“We were low on the housing list because we only had one child. When we finally did get an apartment, it was only about six hundred square feet. It was a one bedroom, a very small bedroom, so we took the doors off the bedroom closet and put the crib in there. We had both end tables from our bedroom suite on top of the dresser! It was strange to us; we came from a posh, 19th floor, adult only building with pool and a sauna. During the first few months, if we had the money, we would have gone back.

“Not long after we got to Port Hardy I took an office administration course at North Island College, I think it was their first year of existence in 1977 or 1978, and at that time, the college was above the hardware store. That is where I learned to type. Hardy Realty and then the municipal office subsequently hired me.

“Initially I would walk to work and take my son to daycare through the bush, but when I heard about a cougar attack, I stopped doing that. I bought a little Honda car, a standard; I didn’t know how to get it off the lot.  Bob drove it home for me. I was able to drive from home, down the street and into the Real Estate parking lot in first or second gear. I don’t think I stopped at the stop sign for three weeks, until I figured out the clutch.

“A few years later, I went on maternity leave from the municipal office for my second child, at that time it was only thirteen to eighteen weeks maternity leave. When I went back there was no longer a job for me. Back then, employers did not expect you to come back to work after having a baby, especially a second child.

“My second son, Justin, was born in Port Hardy in the ten-bed hospital, quite the different experience from my first son, born in a large teaching hospital in Ontario, with drugs and specialists all over. When my son needed a cast, they did not have the medical facilities to do that in Port Hardy. I had to fly to Children’s Hospital in Vancouver. There was no subsidy or reimbursement for the costs of medical trips such as that.

“I mailed off a resume to the mine and Ian Horne, Environmental Supervisor, hired me the following week. He lived next door to my in-laws. My father-in-law knew that I was before I did; it was that small a town.

 “I started at the mine in January 1982. I was the secretary for the onsite labs. I remember filling out the personnel forms, it was back in the days when employers could ask personal questions like how many kids you had and what age they were. I was very nervous putting down that I had a five year old and a seven month old. I never missed work because of my kids; I felt I had something to prove. The company expected that, and I wanted to keep the great job with good money. We left the house every morning at 7:15. It was somewhat spooky going to work in the morning with the fog. With two kids, I had two drop offs before starting work at 8:00. I really did not clear much money with daycare expenses, but I still preferred to work.  

“In the lab I did statistical typing, all on an IBM electric typewriter - my baby finger is still a little bent from the tab key. The environmental lab collected sea life samples, and I would type statistical analysis for the volumes of permits they had to do every year. I also typed for the assay and metallurgical labs. I later worked in the safety department and filled in as a confidential secretary when they were doing the tunnelling project. I then used one of only two IBM word processors—that is back in the early 1980’s, very cutting edge and state of the art.  I had to go back to college to take a computer and word processing course. I then moved to the personnel department for a few years.  That is when computers were just coming out and personnel eventually had several.

“When I was still working at the mine site in the labs, I was invited out for lunch for secretary’s day. I went to work in hardhat and boots, but I changed into heels, nylons and a dress and went to lunch at the camp cookhouse!   Later when I worked at the main office, everyone dressed professionally for work. It seems silly if you think about it, you had to hobble across the gravel parking lot in your heels to get to the office. Everyone dressed to the nines in the office. I can distinctly remember thinking to myself; if I have to wear dresses and skirts to work now, I need to get a trench coat because of the rain. I bought a London Fog trench coat that cost $240, and that was in the 1980’s. There was huge money spent on clothes.

“We left Port Hardy in 1986, when our kids were five and ten. We wanted them to be in a bigger community that would offer more opportunities before they went to high school. By then the company was already giving notice that they were going to close. Our time there was during the highest prices of silver and gold ever. There were real highs and lows; it was easy to get caught up in it, and interest rates would sore or drop accordingly. 

Audrey currently works at Vancouver Island Health Authority as admin support.

