First council meeting off to a bumpy start

Although Mayor Keith Hobbs spoke out against closed door meetings during the election campaign; Thunder Bay city council's first official meeting was delayed because of a closed session.  The meeting started almost two hours late because of  a meeting behind closed doors.  Councillor Brian McKinnon called the meeting to order around 8:15 and said they didn't want to be behind closed doors but the discussions were needed.  McKinnon says it was necessary and had to be done.

Mascot now has a name...name...name

The name of the mascot for the Ontario Special Winter Olympics is Echo.   Grade 4 Gorham and Ware student Kylii Saarinen won the "name the mascot" contest.  Officials say there were hundreds of entries.  As well games organizers say that two new sponsors came on board with donations of 5 thousand dollars each.   One was the Thunder Bay Foundation, the other was the Keg Spirit Foundation.

Ford still talks tough on nixing streetcars

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford says he's moving ahead with his plan that would eventually see him tear up the streetcar contract with Bombardier.  Ford met Tuesday morning with Premier McGuinty and says he's going ahead with a subway plan for the city, not the streetcars that our Bombardier plant in Thunder Bay would build. The mayor says Toronto city council doesn't have to vote to kill the plan because there was no vote to set it up in the first place.

Operation Red Nose does it's job

Operation Red Nose is proving to be a hit in Thunder Bay in it's sophomore year.   Organizer Karen Wood says so far about 100 rides have been logged by volunteers.   Wood says that's about par with last year. She says in total last year there were almost 290 rides given out.  Eight nights are left  in this years campaign.  Wood says they have over 100 volunteers helping out.

Hupka back as Catholic board chair

The Thunder Bay Catholic District School Board is heading into the next year with Bob Hupka as it's chair. Hupka says the major challenge for the board will be dealing with the reality of fewer students through declining enrollment. Hupka would also like to see improved student scores on provincial tests.  Eleanor Ashe has been elected as board vice-chair. 

Special Olympics hurting for cash

Organizers of the Ontario Special Olympics are concerned. Games Manager Julie Tilbury says some critical funding is needed for an important component of next months games, getting the 270 thousand dollars needed to fly the athletes and coaches here. She says they're trying to secure funding from the McGuinty government.

South side restaurant robbed at knife point

Another armed robbery on the city's south side.  City Police are looking for one man after he robbed the Arthur Street Subway at Knife point just after 10:30 last night.  No one was hurt in the incident.

New Councillors sworn in

Former Mayor Ken Boshcoff is ready to work with Keith Hobbs.  The new city councilor says he liked Hobb's inaugral address.  Boshcoff says his goals echo the mayors; job creation and taxation.  Meanwhile, Newcomer to City Council Paul Pugh is eager to work with the Mayor.  Pugh says his priorities are housing, and substance abuse.  Pugh was sworn in as the McKellar ward councillor.

Hobbs makes inaugral speech

Keith Hobbs wants to eliminate poverty and crime during his term as Mayor.  The two issues were coupled in his inaugral address Monday night.  Hobbs says they need to let criminals know that they are not wanted here.  He set himself a goal of lowering crime in the City and notes if it isn't reduced in four years time he'll consider it a failure.  The new Mayor also touched on the City's tax rate and says he understands that people feel over taxed.  Finally, job creation was also brought up with the mining sector playing a large role in new jobs in Thunder Bay. The swearing in of the 42nd council lasted just one hour, and Hobbs notes he hopes all meetings last that long.

42nd council sworn in

It was a night of pomp and circumstance for the newest members of Thunder Bay City council.  Mayor Keith Hobbs was sworn Monday night as was newcomer Paul Pugh and former Mayor Ken Boshcoff.  The Ceremony including First Nation smudging, colour party and greetings from former Mayors. This is Thunder Bay's fourty second council. 

1 man dead after going through ice

Police and snowmobile groups are urging riders to stay off area lakes.  The warning comes after the death of a 55-year-old man last Friday.  Kenora OPP say a snowmachine went through the ice on Longpine Lake.  The passenger was able to get out of the water, while the driver was recovered by emergency workers.  Rick Schween died in Hospital.

Rafferty disses feds over stimulus jobs

Thunder Bay-Rainy River MP John Rafferty says a report from Canada Parliamentary budget officer suggesting the federal stimulus program didn't create the jobs expected is disappointing.  Rafferty says its shows the need for a national job strategy.  Just 21-percent of municipalities receiving infrastructure funding reported increases in local employment.

