of a community, I think it is worth noting before it (the newspaper) passes into history forever.

Both W.H. “Duke” DeCoursey’s Thompson Citizen, first published on Friday, June 3, 1960, and Grant and Joan Wright’s Nickel Belt News, which came off the press for the first time less than a year later on March 24, 1961, have played an important, indeed vital, role, in chronicling Thompson for more than 60 years.

DeCoursey, who was based in Dauphin in 1960, through his Parkview Publishing Limited, formed in May 1960, first produced the Thompson Citizen from there. Grant Wright himself described DeCoursey as “the pioneer publisher in Thompson.” DeCoursey would become proprietor of the Northlander, Thompson’s first confectionary store, and located both the candy and newspaper operations originally in the basement of the Strand Theatre building.  Wright’s Nickel Belt News was first published out of The Northern Mail in The Pas, and later on Kelsey Bay here in Thompson, underneath what is now the front entrance of the City Centre Mall.

The two families merged ownership of their weeklies in 1967 as the Precambrian Press Ltd., with the Thompson Citizen becoming a paid circulation daily for a time, while the Nickel Belt News remained weekly but became free distribution. DeCoursey served as the first editor of the combined publications. The papers moved to their current Commercial Place home in 1970. DeCoursey had retired in 1969, selling his interest in the business to Joan Wright, who repaid him within 20 years, and moved to British Columbia.

Glacier Media Inc. of Vancouver bought both publications from the Wright family in January 2007.

The Northern Manitoba newspaper pioneering DeCoursey and Wright families had American roots. Duke DeCoursey was born in Montana. Grant Wright was born Flin Flon to Molly and Orson Wright, who were lawyers. Orson Wright was Crown Attorney for the Northern region. He was born in Dayton, Ohio. As well as serving as Crown Attorney, he was a prominent local Liberal Party member, who also served as mayor of Flin Flon between 1941 and 1943, and became a district coroner in 1942.

Grant Wright attended Brandon College and the University of Winnipeg where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree. He then moved to Columbia, Missouri to study journalism at the University of Missouri School of Journalism, founded in 1908, and one of the oldest and best formal journalism schools in the world. But Wright dropped out a few credits short of obtaining his degree, and came home to Manitoba to marry his childhood sweetheart, Joan Brownell. After their marriage, the couple moved to The Pas, where Grant became editor of The Pas Herald. After a year, they moved to Thompson in 1961 to make their millions on the “three-year plan,” like so many other Northerners who have stayed and raised their families in the North.

As a teenager, Grant, who died in 2002, contracted polio. He wore braces and used crutches for the rest of his life, remaining fiercely independent – perhaps even cantankerous at times – some might say. He was a proud Rotarian.

There were several key dates in Thompson’s early history: Borehole 11962 – the so-called “Discovery Hole” at Cook Lake, a diamond drill exploration hole – was collared Feb. 5, 1956 and assayed positive for nickel. The City of Thompson and the main orebody of Inco’s Manitoba operations (now owned by Vale) were named after John Fairfield Thompson, the chairman of INCO when Borehole 11962 was collared and assayed. There’s also the Dec. 3, 1956 signing of the founding 33-page typewritten double-spaced agreement creating Thompson between the Province of Manitoba’s F.C. Bell, minister of mines and natural resources, and International Nickel Company of Canada Limited’s Ralph Parker, vice-president and general manager, and secretary William F. Kennedy. And there was Manitoba Liberal-Progressive Premier Douglas Campbell driving the last spike in the Canadian National Railway (CNR) 30-mile branch line from Sipiwesk to Thompson Oct. 20, 1957.

Thompson, originally a townsite within the newly-created 975-square-mile Local Government District (LGD) of Mystery Lake, within the Dauphin Judicial District, from 1956 to 1966, became a town on Jan. 3, 1967 and a city just 3 years later on July 7, 1970.

The Nickel Belt News came into existence on March 24, 1961 – one day before Manitoba Progressive Conservative Premier Duff Roblin “cut the nickel ribbon to officially open the town” of 3,800 residents, Wright wrote a few days later on March 29, 1961 in only the second edition of our sister paper. Roblin and a who’s who of government and mining crème de la crèmes – opened the $185-million smelter and refinery, the world’s first fully integrated nickel operation and second in size in the “free world” only to Inco’s Sudbury operations. Coincidence? Hardly. Without the smelter and refinery and its 1,800 employees on that long ago day in 1961, there would likely never have been a Nickel Belt News – ditto for a lot of other businesses that would arrive in Thompson in the years to follow.

The newspaper, the City of Thompson, many businesses, and mining in Northern Manitoba have all fallen to various degrees on hard times in recent years. In 2007, nickel briefly sold on the London Metal Exchange (LME) that May for a then record high of $25.51 per pound. And in November 2007, Vale announced a $750-million expansion of its mining, milling, smelting and refining operations here, aimed at boosting Thompson production by about 36 percent over the coming decade. The cost of the refinery modernization project over five years was estimated to be about $116 million.

