Yellowknife
mine tragedy focus of new CBC movie
TORONTO (CP) -- Miss Piggy is what angry miners called her. But Chatelaine
magazine was impressed enough with Peggy Witte's tough business acumen
to name her Woman of the Year in 1994. This after the American-born entrepreneur
captained the Vancouver-based Royal Oak Mines through one of the ugliest
chapters in Canadian labor history: the 17-month riot-torn strike at the
Giant gold mine in Yellowknife that saw nine men killed in an underground
bombing on Sept. 18, 1992. Now the story is being told in a new TV movie,
Giant Mine, airing Sunday night on CBC. But will Witte be flattered or
insulted by her portrayal at the hands of Toronto actress Alberta Watson? "I
hope she calls me. It would be great," says Watson. Watson's Witte
is as hard-nosed as the genuine article is reputed to be, seen in the movie
calling in jackbooted security guards and attack dogs to keep the locked-out
miners at bay while she orders replacement workers trucked in.
Producer
Alan Burke, meanwhile, says he'd be curious to hear Witte's
reaction but isn't losing sleep over it. "We've done our
homework, we've done our research, and this is an accurate
portrayal of the situation." Burke's Giant Mine tries
to steer a middle course with Witte's obstinacy matched by
that of the union leaders who refused to consider logjam-breaking
concessions.
"I
hope this film is seen as a cautionary tale," says Burke. "I
think that everyone's got a lot to own up to in that whole
situation." The film shows a silhouetted figure planting
the deadly bomb in a mine tunnel and does not quite identify
him as Roger Warren, the disgruntled miner ultimately convicted
on second-degree murder charges. Warren, who confessed to
police then pleaded not guilty, is seeking to appeal. Burke
says the residents of Yellowknife now live under an uneasy
peace after the Canadian Labor Relations Board forced a settlement
under threat of compulsory arbitration. He wants them to
react with sensitivity to the film even if there isn't a
complete healing yet. "I hope we have unearthed and
shown some of the human weaknesses that brought this situation
together. I think it's going to be positive."
