A day after Tito Martins, Vale Canada's chief executive officer, was in Thompson for a series of closed-door meetings with Mayor Tim Johnston and city council, as well, as the school board and USW Local 6166, to explain how decommissioning will occur, NDP MLA Steve Ashton, who is also Manitoba's minister of infrastructure and transportation, announced Thompson's travelling roadshow to save the smelter and refinery moves back to Ottawa Dec. 13 for a meeting with the federal government.
Many of the same folks were in Ottawa two weeks ago Nov. 25 to meet federal officials, including Conservative Vic Toews, the cabinet minister responsible for Manitoba. Federal Industry Minister Tony Clement held a brief perfunctory meeting with Churchill NDP MP Niki Ashton in Ottawa the same day.
"We are off to Ottawa on Monday to meet with the federal government," Ashton said Dec. 8. "The city and the Steelworkers will be with us. Our message is clear. We need the federal government to work with us to save our Thompson and Manitoba jobs."
The City of Thompson, in a new release issued mid-afternoon Dec. 8, said, "During the morning meeting (Dec. 7), Vale Canada provided a presentation that outlined the plan for the decommissioning of the smelter and refinery, and attendees were given the opportunity to provide community feedback, ask questions, and clarify issues.
"On the day of Vale's announcement, Tito Martins committed to meeting with the City of Thompson, and today he honoured that commitment," said Mayor Tim Johnston. "We now have had the opportunity to discuss Vale's plan and we are in a better and more informed position to move forward."
Martins also met in Toronto Nov. 24 with Johnston, USW Local 6166 president Murray Nychyporuk, Manitoba Innovation, Energy and Mining minister Dave Chomiak and Steve Ashton.
Federal officials have been much more reluctant to come to the table.
Martins is part of an eight-member worldwide executive management team headed by President and CEO Roger Agnelli. Other member of that team include Jose Carlos Martins, Vale's executive director for marketing, sales and strategy; Carla Grasso, Vale's executive director for human resources and corporate service; Eduardo de Salles Bartolomeo, executive director of integrated bulk operations; Guilherme Perboyre Cavalcanti, Vale's executive director for finance and investor relations and chief financial officer; Eduardo Ledsham, executive director for exploration, energy and projects management; and Mario Alves Barbosa Neto, executive director of Vale's new fertilizers division.
Created on June 1, 1942 by the Brazilian government, Vale was privatized on May 7, 1997.
Vale announced Nov. 17 it plans to phase out its smelting and refinery operations at Manitoba Operations by 2015, eliminating 500 jobs or 40 per cent of its local workforce.
The estimated payroll hit to Thompson for job losses of that magnitude is at least $50 million annually, money which will no longer be circulating in the local economy as some of the city's highest paid jobs vanish.
Churchill riding Liberal Candidate Sydney Garrioch, former grand chief of Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak (MKO), says the city of Thompson and Northern Manitoba could lose as much as $65 million from the payroll alone as a result of having in excess of 900 jobs slashed from the mine as well as the manufacturing and service sector that supports the mining industry.
