THUNDER BAY – City leadership is calling on the province to help improve safety around Thunder Bay waterways where seven Indigenous youth have been found dead in the past 17 years.
Implementing safety initiatives around city waterways was one of the main topics raised by the city delegation – led by city manger Norm Gale and Coun. Joe Virdiramo – at the Association of Municipalities of Ontario conference held earlier this week in Ottawa, where they met with multiple cabinet ministers as well as opposition leaders.
“We need government help so we appealed, ‘come to the table with us and help us because right now there is no financing for any proposal on lights and cameras on the waterways,’” Gale said on Thursday.
“The reaction is positive. Now, no commitments were made but they listened. They were inquisitive. They’re also concerned so they share our concern about safety in general and what has been happening over the past number of years. That we’re aligned, there’s no doubt but there is more work to do.”
A coroner’s inquest into the deaths of seven Indigenous youth – five of whom were found in local rivers between 2000 and 2011 – recommended a safety audit be done on Thunder Bay waterways as an attempt to prevent future, similar deaths.
Two more Indigenous teens – 17-year-old Tammy Keeash and 14-year-old Josiah Begg – were found in the water in May, just prior to a safety audit that was conducted on sections of the McIntyre River, McVicar Creek and the Kaministiquia River.
Preliminary findings from that audit presented to council in June and Gale said detailed work is being done before options with costing are presented to council. Nishnawbe Aski Nation Deputy Grand Chief Anna Betty Achneepineskum has previously implored city council to add surveillance cameras in identified high-risk areas.
Virdiramo, who said he spoke with Children and Youth Services Minister Michael Coteau, said a city strategy could include enhanced lighting as well as cameras.
“I think the province has committed to assisting and helping. I thought it was very positive,” Virdiramo said.
“Let’s get some assistance. Let’s get the province to the table. I want to have Thunder Bay become a best practice in dealing with the issues that are facing us. These aren’t only Thunder Bay issues, they are a national issue. It needs to be dealt with and we need the finances to deal with it.”
The need for Ontario to contribute additional funding to municipalities was a prominent theme.
At the conference, Premier Kathleen Wynne was presented with a resolution to increase the provincial sales tax by one per cent with that money directed towards municipal infrastructure enhancements.
While she, along with Progressive Conservative Leader Patrick Brown and NDP Leader Andrea Horwath, rejected the proposal, Gale said it highlights the financial struggles faced by municipalities.
“Municipal government in Ontario, unlike the provincial or the federal government, is constrained,” Gale said.
“We are constrained by our ability to generate revenue to provide the many services the municipality provides. It is these services of the municipality that people are connected with the most. Frontline services. Costs for these services are growing quicker than our ability to generate revenue.”
Virdiramo said city officials also spoke with Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation Minister David Zimmer about having a ministry office opened in Thunder Bay.
The delegation also met with Labour Minister Kevin Flynn to discuss the potential impacts of Bill 148, Community Safety and Correctional Services Minister Marie-France Lalonde about plans for the new jail and Health Minister Eric Hoskins regarding funding for Shelter House programs such as Street Outreach Services and the Managed Alcohol Program.
