The Noranda Miners’ Strike by Michelle Eber
While researching the descendants of Onésime (Daragon dit) Lafrance and Sophie Godard (dite Lapointe), family historian and author Michelle Eber learned about Albert Lafrance’s role in the 80-day Noranda miners’ strike during the winter of 1946-47.
After leaving Sturgeon Falls, Albert, a grandson of Onésime and Sophie, began work as a pipefitter at Noranda Mines in the late 1920s. As Michelle dug deeper, she discovered that Albert had become president of union Local 688 of the International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers (C.I.O.). The local’s members went on strike in November 1946, seeking higher wages and union security, including the right to have union dues deducted from their pay.
Eber was curious: had Albert’s grandchildren heard stories about the strike? What had those weeks been like for the family? How had they managed through the Christmas holiday with no regular income?
Now she wanted to learn more about the strike, the issues behind it and its eventual outcome. Drawing on contemporary newspaper reports, she pieced together the events of the 80 days and the experiences of the people involved.
Beyond Temiskaming
We are pleased to share Michelle’s meticulously researched report. Although Noranda lies outside the Temiskaming region, the story has local connections. Family ties link Albert Lafrance to Cobalt, North Cobalt and Lorrain Township, while a wider focus illustrates how closely connected the mining communities of northern Ontario and Quebec were.
What began as a dispute between one mining company and its employees became a much wider labour struggle. Miners in Kirkland Lake, Timmins and other mining centres followed developments closely. Union locals provided financial and moral support, and the possibility of a broader mining-industry strike became a serious concern.
The story unfolded against a familiar northern backdrop: rising living costs, the challenge of attracting and retaining workers, and the difficult economics of operating mines. For striking workers and their families, it meant weeks without regular pay, a bitterly cold winter on the picket line and a Christmas season made more difficult by uncertainty.
A mining story reaches home
Eber’s research also reveals several family connections to Cobalt and the surrounding area.
Among them are Hank Lafleur, a former mayor of Cobalt and a first cousin twice removed of Albert Lafrance, and Frank Tremblay, Albert’s first cousin, who worked as a machinist in a Cobalt silver mine during the 1930s.
Other family connections extend to North Cobalt. Antoine Duhaime was a miner and the husband of Albert’s aunt, Agnès Lafrance. Armand Lefebvre, who was married to Anna Duhaime, one of Albert’s first cousins, lost his life in January 1913 in the Fourth of July shaft at the Nipissing Mine in Cobalt. Armand and Anna’s great-grandson, Richard Lemire, also worked in the mines.
Joseph Legault and Ovila Proulx were both miners. They married Clara and Sophie Duhaime, respectively, who were also first cousins of Albert Lafrance. Further afield, in Lorrain Township, Adélard Catudal worked at Agnico-Eagle and was married to Albert’s first cousin, Yvonne Tremblay.
Explore the research
We hope you’ll take the time to explore Michelle’s paper. It offers an opportunity to look beyond familiar boundaries and better understand the people, working conditions and events that helped shape the mining north.
About the Author – Michelle Eber
Michelle Eber is a family historian and author who has spent more than two decades researching the descendants of Onésime (Daragon dit) Lafrance and Sophie Godard (dite Lapointe). A representative of the tenth generation of the Lafrance family in Canada, Michelle traces her ancestry to François Daragon, who arrived in Canada in the 17th century.
Her extensive genealogical research documents the family’s migration from France to Sturgeon Falls and the subsequent journeys of its descendants.
About the Daragon dit Lafrance Book Series
Daragon dit Lafrance: One Branch of the Family Tree is a multi-volume genealogical series by Michelle Eber, tracing the history and descendants of one branch of the Lafrance family.
The extensively documented volumes include family charts, historical context notes and thousands of vital records drawn from archival sources. Copies of the books are held in major archival collections, including Library and Archives Canada and the Library of Congress.
Volume One (1664–1900) is 648 pages and covers the first five generations of the family in Canada.
Volume Two (Sturgeon Falls) is 980 pages and follows the descendants of Onésime Lafrance and Sophie Godard (dite Lapointe), beginning with their 1891 migration to Northern Ontario. It documents the family’s subsequent history through the Great Depression and the migrations of descendants across North America.
Learn more about Michelle’s research and publications on her Daragon dit Lafrance Facebook page.
Michelle is an amazing author. I’ve read both of her books cover to cover, and she is the ultimate narrative historian. You’d think all that detailed archival research would make it hard going, but she turns history into a totally absorbing story. She brings the past alive so well that I feel like I truly know how these people lived, loved and survived. I wish every historian had her storytelling gift!
Hi Judy – thank you for your comments. I agree wholeheartedly, too. It takes a special skill, and Michelle has it – in spades!
This is fascinating. I will check it out. I have been reading about the brutal 1933 Noranda strike. What happened in Noranda had major implications for Cobalt. When Cobalt miners struck in the 1950s and managed to get mandatory check off for their union dues Noranda management put intense pressure on the Cobalt companies not to break ranks and recognize the union.
Hi Charlie – Thanks for confirming my decision to share Michelle’s piece. Her work fills in gaps in the stories we have told – time-wise and subject-wise.
Maggie