"I do not know if it was the best company, but it was a good company, and I would like to see more companies run this way."

Tracking down John Galbraith was a bit of a challenge but finally we connected and upon hearing the details of the project he agreed to participate. John's passion about his work at Island Copper was evident and he felt that management created a sense of family atmosphere by keeping the employees best interest at heart and this leadership shaped the mine.

Island Copper was very sensitive of different personalities and work styles of the employees and strived to arrange their crews accordingly. If you have happy, contented employees you will have excellent production!

John Galbraith knew all about small town life before he moved to Port Hardy. He grew up in Knolton, on Brome Lake, about sixty-five miles south of Montreal, which had a winter population of 1000 people. After serving in the military and working in mines in Thompson, Manitoba, and Trail, BC, he came to Vancouver Island to work at Island Copper.

John’s Story

“I started in 1971 when they were still building the property, and was there until 1996.  I formed my own consulting business and worked for them and the sales agent for about another three years. I was an electrical consultant and ended up as electrical superintendent of the property. I was involved in sales of company assets, agents were selling a lot and many people came in to buy. At one time they had close to nine hundred employees, but when the mine closed there were only 250 left.