Why St. Laurent is the 'capital of Bombardier' snow machines

They look part snowmobile, part magic bus. There are so many Bombardiers in saint-laurent, they’re part of the community’s identity. Some people call us the capital of Bombardiers and and also, you know, the matey capital of at least the country. And there’s probably somewhere around the 4040 or 50 of them, I’m told. So you come to saint-laurent, you’re going to see some Bombardiers. The big machines can be spotted all over the rural municipality and they even have their own Rd. signs. So why are they so popular here? The Bombardiers are are really important because the the main industry here is actually fishing. Bombardiers can take people where other vehicles won’t go. It’s not very modern here, so it’s it’s an older one. But yeah, here’s a dash and it has all the switches, all the gauges, all the gauges, work and everything. Mike Chartrand is a commercial fisherman, born and raised in saint-laurent. I’ve been around this since I was a kid. My dad was had one when I was a kid, a radiant. I was always hanging around. And let’s just learn as I go, right? Bombardiers are spacious with a wood stove to keep you warm. Important when you spend your days ice fishing. Sounds like it’s running great. I can’t wait. Here I go. It is comfortable. Just slam it, all right. Mike took us for a tour to show us how bombardiers are used here in saint-laurent. He took us out onto frozen Lake Manitoba to check his Nets, reopening the holes with an auger and a shovel. I’m being put to work. I’m gonna shovel down to the hole right there. Oh, it’s harder than it looks. Oh, there’s that water we pulled and pulled on the Nets, bringing in a small catch. Oh, there you go. A sucker. Yeah. And so these are good for eating. Yeah, you can can em. Yeah, you can can em. Like a make salmon you don’t do like they do. Like you wouldn’t fried up like you would. No, You you you. OK? You can’t like salmon. OK? You can’t like salmon. I got you. We also caught some pickerel or walleye, the most desired fish on the lake. Then it was back across jagged ice and stiff snow banks with Mike behind the wheel steering the Bombardier safely back to his yard. In Manitoba, Bombardiers are known as the ultimate ice fishing machine, but they were invented back in the 1930s for a different reason. The first Bombardier was designed in Quebec by Joseph Alcman Bombardier in 1937. He got the idea after his child died during a Blizzard. The family couldn’t reach the hospital in time because in those days there was no public snow clearing of roads. The snow coaches were initially used as school buses and ambulances and for delivering mail and supplies. Mass production began during the 40s when the coaches were used for wartime needs. By the end of that decade, municipal snow clearing became the norm and sales dropped dramatically. Attention shifted to Bombardier’s newer invention, the Ski Doo, and the company stopped making snow coaches in the late 70s. These doors are brand new. They’re just made. I bought the metal. But he made them for me, right? He’s a brand new. The Bombardiers that are still around need to be maintained like Mike’s 1957. The belting. Make sure it’s not all cracked up and worn out too much, right? You know, keep an eye on that and then you got the cleats. You also want to see if there’s not too much wear or they’re starting to break and you might have to change some of them, right? Mike only buys new parts, many of them custom made. The engine is a brand new Chevy V8. If you’re a handy person and you can do a lot of work yourself, good. But if you’ve got to pay somebody to put it all together and get the parts. The parts are expensive. But for Mike, all the money and work is worth it since the connection to the lake and his culture is invaluable. Emily Brass, CBC News, St. Laurent, MB.