Nipigon OPP need help

Nipigon OPP continue to look into the cause of an accident on Highway 11/17 last week. A tractor trailer unit and a passenger car collided head on just west of Dorion. Police are asking for your help in locating the driver of a black or dark grey Dodge Charger that was seen driving from the scene of the accident.

Porter happy with stats

Porter Airlines is celebrating an increase in it's Thunder Bay passenger numbers.  The yearly and monthly stats for the airline are up and Spokesperson Brad Cicero attributes that to a number of things.  The company saw more people on each of their flights during November.

Di Matteo weighs in on Bombardier

Lakehead University's Economics Professor is echoing others thoughts on the Bombardier TTC contract. Livio Di Matteo says it's too soon to say what will happen. Di Matteo adds if Toronto backs out of the contract they will have to pay many fees to Bombardier.  He suspects if the contract is torn up there will be potential for other work at the plant.

Donor dollars to benefit preemies

Dawn, Jaxon and Mike Nitz

The Regional Health Sciences Foundation is tugging at your heart string for their Christmas fundraising campaign. President Glenn Craig says money donated this year will go to the neo-natal intensive care unit to help premature babies with some necessities the hospital budget can't provide. The goal is 90 thousand dollars.

V. Kelner boss speaks out

There is no harm done as the result of a premature business announcement last week. Wasaya Airlines announced it had an agreement with V. Kelner Aviation regarding helicopter service. It turns out no final contract has been signed. V. Kelner President Robert Arnone hopes to formally announce the deal early next year.

LU prof says WikiLeaks is all about ego

The release of confidential American diplomatic messages by the website WikiLeaks continues to create a stir. It's founder remains in hiding. Laure Paquette, a professor in Lakehead University's Political Science Department, says while some information is very sensitive, we shouldn't worry about our safety as a result of this. She says to keep in mind that founder Julian Assange has the mentality of a hacker and he gets great delight in releasing information on the Internet that other people don't want him to release. Paquette says theWikiLeaks revelations about Canada's diplomats were more embarrassing than damaging

Get ready for the deep freeze

60 centimetres of snow is expected to fall...in Southern Ontario...and here its going to be cold. Bill Laidlaw of Signal Weather says cold arctic air is settling into the area and will drive the temperatures down towards the minus 20 mark and with the wind chill it'll feel even colder.   Laidlaw says we will get a bit of a break Thursday with some snow in the forecast but after that it'll be right back into the deep freeze.

Thunder Bay police deal with an armed robbery

No one was hurt in another armed robbery at the Mac's Mart on Simpson Street.  Thunder Bay police say a young man entered the stored just after 10:30 armed with a knife and demanded cash.  No arrests were made.  Meanwhile police did manage to arrest 3 people after a cab driver was assaulted and robbed just before midnight.  Officers say the incident happened on McKenzie Street.

Police arrest five people over the weekend

Five people are behind bars after two separate weekend robberies.  Thunder Bay Police arrested two boys in connection with a robbery and stabbing in Westfort Saturday, they appeared in court Monday.  Officers also arrested three men in connection to a robbery that happened Wednesday.  The three are accused of robbing and assaulting a man in the Ambrose street area.  

Fort William First Nation members approve claim

Fort William First Nation members voted mostly in favour of approving the Neebing Surrender Specific claim Saturday. The vote comes after three years of negotiations and 10 years after the claim was originally submitted. The $22 million settlement will still need to be approved by the federal government before it becomes official. Unlike the historic $154 million Fort William First Nation boundary claim, the settlement doesn't include the transfer of land and is strictly for financial compensation. The Neebing Specific claim addresses the surrender of 6,400 acres of the western part of the Fort William First Nation reserve in 1859.

Dinner and a movie

Investors Group invited it's clients out for a special showing of the new Disney movie "Tangled" this morning.


Attendees were encouraged to bring a donation of non-perishable food to the event.

The donations will be going to Shelter House.

Early morning robbery

Thunder Bay Police responded to an early morning robbery on West Frederica Street.


According to police a 17 year old male was walking in a laneway with two other teenagers who turned on him and took his iPOD and some cash at knife point. There was then a scuffle and the 17 year old was stabbed in the stomach.

The two suspects were described as both being 16 years old. One was thin with light brown hair. The other has a medium build with blond hair. Both were wearing dark clothing.

