The annual jackleg drill competition at the Canadian Mining Expo started off with a new competition category and a remarkable victory for Natalie Carriere of Iroquois Falls over her two rivals Timmins Mayor Steve Black who finished second and Natasha James who won the 2015 women’s competition in Sudbury finished third.
In the end the difference between first place Carriere (23 inches), second place Mayor Black (26 inches) and third place Natasha James (27.5 inches) was four and a half inches.
“It feels really good to win on my first attempt,” said Carriere. “I had great competition from Mayor Black and Natasha who won it last year in Sudbury.”
“I definitely found that the jackleg competition to be a lot more nerve racking than participating in beauty pageants,” Carrier added. “It’s hard work.”
For Mayor Black it was also a moving experience as he handled the jackleg for the first time.
“I feel really good,” Mayor Black said. “I got a change to experience what the courageous men and women who work in the mines do each and every day.”
Natasha James who finished third felt the heat of the competition.
“I was more relaxed last summer in Sudbury,” James said. “This year was more nerve racking as I felt the burden of being the front runner having won it before.”
James is the manager of Gorf Contracting's Sudbury Office. Gorf Contracting provides services in the mining, lumber and power generation industries.
They have a field installation division, manufacturing division and heavy equipment division. Their head office is in Timmins, Ontario.
Traditionally the competition is a Mayor’s Challenge, but this year Mayor Peter Politis of Cochrane, Al Spacek of Kapuskasing, Garry Edwards of Matheson and Mayor Tony Antoniazzi, Kirkland Lake had conflicts in their schedules which prevented their participation.
The Celebrity Challenge was cobbled together as an alternative competition by Jay Cornelsen, the National Publicity Director for Canadian Trade-Ex the company that hosts the Canadian Mining Expo or more commonly known as “the Big Event.”
The event was a lively match up between two people who had never handled a jackleg drill before – Mayor Black who worked as a mining engineer with Kidd Creek Mine but did no drilling. The same for Carriere.
But while Mayor Black was connected to the mining industry, the 6’ 1” Carriere came from a completely different background.
Carriere is a candidate for the Miss Universe Canada pageant which will be held in Toronto June 11, 2016.
In 2013 she travelled to Thailand to represent Canada at Miss Grand International Pageant.
Carriere also was born on July 1 and loves the fact that she shares her birthday with the entire country. Natalie was born on July 1st, Canada Day! She loves to celebrate and share her birthday with the entire country.
Natalie has a Bachelors Degree majoring in Public Relations/Image Management. She is currently employed in the marketing and public relations field as well as being a restaurant manager.
