Page 89 Page 90 American mines it was considered bad luck for a woman to venture under ground Mining has been an industry dominated by men However written and photographic records dating back to the early 1800s exist indicating that women worked in the coal industry in England and W ales took part in the California Alaska Y ukon and BC gold rushes and have prospected throughout North America since the mid1800s It wasn t until 1978 that a trapped or injured male miner could expect to hear the voice of a woman coming to the rescue That early frst voice would come from the vocal T oday we r ecognize pio neers Cynthia Camer on Linda Bell and the many women that have been a part of building the Ontario Mine Rescue pr ogram and r esponding to emergencies in the pr ovince s under gr ound mines cords of Cynthia Cameron a 19year old student at the Haileybury School of Mines who became Ontario s frstever certifed mine rescuer who was not male During her studies in Haileybury she de veloped a passion for mine rescue and de spite the social landscape of the day that likely included male counterparts dissuad ing her from achieving that goal she per severed determined to add mine rescue to her growing list of skills and knowledge According to fles at W orkplace Safety North the body that oversees mine rescue training and operations in Ontario today instructors recall Cynthia s incredible de termination to be a mine rescuer and that she didn t care that she was going to be the frst woman to go under oxygen St Andrew Goldfeld s L ynne Bouchard became the frst woman to compete as captain in a provincial mine rescue competition 2014 Linda Bell left with the Umex Thierry Mine Rescue team became the frst woman to compete in a Provincial Mine Rescue Competition 1980 Ontario Mine Rescue POST March 8 2018 Sudbury Page 87