Thompson, Manitoba

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City of Thompson, Manitoba
Nickname: Hub of The North, T-Town
Coordinates: 55°45′N 97°52′W / 55.75, -97.867
Country Canada
Province Manitoba
Region Northern
Established 1956
Town 1967 Town of Thompson
City 1970 City of Thompson
Government
 - City Mayor Tim Johnston
 - City Council Thompson City Council
 - MLA(Thompson) Steve Ashton
Area
 - Total 17.18 km² (6.6 sq mi)
 - Census Agglomeration 3,481.24 km² (1,344.1 sq mi)
Population (2006)
 - Total 13,446
 - Density 782.8/km² (2,027.4/sq mi)
 - Census Agglomeration 13,593
 - Census Agglomeration Density 3.9/km² (10.1/sq mi)
  According to CTV news the population grew from 13 000 to 18 000 in the past year.
Time zone Central (CST) (UTC-6)
 - Summer (DST) CDT (UTC)
Postal code R8N
Area code(s) 204
Website: http://www.thompson.ca

The City of Thompson, "Hub of the North" is the regional trade and service centre of Northern Manitoba. The city is located 830 kilometers north of the international border, and 739 kilometers north of the provincial capital of Winnipeg, and is 396 kilometers Northeast of Flin Flon. It is the third largest city in the province behind Winnipeg and Brandon.

Contents

[edit] History

The modern history of Thompson began in 1956 when on February 4, a major ore body was discovered by use of an airborne electromagnetometer following ten years of mining exploration in the region. Inco Limited signed an agreement with the Manitoba government covering the construction of the mine, mill, smelter, and refinery, as well as town services. The agreement also required that the company provide financial assistance towards the Kelsey Generating System, and a spur line to connect with C.N's Bay Line near Thicket Portage. Thompson is a planned community named after Inco's chairman, John F. Thompson, and was incorporated as a town in 1967 on Canada's Centennial Anniversary. In 1970 Thompson was incorporated as a city in the royal presence of Queen Elizabeth II, having reached a population of 20,000. A decline in population occurred during the following decades, levelling off around 14,000 people. Thompson came to be known as "The Hub of the North", as it functions as a centre for politics and commerce in the region.

[edit] Economy

Its most prominent local industry is the mining, milling, smelting and refining of nickel, with additional nickel concentrates coming from Voisey's Bay, Labrador.

Aside from Vale Inco Ltd; Manitoba Hydro, Calm Air, MTS and the provincial government employ the majority of the people in Thompson. A large portion are teachers and entrepreneurs as well.

Many federal and provincial government agencies have offices in Thompson. Thompson has a large retail sector, providing such things as clothing for all ages, a pet store, jewelry stores, travel agencies, vehicle dealerships, and grocery stores. Calm Air Airlines provides direct service between Winnipeg and Thompson. First Air is the newest airline in Thompson, with their first flight in late 2007. Thompson Airport

The construction of the 200 megawatt Wuskwatim hydro project southwest of Thompson will be important for the local economy. Construction of the access road to Wuskwatim began in 2006, and construction of the hydro dam will likely begin in 2009.

Thompson Transit is the public transit service operated for the city by Grey Goose Bus Lines.

[edit] Education

The local School District of Mystery Lake encompasses six elementary grade schools (Deerwood, Burntwood, Westwood, Riverside, Juniper, and Wapanohk (formerly Eastwood)), and one high school, R.D. Parker Collegiate.

Thompson also offers a K-12 French immersion program. Parents must enroll their children in the program and send them to École Riverside School and then afterwards they can continue it in high school. Students do not have the option of switching to French immersion in secondary school if they did not take the course at some point while in elementary school.

There is also the opportunity to receive K-8 education in the Cree language. This immersion program begins at Wapanohk (formerly Eastwood) elementary school. There are also basic Cree courses for grades 9-12 at R.D. Parker Collegiate as well as grade 10 and 11 courses in Native Studies and a grade 12 "Native Law" course. Full Cree-medium education does not, however, extend to the high school as of yet.