Police are withholding the names of the individuals involved because of their age.

Fatal crash on Highway 11/17

There was a fatal accident last night on Highway 11/17 near Pearl.


A pick-up truck and a car collided head on.

The driver of the car, Gaetan St. Onge— a 45 year old man from Longlac—was pronounced dead at the scene. A female passenger riding in the car was taken by ambulance to Thunder Bay Regional Health Science Centre. Her condition is unknown. The pick-up truck’s driver and 3 passengers were taken there as well with non life-threatening injuries.

The highway was closed for just over four hours because of the accident.

The OPP are investigating the crash

INAC slammed over travel expenses

An area native leader is heaping scorn on Indian Affairs for extravagant spending. Anishinabek Deputy Grand Chief Glen Hare is angry INAC was a part of the 125 million dollars spent by civil servants on extravagant trips over 4 years. He says the money could have been spent on Aboriginal education.

Hobbs first day on Monday

Keith Hobbs will officially become the Mayor of Thunder Bay Monday. Hobbs will be sworn in Monday night and says he'll be giving a short speech outlining his game plan.  Hobbs says he's excited to get everything started.

Hovorka gets justice

A victory for Thunder Bay singer Shy-Anne Hovorka. After being disqualified for not being Aboriginal enough, her album is now being considered by as a candidate for a Juno Award as Aboriginal Album of the Year. Hovorka believes a flood of e-mails and phone calls from her fans may have helped her cause.

Future CA's pass test

Nine Thunder Bay residents have passed what is considered one of the most challenging professional entry examinations in the world.  The future chartered accountants passed the Canada-wide Uniform Evaluation.  Successful students must possess knowledge, professional judgment, ethics and the ability to communicate.

NOMA reacts to extension

The Acting President of the Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association is applauding both levels of Government for extending the deadline to complete key infrastructure projects. Dennis Brown says reaching the March 31st deadline was just not possible because of the region's short construction season.  Brown believes Municipal lobbying efforts played an essential role in having the date changed to the end of October.

RN helping Paramedics

A registered Nurse is now working along side the Superior North Emergency Medical Services team.  Chief Norm Gale says the nurse will ease pressure for paramedics.  The nurse will take EMS patients from paramedics, so they can deal with other calls instead of waiting for a doctor to take the patients.  Gale says the nurse will be on call eight hours a day, seven days a week, up until March 31st of 2011.  The position was funded by the Ministry of Health.

Hampton talks property taxes

Northerners living in the unorganized area received a shock in the mail when they received their final property tax bills on November 30th. The bills included a due date of December 3rd for the first instalment and December 17th for the second instalment. Kenora-Rainy River MPP Howard Hampton blames the office in Thunder Bay, which was given the contract to look after all of the bills. Hampton is asking for the deadline to be extended into the New Year without penalty to homeowners.  The deadline has since been extended to the end of the month.

Council meetings now on the Internet

Watching city council meetings will now be as close as a click of a mouse. City Clerk John Hannam says starting Monday, council meetings will be streamed live on the city website.  They'll also be archived so you can watch any meeting at your leisure.  The live stream can be viewed at thunderbay.ca/councillive

OPSEU protests tax cuts

Members of Ontario Public Service Employees Union in Thunder Bay have a complaint against MPP Bill Mauro. They claim his government is giving tax breaks to big corporations at the expense of government workers.  The members protested in front of Mauro's office over the lunch hour Friday

Wasaya deal postponed

Wasaya Group is delaying the launch of its new Helicopter Charter Company. An announcement was to be made Friday morning, but officials put it off until January stating that they are finalizing some legal details. The multi million dollar deal was to be signed with V. Kelner Aviation but Spokesperson Joe Moses says it's unclear who the major parter will be. President Tom Kamenawatemin says he can't confirm or deny it's because they are finalizing partnerships. The company would provide helicopter services for the mining, construction, geophysical, environmental, and tourism industries in Northern Ontario.

Big sigh from City Hall

There are no more worries at city hall about completing the waterfront project by March 31st.   The Harper government has extended the completion deadline for that and other stimulus projects in Canada. The deadline is now October 31st.  The new Mary J-L Black Library is the other local stimulus project.

Exhibit targets racism

There's an anti-racism exhibit on display at City Hall. Our city is one stop on a seven city Canadian tour. The Mathieu Da Costa Challenge Exhibit is made up of twenty six works. The pictures and stories are on display for about another week.

