A professional engineer, Randy McGee joined DCC in 1984 as a manager of the Shilo site office in Manitoba. After a three-year stint with DND, he returned to the Corporation in 2001 as the Western Area Engineer. He worked at various DCC regions across Canada, including Kingston, where he was Director of the Ontario region. He is currently Vice-President, Operations, at Head Office in Ottawa.
Life in the North Iqaluit, May to October 1991— Randy McGee When I joined the Western Regional Office as a special projects engineer, my Director at the time, Glen Taverner,“ forgot” to mention that the position came with a planned summer in the North. I lucked out and was asked to look after the Short Range Radars constructed on Baffin Island … I was lucky, as I was able to take my family on this adventure( they moved into a one-bedroom apartment in Iqaluit, with sons aged two years and eight weeks); however, there were some cons as well. Try to get two children to sleep when kids are playing road hockey outside the apartment— at two in the morning! My wife, Cindy, was worried but understanding during the many nights our helicopter was grounded due to fog, snow and winds. Through the howling dogs, tin foil taped over windows to keep the sun out and road hockey, my family and I had one of the greatest adventures of our lives.
Project: Ramping Up at Goose Bay
In the late 1980s, Goose Bay became an increasingly important NATO training base. In 1981, Germany and Canada had signed an agreement to begin low-level flying training from the base, and the number of aircraft increased quickly, despite considerable opposition from the Innu of Labrador and their supporters. As the training flights increased, so too did the need for additional support facilities.
The first phase of construction for a German Air Force hangar in Goose Bay was a major $ 10 million contract awarded in 1987 – 88, covering the building’ s foundations. It was completed by the end of 1988 – 89, while the $ 7.6 million second phase( structural steel and the building envelope) was substantially finished. A third phase( the architectural, mechanical and electrical systems) was handled with a $ 13.8 million contract awarded that year. The contract was phased to meet the tight schedule required by the German Air Force.
78 BREAKING NEW GROUND DEFENCE CONSTRUCTION CANADA