Page 81 F rom mine development to the production, process and movement of ore, MTI provides the equipment, the tools and the expertise to make it happen. Our goal is to exceed customer expectations by working closely with each and every client. Find out how we can do it for you. www .mti.ca A new world of mining exper tise CORPORA TE OFFICE 145 Magill Str eet, Lively , Ontario, Canada P3Y 1K6 T el: 705.692.3661 Fax: 705.692.4850 MTI SALES 25 Fielding Road, Copper Cliff, Ontario, Canada P0M 1N0 T el: 705.692.3661 T oll Free: 800.772.3661 Fax: 705.682.4508 NOR TH BA Y P .O. Box 1437, 21 Exeter Street, Nor th Bay , Ontario, Canada P2B 8K6 T el: 705.472.5207 Fax: 705.472.5861 tor how to educate himself about eco - nomics. Prospectors were at a disad - vantage when they came to negotiate with company executives and high- priced lawyers. “W e are basically salesmen after we fnd something but spending years in the bush didn’ t equip us for making presentations in board rooms and ne - gotiating prices for any good claims,” he said. McKinnon loved to read and to do re - search. He was a familiar fgure at the national library in Ottawa and in vari - ous provincial offces in T oronto. He and his wife Elaine had three chil - dren but she died of cancer and he was left to raise Donna, Donald and Dun - can. He marrie d Stephanie and they had two children Gordon and Alexa. T immins was his base as he pros - pected all over Canada from the High Arctic to the Maritimes and British Columbia, as well as in the United States. He was much more than a prospector , however , as his interests ranged from municipal and provincial politics to the economy of Northern Ontario and the need to preserve the region’ s spe - cial way of life. He served fve years on T imm ins town council (before it became a city), ran twice for mayor and once for the pro - vincial legisla ture, phoned federal and provincial cabinet ministers to set them straight on issues of the day , wrote letters to numerous newspapers and appeared before legislative com - mittees and royal commissions. T immins Mayor T om Laughren said the city has lost a valuable citizen who contribute d not just to mining but to the community in numerous ways. “He was one of a kind, a man with strong opinions who spoke out on many issues. He fought for Northern Ontario and especially T immins, and encouraged others to do the same.” In May , the mayor honoured McKin - non and Larche at a public banquet with the keys to the city and small bronze statues for their outstanding careers as prospectors and being com - munity-minded individuals, saying “it was men such as these who made T immins what it is today .” At one point, McKinnon was the sin - gle lar gest property owner in T immins, outside some mining companies. McKinnon loved to talk about all as - pects of his life, however , there was one that he kept very private even though it was ar guably the closest to his heart. McKinnon was a very philanthropic man who made substantial donations of his money , time and resources to those in need. He sponsored children’ s hockey in T immins for years, bought equipment for the local hospital, fund - Cont’d from pg. 78 Cont’d on pg. 80 Lar che, McKinnon praised as city builders “The Porcupine Camp” 100 Y ears of Mining Page 79