The Thompson Citizen had 11 full-time staff in the Summer of 2007.

Rather than expanding smelting and refining operations here, Vale would wind up closing both the smelter and refinery in 2018.

The Thompson Citizen now has three full-time staff. When the Nickel Belt News ceases publication April 22, the free-circulation Thompson Citizen will move from its Wednesday publication day to the Nickel Belt News‘ old publication day of Friday. The two papers have been publishing a merged edition on Wednesdays since 2020.

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Province says City of Thompson Public Water System has not met some of the critical terms and conditions of its Public Water System Operating Licence PWS-09-345

The City of Thompson Public Water System has not met some of the critical terms and conditions of its Public Water System Operating Licence PWS-09-345 in relation to monitoring and reporting, according to a Manitoba Conservation and Water Stewardship document made public Aug. 19.

The word not is underlined and printed in boldface for emphasis in the provincial government audit, which includes both the 2012 and 2013 reporting periods. The audit report was produced July 21 and released as a public document by the City of Thompson Aug. 19.

Brian Lundmark, senior drinking water officer in the Thompson Office of Drinking Water at Manitoba Conservation and Water Stewardship, says in his 2013 Annual Audit Report that the City of Thompson’s  Public Water System has not met the following critical terms and conditions of your Operating Licence (PWS-09-345):

• bacterial monitoring and reporting;
• disinfection monitoring and reporting;
• emergency notification of corrective action forms.

Lundmark, who has been in his current job as senior drinking officer here since November 2012 and previously worked as an environment consultant here in Manitoba since 1998 noted in his audit that missed bacterial samples, which are to be measured for total coliform and E. coli, if not received by the province are automatically considered non-compliant with the provincial bacterial standard, which is less than one coliform bacteria and one E.coli bacteria detectable per 100 millilitres in all distributed water. In 2013, bacterial samples were not submitted for two weeks out of 52: the weeks of Feb. 17 and Sept. 1, which is still a 98 per cent compliance rate. The compliance rate for bacterial samples in 2012 was 100 per cent, he said. In 2013, there were two occasions when coliform counts exceeded the provincial standard and corrective actions were not taken. However, ” a re-sample analysis did not confirm the initial positive result,” Lundmark also noted, adding, “Had corrective action forms been submitted, this non-compliance situation would have been avoided.”

While the City of Thompson Public Water System’s Trihalomethanes (THMs), including bromoform, bromodichloromethane, dibromochloromethane and chloroform, met the province’s THM water quality standard last year, there were many instances in both 2012 and 2013 when there was insufficient free chlorine residual for disinfection in the public drinking water system. Lundmark said the issue “appears to be chronic.”

In fact, Christine Roberts Gerady, a drinking water officer in Brandon with Manitoba’s Conservation and Water Stewardship Office of Drinking Water, found in her six-page Feb. 10, 2010 annual audit of Thompson Public Water System that while generally, both Vale and the city, met their regulatory obligations for 2009 when it came to drinking water here, there several “must improve” areas to work on in 2010 to be in compliance with provincial safe drinking water regulations.

She noted Vale, under Public Water System Operating Licence PWS-08-165, and the City of Thompson under its Public Water System Operating Licence PWS-09-345, operated the system jointly. Vale was responsible primarily for what goes on within the Burntwood Road Water Treatment Plant, while the City of Thompson had primary responsibility for the distribution system outside the water treatment plant.

“It is Vale Inco’s [as the company was then called] responsibility to ensure minimum chlorine residuals are being met leaving the water treatment plant,” she noted, “while the City of Thompson is responsible in maintaining minimum chlorine residuals in the distribution system. Cooperation between both utilities is required to meet these standards.”

The primary criteria used to assess compliance, she said, was adherence to the system’s operating licences along with Health Canada’s Guidelines for Canadian Drinking Water Quality (GCDWQ) and two regulations under the Manitoba Drinking Water Safety Act: the Drinking Water Safety Regulation (MR 4012007) and the Drinking Water Quality Standards Regulation (MR 4112007).

Vale Canada Limited is planning to transfer ownership of its Thompson Water Treatment Plant on Burntwood Road to the City of Thompson to reduce “fixed costs” and improve the “competiveness” of Manitoba Operations, said Don Wood, general manager for production services at Vale here, in a joint media release issued with city July 31.

“As Vale’s Manitoba Operations will transition to mining and milling in the future, and as we continue to improve in order to reduce fixed costs, the timing is right to initiate the transition,” said Wood.  “This is one more step towards ensuring not only the long-term competitiveness for our Manitoba Operations, but also the future sustainability of our community,” Wood said Thursday.

USW Local 6166 and Vale are nearing the end of the third and final year their current three-year collective agreement, which expires in mid-September. Bargaining to reach a new deal began on July 14.

