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CANADIAN INDUSTRY ONLINE - JANUARY 2014
N
ESTLED IN A
picturesque
natural area of Manitoba, Snow
Lake is a small community, with big
promise. The town is known as an area
with amazing sunsets, clean water-
ways and beautiful forests. What many
people don’t know is the community’s
history of economic resilience, innova-
tion and mining.
The town is at the geographical
centre of Manitoba’s three northern
cities of Flin Flon, The Pas and Thomp-
son, and provides easy access to all
three by highway. The town boasts a
mining museum and has a beach area
downtown.
Popular activities of city residents
include golfing, fishing, camping, boat-
ing, bird watching, paintball, playing
tennis, hiking, and dining. Several ar-
eas are available for camping and there
are many activities to engage in in the
winter: snow machine trails are preva-
lent, and there are many cross country
ski trails. Residents have access to an
arena and curling, hockey and other
ice sports. Snow Lake also has an air-
port and float plane access.
Mayor Clarence Fisher spoke
with CIO about his town, where he
says the passion lies in the people’s
love of their home. Fisher has been
mayor for three years, and was born
and raised in Snow Lake. He says that
being the mayor of such a small and
unique community is a rewarding role.
“
You can see the effects of the deci-
sions you’re making when you’re a
Mayor of a place like Snow Lake. You
can see when roads are patched and
new developments are built: you have
a direct link to the community and
those changes affect you just as much
as other people,” he explains.
MINING
The town currently has a popu-
lation of about 1,000 people, but that
number is set to grow over the next
few years, says Mayor Fisher. “As
the mines and mill operations come
online for our town, our population
will grow quickly,” he notes. Hudbay
Minerals is one of the most important
mining companies in Canada, and has
been mining in Snow Lake since 1958.
The company operates the Lalor proj-
ect, which is set to be Hudbay’s next
major underground mine. This means
jobs for Snow Lake residents and an
increase in business for local suppliers.
“
Snow Lake is on the turnaround. We
have at least a generation of prosperity
and good things ahead of us,” Fisher
comments.
Ultimately, Snow Lake exists be-
cause of mining, and when mining is
not part of the grander economic plan,
the town suffers. “The town struggled
when there weren’t mines. Lots of peo-
ple left, or the people who stayed had
to leave for work in far locations. It is
