RE:some good news
Translated with Google... I plead not guilty... LOL!
Ottawa) Thirty years after the closing of Schefferville, its inhabitants with great pomp mark the reopening of the Arena on Tuesday. This is one of the few buildings have been spared during the destruction of the city in the 80s. With the resumption of exploration activities in the region, Innu Matimekush -Lac John see it as a symbol of the way they have come since the tragic end of the last mining boom .
The queen visited Schefferville. Maurice Duplessis died there . But the small mining town north of Sept -Îles, the Labrador border , has never hosted Youppi .
Its inhabitants are preparing to do so Tuesday. The mascot of the Canadian, former players company, dignitaries and community members will attend the official reopening of the local arena .
" Openings arenas in the North, we do not see every day ! " Says the head of the Innu of Matimekush -Lac John , Réal McKenzie.
"There is exceptional , and not just because it moves former Canadiens players . This is the story of that ... This is what makes the symbolism of the battle Innu Matimekush -Lac John ! "
In the 80s , after announcing the end of its mining activities in the region, the Iron Ore Company had destroyed part of the city it had itself built over a period of 40 years.
But " the arena was saved thanks to the mothers and children who had surrounded the building before the bulldozer crushed ," says Chief McKenzie.
Schefferville is empty. Innu and some whites remained . For 30 years, they have maintained somehow buildings spared. Too often , the few echoes reached the "closed city" spoke of suicide, drug abuse and gambling addiction
And mining companies returned , driven by the increasing demand for iron in emerging economies such as China and India.
For those left behind , there was no question that history repeats itself with new companies such as Tata Steel , New Millennium and Labrador Iron Mines.
Innu community, McKenzie chief head, blocked roads and threatened governments to ensure they are heard.
In 2011, after months of negotiations , mining companies have promised financial benefits , employment , training ... and funds for the construction or improvement of infrastructure, including the arena.
" No arena, not mine "
"It was that or nothing . No arena, not mine . That was the battle, sir , "said the talkative Réal McKenzie, elected leader for the first time in 1989.
"It has a symbolic value , then this arena ," agrees a spokesman for Tata Steel, Armand Mackenzie , also from Schefferville .
"It is a remnant of the old mines, and how the other company left its operations ... Say that the community felt insulted. And for us, it was important to establish a good relationship from the start. "
Tata Steel and Labrador Iron Mines contributed the bulk of the 4.5 million needed to clean and repaint the building from top to bottom , repeat the ice and the roof , replace the heating system, ask seats, buy a new groomer . .. Other partners, such as the Quebec government also loosened the purse strings .
The final touch to the renovations was brought there a few days. The building looks brand new.
"In my early years , I played in this arena there, me," said the leader Réal McKenzie.
He hoped that the young people of his community continue to benefit long. Even after the mining boom.