May 12, 2010 – Republic of Mining

This obituary was published in the Lives Lived section of the Globe and Mail on November 17, 1999.

Union leader, municipal politician, Liberal Party functionary, historian, author, father, grandfather and great-grandfather. Born Oct. 2, 1918, in Coniston, Ontario. Died Oct. 19, 1999 in Sudbury, Ontario of heart failure, aged 81.

Near the end of his long life, it was my pleasure to record Mike Solski’s oral autobiography for posterity. One of his earliest memories was talking his father’s lunch to him at work, on the floor of the old nickel smelter in Coniston just a long stone’s throw from the family home.

In 1935, at the age of 17, Mike followed in the footsteps of both his father and grandfather and went to work in the Coniston smelter. Mike well remembered the days when the smelter manager was automatically elected mayor of Coniston, and when shift bosses would arrive at workers’ homes unannounced demanding their annual Christmas tribute – cash or a bottle of booze.

Norm Tollinsky is editor of Sudbury Mining Solutions Journal, a magazine that showcases the mining expertise of North Bay, Timmins and Sudbury. Go to the December 2009, issue to read about the many successful partnerships between Northern Ontario’s Aboriginal communities and the mining industry.

This issue’s Special Report on First Nation Engagement in the Mining Industry sheds light on an aspect of the industry that some may have thought incidental. In November 2006, a decision by the Supreme Court of Canada affirmed a requirement by government to consult with and accommodate First Nation communities with respect to mining, forestry and other economic activities on their traditional lands. This decision changed the way mining companies do business and caused the Ontario government to amend the Mining Act to reflect the new reality.

The mining industry in Ontario dates back 125 years. That makes it either ancient or the new kid on the block depending on your perspective. For First Nation people, who have called Ontario home for more than 7,000 years, it’s mostly the latter. Mining and exploration companies staked claims and mined Ontario’s riches in most cases without consulting or accommodating the communities on whose traditional territories the activity took place. The First Nations, as one chief put it, were confined to the bleachers.

Today, it’s a different story. Mining companies are hiring vice-presidents of Aboriginal affairs, suppliers are establishing joint venture enterprises with First Nation communities and a whole industry of legal and consulting services is springing up.

Michael Solski Obituary – by Mick Lowe

Mining Companies and First Nations: Many Success Stories in Northern Ontario – by Norm Tollinsky