Arthur Tremblay of Goodfish Lake, Alta., put on his blue Suncor coveralls for the first time on July 17, 1974, when he started working in the Mine Equipment Maintenance (MEM) shop at Suncor’s Base Plant near Fort McMurray, Alt.
Arthur, a residential school survivor, was introduced to the mechanics trade through a program for Indigenous Peoples called, Training on the Job. The program gave him the chance to work in MEM for a month and at the end of the program, participants were asked to choose where they wanted to work. Arthur chose to continue to work in MEM and he went on to complete his apprenticeship as a mechanic.
Arthur was introduced to the trades through a program for Indigenous Peoples.
“There were a lot of good people that I’ve worked with and a lot of good supervisors that I worked for over the years, and I that’s why I’m still here,” Arthur says from the MEM shop floor with the hood of a Super Duty truck open behind him. “I love what I’m doing and that’s the main thing; you gotta love what you’re doing.”
As good as the times have been for Arthur, he has plans to hang up his coveralls and put away the wrenches for the last time when he retires on August 20, just one month after his 50th service anniversary.
“I won’t miss getting up at 5 in the morning,” jokes Arthur. “I’ll probably do more golfing as I’ll have time to do that. We have a trailer in a campground in Edmonton and I go there on my days off—my wife is already there. So, I’ll have more time to spend there.”
Over the years, Arthur has helped train and welcome new members to MEM and has become a valued, respected and well-liked member of the team. The shop floor will certainly be a different place without his kind smile and expert hands.
“They say they’re going to miss me because I work hard and have helped train a lot of people,” adds Arthur. “I’ll miss it too. I’ll miss the people and I’ll miss the place. This is my second home.”
Arthur has helped train many new members of the MEM team over the years.
Arthur’s one piece of advice he shares for anyone at the beginning of their career is to have the right attitude. “You don’t come here thinking you know it all. If you work hard, you’ll last a long time.”
As Arthur was getting under the hoods of Suncor’s fleet, Linda Ellis was navigating her first office job at Suncor’s Ottawa terminal. Linda, who is the Team Lead Terminal Operations, also started in 1974, when she was 18.
Linda has been working in same building for 50 years and says enjoys the work and the people too much to leave.
“I had no intentions of being here for this long,” Linda says with a chuckle. “I was planning to go to university, but I missed the registration deadlines. Instead, I got a job here as a receptionist and enjoyed the work and the people too much to leave.”
Linda, who is celebrating 50 years of service this year, is one of three people who physically work in the office at any given time and she’s still not ready to leave any of it behind.
“They’re going to have to dust me off when I retire,” Linda laughs. “I still feel like I have energy and much to contribute. And I just like what I do; I like the people. I’ve been through a lot of change over the years, and I had a great career. I don’t know where 50 years went.”
From her initial reception duties in 1974, she was moved into a clerical role and helped backfill vacations—back then, about 30 people worked out of that office. She was trained in basic administrative tasks, which were all done manually. “Computers wouldn’t be around for another 20 years at that point,” she adds. “Everything was done by hand and with a calculator; handwritten spreadsheets and handwritten balance sheets.” When Linda started working at the Ottawa terminal, it was a distribution products facility where trucks of various sizes would load products (gasoline and diesel) to deliver to customers. Today, it remains a distribution facility and the products from the terminal are delivered to our customers like Petro-Canada, a Suncor business, sites. The terminal also receives products from the Montreal Refinery.
“So much positive has come from my career. I’ve had great leaders and I’ve been treated extremely well, otherwise, I wouldn’t still be here,” says Linda.