Brian Larson

Brian Larson (Council)
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Brian Larson (Council)
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Brian Larson (Council)
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Brian Larson (Council)

Larson, born in Red Lake and a community service liaison officer for Placer Dome Canada Ltd., said a big challenge facing the board is the replacement/repair of the ambulance buildings in Kenora and Ear Falls, for which they are seeking government assistance.

"Anytime the money is divided up, it goes by population base," Larson said.

"We may not have a big population base, but we have a huge geographical area.That's always something we need to remind the government of the day."

Red Lake has a good reputation for attracting those dollars to the region, Larson said, noting the $11 million the city got for a water and sewer system and $5 million for the OPP station.

"When the (OPP ) station needed to be rebuilt, I had the solicitor general come in and see it first hand," Larson said.

It's this gutsy, creative approach Larson said will benefit the region.

"We stand united," he said.

He'll join other municipal politicians from Northwest Ontario at the Ontario Good Roads Association conference in late February.

"It's our first chance to meet with the new ministers," he said.

Larson said he'd support an area services board if it would benefit the region, noting an area board would have the ability to tax unincorporated residents who live beyond board of education boundaries.

"Some people out there may not want to be taxed," he conceded.

Larson tipped his hat to McMillan and Blower, calling them "very capable people."

KO's Geordi Kakepetum discusses a variety of economic development opportunities with Peter Busse, mine general manager and Brian Larson, community liaison officer of Placer Dome ... "KO is always interested in seeking out new training and employment opportunities for our people," Geordi said.

Voting against the proposed budget were board chairman Brian Larson from Red Lake, Dryden Mayor Anne Krassilowsky, Sioux Narrows-Nestor Falls representative Bill Thompson and Kenora board member Rory McMillan.
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Larson told the board he would have personally voted in favour of the budget proposal, but was given "clear direction" from Red Lake council to vote only for a budget that provides a zero per cent increase to municipal levies.He praised the work of the finance committee to come up with only a 2.84 per cent increase on budget that increased by about $12 million over 2005."This administration did a lot of hard work on this budget," said Larson.Larson said it is now time for the municipalities to take a "gut-check" and decide just what services they would like cut to meet their demands of a zero per cent increase.

Brian Larson
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Brian Larson
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Brian Larson

Brian Larson Director

Brian Larson (Balmerton), Community Liaison Officer at Placer Dome's Campbell Mine and a Red Lake town councillor, is the former manager of Human Resources and Safety at Bowater Canadian Forest Products.He is chair of the Kenora District Services Board and president of the Kenora Municipal Association.Vice-president of the Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association (NOMA) and Member of the Red Lake Chamber of Commerce, he is former chair of the Red Lake Police Services Board, Red Lake Hospital and the Road to the West Committee.

"We're in the middle of the third Gold Rush," says Brian Larson, the community liaison officer for Placer Dome.The Vancouver-based company started the pilot project for the mining school in July and it is looking to expand the number of students it can admit for the future. The school provides a fully comprehensive Ontario common-core training course, all out of a stope in the mine that is still being mined, that combines practical experience with classroom learning.With the support of government partners, the program is targeted at Aboriginal youth from the Far North, but any northerner is free to apply.Out of a current class of five students, two are Aboriginal and three are not. One of the best aspects of the program, says Larson, is that the company pays the students an hourly rate to take the course, although accommodation and living expenses are not paid for.There is no formal requirement for the students to take up work with a Placer Dome mine after completing the course.Larson however does not rule out that this may become a possible requirement in the future."Hopefully, some of these students stay with us, but they may just as well be lost to GoldCorp down the way.It's all about opportunity," he says.
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Larson says youth from the area are typically drawn to "high-tech" jobs in southern Ontario and feel the lure of the cities when they attend university or college.Engineering firms and other employers are able to snatch up skilled northerners right in school, he says.Larson, however, is convinced that the problem is that younger northerners are not being exposed to the full message about opportunities in the industry. With salaries averaging between $60,000 and $100,000, Larson is not sure youth are getting the message that mining has changed over the years. "The mining industry has not been doing a good job in promoting itself," Larson says."Many of these young people come from second- and third-generation mining families and they simply don't want to follow in their fathers' footsteps," he adds.A major part of the work, says Larson, has been travelling to different northern communities, particularly Aboriginal ones in the Far North, and introducing mining to the youth. In order to expand interest in the program, young people must be reached so they can realize the realities and opportunities in the mining industry before they embark elsewhere and they are lost to the mining world, he maintains. In the interim, Larson says he is looking through a "stack of resumes" and he says Placer Dome is prepared to seek more government support in promoting the project.www.placerdome.com

"We're in the middle of the third Gold Rush," says Brian Larson, the community liaison officer for Placer Dome.The Vancouver-based company started the pilot project for the mining school in July and it is looking to expand the number of students it can admit for the future.The school provides a fully comprehensive Ontario common-core training course, all out of a stope in the mine that is still being mined, that combines practical experience with classroom learning.With the support of government partners, the program is targeted at Aboriginal youth from the Far North, but any northerner is free to apply.Out of a current class of five students, two are Aboriginal and three are not.One of the best aspects of the program, says Larson, is that the company pays the students an hourly rate to take the course, althoughaccommodation and living expenses are not paid for.There is no formal requirement for the students to take up work with a Placer Dome mine after completing the course.Larson however does not rule out that this may become a possible requirement in the future."Hopefully, some of these students stay with us, but they may just as well be lost to GoldCorp down the way.It's all about opportunity," he says.
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Larson says youth from the area are typically drawn to "high-tech" jobs in southern Ontario and feel the lure of the cities when they attend university or college.Engineering firms and other employers are able to snatch up skilled northerners right in school, he says.Larson, however, is convinced that the problem is that younger northerners are not being exposed to the full message about opportunities in the industry.With salaries averaging between $60,000 and $100,000, Larson is not sure youth are getting the message that mining has changed over the years."The mining industry has not been doing a good job in promoting itself," Larson says."Many of these young people come from second- and third-generation mining families and they simply don't want to follow in their fathers' footsteps," he adds.A major part of the work, says Larson, has been travelling to different northern communities, particularly Aboriginal ones in the Far North, and introducing mining to the youth.In order to expand interest in the program, young people must be reached so they can realize the realities and opportunities in the mining industry before they embark elsewhere and they are lost to the mining world, he maintains.In the interim, Larson says he is looking through a "stack of resumes" and he says Placer Dome is prepared to seek more government support in promoting the project.www.placerdome.com

Brian LarsonCouncillor