Episode 3 - The Explosion

How did Canada’s deadliest labour dispute begin? By the 1990s the once-booming ‘Giant’ Gold Mine in Yellowknife is nearing the end of its lifespan. It’s bought by an ambitious American woman named Peggy Witte who is determined to make a profit with what remains — but the union’s convinced she’s out to bust them.

The hostility between the union and the company boils over when union members vote to go on strike, but are locked out by the company first. Peggy Witte brings in replacement workers, infuriating strikers who resort to escalating levels of violence, that spills into the city.

On September 18th, 1992, nine men showed up for work at Giant Mine, but never made it out. Grief and anger spread throughout the city as investigators try to piece together how a fatal explosion happened underground.

Police begin what still stands as one of the most labour intensive murder investigations in RCMP history. Investigators hone in on two suspects. Union members believe the police are on the side of the company and unfairly targeting them.

The RCMP make a huge breakthrough when outside polygraph expert Greg McMartin suspects an overlooked miner set the blast. McMartin flies to Yellowknife to interview the man face-to-face, convinced he’ll be sharing the room with a murderer.

With a murder suspect in jail, and two of the unions top agitators also behind bars, the table is set for the Canada Labour Relations Board to bring an end to this increasingly hostile labour dispute. Community members long for a return to normal, but hanging over everyone’s head is a murder trial.

Thirty years have passed since the labour dispute and explosion at Giant Mine but the feelings from that time are not far from the surface, and some still question whether enough has been learned to prevent it from happening again.

Enter one of the most bitter labour disputes in Canadian history. On September 18, 1992, nine workers crossed the picket line at the ‘Giant’ Gold Mine in Yellowknife. Minutes later all were killed in a horrific explosion. This 7 episode series explores the lingering impact on a divided city and asks: how does a labour dispute spiral in to murder?