It was a devastating loss for the city last night at 7pm when the beloved Finnish Labour Temple home to the The Finlandia Club and the Hoito caught fire. I have only lived in Thunder Bay now for a year or so and wanted to know more about the history of the building and it’s importance to Thunder Bay. I reached out to Rodney Brown  local (Musician, Singer, Songwriter, Recording Artist) to talk about what The Finnish Labour temple meant to the city also what does this incredible loss mean for the city? We also chatted about his song he wrote and recorded called “Finnish Labour Temple Song” and meaning behind the song and why he wrote it which you can listen to below.

I also had Derek reach out to me on the Tbaytel talk and text line about a documentary called “Under The Red Star” which takes a look back to 1910 when a group of Finnish immigrants built the Finnish Labour Temple and it tells a story about the culture and politics of Canada’s largest labour hall.