Bombardier keeps lawyers at bay

Bombardier says it's just an observer for now .   Company spokesperson Marc Laforge says comments by the Toronto mayor that he'll scrap the company's billion dollar TTC contract are strictly political. He says the company wants to stay out of it.  Laforge says it's premature to talk about a lawsuit involving the Thunder Bay plant.

Gas price skyrockets

Gas prices are up in the city....Stations have jacked up the price of regular gas to about 1 dollar 22 a litre. The price of regular had been hovering in the dollar 7 to dollar 11 mark for months

Kaszycki updates Thunder Bay on Ring of Fire

Thunder Bay will soon have an office for the Ring of Fire project. Coordinator Christine Kaszycki says they recently posted a director's position in Thunder Bay. They hope to have an office set up and someone in the position by January. Kaszycki was in the city on Wednesday to give an update on the Ring of Fire.

Pugh meeting councillors in T.O.

Thunder Bay's incoming City Councillor is already hard at work.  Paul Pugh is in Toronto meeting with a variety of organizations about the Bombardier TTC contract.  Pugh says he plans to speak with city councillors.  Pugh says he's going to express to Toronto council that canceling the contract will mean millions of dollars in fees.  Pugh adds there's no point in talking to Ford because it's a waste of time.

Chum plans to crack down on drugs

The Nishinawbe-Aski Nation will welome a new Police Chief in January. Claude Chum is the incoming Chief and says he wants to work on community policing initiatives. Chum adds he plans to continue to crack down on illegal prescription drug use.

Jeffery wants proof of favouritism

Show me the proof says Natural Resources Minister Linda Jeffery.    The NDP's Gilles Bisson claims road access to some remote lakes in the north is being cut off in favour of tourist outfitters.  Jeffery says Bisson has yet to provide her with any details.  Meantime Jeffery knows First Nations still struggle with accepting her Far North Act.  However she's pleading with them to give it time.   She suggests there are many who secretly support it.

Di Novo thinks Wynne should use clout

Another NDP MPP is wondering why the McGuinty Government isn't doing anything about the Bombardier TTC contract. Cheri Di Novo says Transportation Minister Kathleen Wynne needs to use her clout to pursuade Toronto council to continue with the project. Di Novo says Wynne has taken a stand back approach and needs to be more forceful. Toronto's new Mayor Rob Ford announced on Wednesday that he plans to cut the TTC light rail contract.

Wilson doesn't believe TTC deal is doomed

The president of the Chamber of Commerce is saying don't panic. Harold Wilson says he understands there are concerns about Bombardier's TTC contract being torn up by the new mayor of Toronto. However Wilson says it doesn't mean it'll happen.   He says that Rob Ford has only one vote on a city council that has over 40 members.   Wilson believes local decision makers should have a unified voice on the issue

Graduate Retention Report Released

Northwestern Ontario's labour force has a hard time retaining post secondary graduates.  That's one of the findings in a report created by the North Superior Workforce Planning Board.  Author Livio Di Mateo says the first step is to create a graduate survey.  The report also recommends retention incentive programs and employer surveys.

Alarm bells go off over TTC deal

There's a lot of concern that  Bombardier's  contract to build light rail cars may be torn up by the new mayor of Toronto. A report from Toronto says that Rob Ford wants the Toronto Transit Commission to put the brakes on the LRT plan. Premier Dalton McGuinty says he plans to meet with Ford to find some common ground on the issue.  It's widely believed if the 1.8 million dollar contract is torn up there will be a penalty to pay.  Our mayor-elect Keith Hobbs says he wants to meet with Ford to tell him how important that contract is to the economy of Thunder Bay

Trillium Foundation gives money

The Ontario Trillium Foundation has awarded 820-thousand dollars in grants to 19 not-for profit organizations across Northwestern Ontario. 

Sandy Lake First Nation is getting 72-grand to purchase equipment and hire professional artists to deliver a youth media outreach project. 50-grand is going to Muskrat Dam to study the possible construction of a bridge over the Severn River.  The Chimera Project is getting 74-thousand dollars to hire artistic and program staff to create contemporary dance opportunities in Sioux Lookout.  Ignace is welcoming nearly 14-grand to install a walkway and benches in the downtown core.  The Red Lake Indian Friendship Centre will use 15-thousand dollars to purchase canoes, paddles, a trailer and life jackets.