The transfer of ownership plan is still being developed.

Discussions with the City of Thompson and province about the future of the Thompson Water Treatment Plant began after Vale and the city signed a Letter of Understanding in December 2012 regarding Vale’s municipal taxes and funding arrangements over the 2013 to 2017 period.

The letter says that “Vale will be engaging in discussions with the City and the Province over the coming months about reducing Vale’s fixed costs and improving the competitiveness of its Thompson Operations going forward. These discussions may include the community’s requirements for both potable water treatment and waste water treatment infrastructure and the appropriate model for delivering those services going forward.

“Under the terms of the Townsite Agreement between the International Nickel Company of Canada Limited (now Vale) and the Province of Manitoba (as amended, the “1956 Agreement”), Vale was obligated to construct the municipal infrastructure required for the Thompson townsite, including pumping stations, treatment facilities and sewer and water mains.”

“The 1956 Agreement provides that Vale “will not be required to operate or maintain or in any way carry on any public utility, service or services, and it may at any time and from time to time transfer, sell, assign, lease or otherwise dispose of all or any part of” the municipal infrastructure constructed by Vale to the municipality and, in the event of such transfer without consideration, the municipality “will be obligated to accept the same.”

The requirements for the operation of the Thompson Water Treatment Plant are governed by the Manitoba Drinking Water Safety Act and associated water quality regulations, as are all water treatment plants in Manitoba. Thompson is one of only a handful of larger municipalities in Manitoba not to own its own water treatment plant.

“Planning for the eventual transfer began last year, with more detailed discussions taking place in recent months. In the immediate term, a letter of understanding will be developed to establish the date of the transfer and to lay out the transition plan in order to mitigate risk, train employees and prepare both the plant and the City for the transfer. The Manitoba Public Utilities Board has been notified and this process will not further affect the proposed rates at this time.”

“We have appreciated the opportunity to continue to work together to develop the plan and process that will address the impact on residents, so that we will be ready to operate the facility effectively, efficiently, and in keeping with our core values and principles for sustainable asset management,” said city manager Gary Ceppetelli in July..

“Vale currently operates the Thompson Water Treatment Plant at no cost to the City of Thompson and recently completed a $15 million upgrade to the facility in order to ensure its viability for many years to come.”

About two-thirds of the water treated at the plant is provided to the city and about one-third is used by Vale’s operations.

Under municipal ownership, the costs of operating the plant would be charged out to the users, at rates to be approved by the Manitoba Public Utilities Board.

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Advent Luthernan Church intact for today at least and still standing

The old Advent Lutheran Church at 179 Thompson Dr..N. is being demolished today, which will result in a  a gas main being exposed and Thompson Drive in the area closed to eastbound traffic from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., the City of Thompson said this morning.

Well, at least that’s what the City of Thompson tweeted on its Twitter account this morning:

“Please be advised, that due to a building demolition at 179 Thompson Drive (Advent Lutheran Church), a gas main will be exposed, resulting in a road closure for East bound traffic from 9:00am to 4:00pm on Tuesday September 9, 2014.

City of Thompson thanks you for your anticipated co-operation in this matter.

For further information, please call the Public Works Department at (204) 677-7970.”

As of 3 p.m., the Advent Lutheran Church appeared to be very much intact and still standing with no sign of equipment or demolition of any kind in the area, although it did appear perhaps that a gas main on the boulevard near Thompson Drive may have been exposed at one point recently and covered up again, as the ground had been broken with signs the earth had been dug up.

Thompson Gas Bar Co-op Ltd.at 722 Thompson Dr. S., at Cree Road, which opened in their current location May 12, 2007, purchased the vacant Advent Lutheran Church last year, as the local Lutherans formally joined together with neighbouring St. John’s United Church at 52 Caribou Rd. to form the Lutheran-United Church of Thompson. Congregations from the two churches started a dialogue about their respective futures in 2008. They now worship together as one faith community in the St. John’s Church building. The Advent Lutheran Church in Thompson dated back to Dec. 9, 1962. St. John’s United Church dates back to September 1959.

Thompson Gas Bar Co-op Ltd. has a long history of its own in Thompson dating back to its formation in August 1969. It operated out of a basement until May 1970 when it moved into a double trailer in the Burntwood Trailer Court. Its next home, with a grocery store operation, was at 32 Nelson Rd., where Light of the North Covenant Church is now. Aside from changing tenants, renaming it, and some fresh coats of paint over the years, the exterior of the 2,400-foot building looks remarkably similar today to how it looked 40 years ago when the  Thompson Co-op Store was housed there, along with Thompson Credit Union.

Thompson Gas Bar Co-op Ltd., currently a 16-pump, eight-lane gas bar and convenience store operation at Thompson Drive South and Cree Road, has similar plans for 179 Thompson Dr. according to planning documents filed with the City of Thompson last year.