Although there is some demand for a private school, Thompson is not home to any at this time.

Thompson contains one of the two main campuses of the University College of the North, as well as the University of Manitoba's Faculty of Social Work branch in the region.

[edit] Shopping

Thompson is home to western Canada's first fully enclosed shopping centre, the Thompson Plaza. The surrounding communities also rely on many of the shopping amenities it has to offer. The city's main shopping mall, City Centre Mall, has many stores. It including WalMart, Safeway, Marks Work Warehouse, Bootlegger, The Source by Circuit City, Warehouse One, Starbucks, Tim Hortons and Boston Pizza. In 2007, Safeway remodelled their Thompson store into a Safeway Lifestyles style store, with a fresh meat counter and more quick meal choices.

[edit] Cold Weather Testing

Due to Thompson's unique location and subarctic climate it has gained a good reputation for its cold weather testing. Automobile manufacturers such as Chrysler, Ford, and Hummer have tested their vehicles in winter months in Thompson. The National Research Council of Canada has indicated its intentions to seek a partner in the private industry to develop an aircraft engine testing facility.

[edit] Sports

Thompson is home to the Norman Northstars hockey team. Thompson's minor hockey teams are known as the King Miners.

The high school teams are called the RD Parker Collegiate Trojans. The main rivals of the Trojans are the Hapnot Kopper Kings from Flin Flon and the MBCI Spartans from The Pas.

Every year students from the six elementary schools in grades 4-8 compete in the Knights of Columbus Track Meet. The most successful school to date in the competition has been Westwood School.

Thompson also has a large 6-sheet curling rink known as the Burntwood Curling Club which has hosted several zone and provincial competitions.

[edit] Circuit Court

Thompson is unique in that it is the judicial centre for an enormous geographic area ranging from Norway House in the South to Churchill in the North. The Thompson Judicial district covers 15 circuits and offers both Judicial Justice of the Peace Court as well as Provinical Court sittings. Judges, Judicial Justices of the Peace, Clerks, Crown Attorneys and defence lawyers based in Thompson and Winnipeg regularly travel by small plane on circuit court to various remote communities and First Nation Communities to hold Provinical court.

[edit] Bylaws

The City Council of Thompson has bylaws. There was a curfew bylaw (varying depending on age) for people under 18. [1]. The bylaw was discontinued after police enforcing issues.

[edit] Population

Stats Canada[1]

Year Population Five Year
 % change		 Ten Year
 % change
1971 n/a n/a n/a
1976 17,291 n/a n/a
1981 14,288 -17.4 n/a
1986 14,701 n/a n/a
1991 14,977 n/a 4.8
1996 14,385 -3.9 n/a
2001 13,256 -7.8 -11.5
2006 13,446 1.4 -6.5

Burntwood Regional Health Authority[2]

Year Population 1 Year
 % change
2002 14,106 0
2003 13,899 0
2004 14,215 0
2005 14,160 0
2006 14,076 0

[edit] Media

[edit] Newspaper

The local newspaper, the Thompson Citizen, is published on Wednesdays. A free newspaper produced by the same company, The Nickel Belt News, is distributed to a wider area than the Citizen, encompassing other communities such as Churchill, Snow Lake, Norway House, Nelson House, Cross Lake, Lynn Lake, Split Lake and many others.

[edit] Reference in music

The town has been made famous by the Tragically Hip song "Thompson Girl", whose scene is set just north of Thompson.

[edit] Radio

[edit] Television

CBWTT went on the air for the first time on April 1, 1969.[3]

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.citypopulation.de/Canada-Manitoba.html
  2. ^ http://www.gov.mb.ca/health/population/2006/3/burntwood.pdf
  3. ^ "Microwave Hook-Up Gives North Live TV", Winnipeg Free Press, April 29, 1969, p. 28. 
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Coordinates: 55°45′N, 97°52′W