While things are usually pretty quiet over at Vale's Manitoba operations this time of year in the midst of the month-long August summer shutdown, they're even a bit quieter than usual this year with the top public affairs job vacant for more than a month now.
David Markham, former manager of corporate affairs for Vale's Manitoba Operations here, who was here less than three years, wrapped up his work with Vale July 16 and has left for Suncor in Alberta.
"We will be looking to fill David Markham's role in Thompson. I hope to begin discussions with our human resources group this week to begin that process," said Cory McPhee, vice-president for corporate affairs with Vale at its Canadian headquarters in Toronto Aug. 9. McPhee joined the old Inco public affairs department in 1989 after studying science at Laurentian University and journalism at Cambrian College. He became director of corporate affairs in May 2007 and was named vice-president for corporate affairs in July 2009.
The last time there was a vacancy in the top public affairs job for Vale in Thompson was in June 2007 when Dan McSweeney, superintendent of public and government affairs, retired after 27 years with the mining company. McSweeney, who decamped for Bridgewater, Nova Scotia after retirement, enjoyed a career that spanned nine presidents of Vale's Manitoba Operations.
Brian Maynard was the last president of Manitoba Operations here before the Brazilian mining giant abolished the position in a major corporate restructuring on July 10, 2009. Maynard had been back in Thompson and in the post less than 14 months at the time. Lovro Paulic, a Thompson native, who had served as the general manager of Vale Inco's Manitoba-based Mill, Smelter and Refinery Operations since 2006, was assigned "additional general management responsibilities." Maynard was offered and accepted a senior position in the broader Vale organization working at a coalmine in Australia.
McSweeney, a Halifax native, had first worked as a reporter at the old Halifax Herald, then got a taste of public relations work at Canadian National Railway in Moncton, before coming to Thompson in 1980 to work for Inco.
After McSweeney's departure, it took Vale four months to name David Markham as his replacement. Corporate affairs, or public and government affairs as it has been also called in recent years at Vale's Manitoba Operations, is a small shop with no more than a handful of public relations practitioners at any given time in the department. Penny Byer, a former CBC Radio journalist, who spent time in Churchill, is a long-time veteran in the department who was in charge of the four-page employee newsletter EXTRA, which Vale killed off with its Dec. 19, 2008 issue, and its successor the four-page NickeLinks, which began publishing in April 2009. Carolyn Wright, a former editor of the Thompson Citizen, also worked on contract in the department, mainly on EXTRA, from July 2007 until its demise in December 2008.
Before arriving here less than three years ago from Winnipeg in October 2007, Markham served as the executive vice-president for the Mining Association of Manitoba, an organization that represents the lobbying interests of the mining industry in the province.
Markham was 35 when he arrived, along with his wife, Shannon Slater, to take over as manager of public and government affairs in mid-October 2007. Slater wound up working for Manitoba Local Government provincial-municipal support services assessment services in the Thompson Regional Office.
"I find it much more positive than what we experienced in the city of Winnipeg," Markham said in a December 2007 interview with the Thompson Citizen
Besides an opportunity to leave the rat race behind, Markham said found himself unable to refuse a job offer from Vale, given the company's prestige in the province.
Before arriving in his new position, Markham served as the executive vice-president for the Mining Association of Manitoba, an organization that represents the interests of the mining industry in the province.
"(In) both jobs, the main thrust was to secure and maintain positive relationships with communities of interest," said Markham.
Markham said his job was to make sure Vale Inco was about more than processing nickel.
"It's about building community," he said. "We have a lot of pressure to ensure we (continue) to have a social licence to operate," Markham said.
Markham - a graduate of the University of Manitoba with a degree in public administration - said, "I think the biggest challenge for me will be getting to know the people of Thompson," he said.
"I'd love to be in Thompson for a long time," he said.