Bob’s Story

“In 1975 Audrey and I came for a visit, to see my mom and stepfather. At the time, I was in my third year of a millwright apprenticeship. My stepfather, Bill Bowers, took me on a tour of the mill. He mentioned to someone, that I was a millwright apprentice. I really liked the change in Port Hardy from the big city. I was willing to quit my other job to be able to work at Island Copper and live here in Port Hardy. He was told to tell me, 'finish my apprenticeship, and then come out.' I would have a job.  I came out the following year.

“The population of Hamilton Ontario was three hundred and fifty thousand. When we arrived in Port Hardy, in the summer of 1976, there was a population of thirty-five hundred.

“At the end of July 1976 we moved to Port Hardy. Audrey and I travelled thirty-one hundred miles with our first son, Jeremy, who was two months old, and a two-month-old Dalmatian pup, which was a gift to my stepfather from his sister. It was an exhausting trip; the pup would be yelping, and Jeremy would be crying. In 1976, you had to drive from Campbell River to Gold River then on twenty-six miles of gravel road. At the old A-frame bridge, just outside of Gold River a logging truck had lost its load. This caused a bit of a traffic jam. I was happy to see more loaded, logging trucks waiting on the other side.  I figured we should not see any more today. Once the clean up was finished we were under way. I had not driven far, when here was another logging truck coming.  I edged over towards the side of the road to stop and let the logging truck go by. Both my truck and trailer slid into the ditch as I had gone too far over. I was pleasantly surprised when the pickup truck behind the logging truck, and the truck behind us both stopped. Within minutes they had us out of the ditch and able to get underway.  I cannot remember how many times I said thank you. Having travelled three thousand miles so far, this gravel stretch of road was the friendliest road in all of Canada. For a few years, we travelled the logging road in and out of Port Hardy. If you had stopped on the side of the road people, would stop and make sure everything was okay. This was the only road link and the trip to Campbell River was about a five-hour drive from Port Hardy.

“We arrived in Port Hardy on the Friday. I started work on the following Monday. During my probation period Audrey, our son Jeremy and I stayed with my mother and stepfather, Virginia and Bill. With other sisters and brothers around, it became a hub of activity.

“Two weeks into my thirty-day probation period, there was a wobble. I did not have a clue what a wobble was, but soon found out. Any time the workers got upset about a work issue, they would go up the road from the gate where the logging road crossed the mine road. They would start a big bonfire at the big clearing. No one could get into the mine site, when a wobble happened. I was worried because, I was not sure if I would be let go, for not being at work.

“Two months after my probationary period, we were now in our own one bedroom apartment. I remember our first November we went grocery shopping,  being accustomed to the big city shopping where choices were plenty, I remember asking ‘is that all the fruit you have.’ ‘That is all we have if you need more you will have to drive to Campbell River.’

“I had to take my turn on eight hour shifts working seven day shifts, seven night shifts, and seven afternoons. Eventually we went to twelve-hour shifts, four days on and four days off. Being on shift, Audrey’s and my travel times to work never really coincided. The environmental lab was below the mill, so when I was on dayshift, and if I went out of my way a bit, I could stop in to say hi, and I used to, other than that, we did not see each other at work. There were many husband and wife teams working there.

“We lived in a one-bedroom apartment, a mobile trailer and finally, we bought a house. It had a huge sundeck, which made me laugh because there was no sun. We had an old dresser that we were going to throw out, so we took out the drawers and used them for raised garden beds and put them out on the sundeck safe from the slugs. We did manage to grow a few things even in that wet, cool climate.

“The real big thing in the summer was the Filomi Days, Fishing Logging Mining. It was a big celebration; there was always a parade, and other entertainment like the stock car races behind the mall and first aid competitions down at Tsulquate Park. The mine was a great supporter of this weekend. I feel the mine really supported the community in a big way. They were a very good corporate citizen.

“In 2005, we went to Parksville for a mine reunion. It was great to see how many were there. It was amazing listening to stories of where people were working now, what type of work they were doing.  Some would comment how their lives were influenced by the experiences we had shared in Port Hardy. I never regretted living in Port Hardy and working for Island Copper, we made so many good friends.”

Bob is currently working at Catalyst Paper Corporation in Campbell River as a vibration analyst, after thirty-one years as a millwright.