Ken Boshcoff thinks the city could have done more to convince the family of Terry Fox to house a collection of artifacts from his journey in Thunder Bay.
The at-large councillor wanted the city to be home to nearly 200,000 pieces currently in storage at the Library and Archives Canada. But a report to council Monday from city archivist Matt Szybalski said Darrell Fox, Terry Fox's brother and senior advisor at the Terry Fox Research Institute, wants the collection to stay together as a 55,000 square-foot museum and research centre near Vancouver, close to Fox's home town of Port Coquitlam, is in the works.
Boshcoff said the city should have rallied with Shuniah and various regional organizations to form a plan years ago. Perhaps even the new proposed event centre could still be considered as a home for the collection.
Coun. Aldo Ruberto said the city has to respect the family's wishes and that due diligence was done to see if there was any interest in Boshcoff's idea.
"I think we’re doing the right thing,” Ruberto said. “I do think we did try.”
A traveling Terry Fox exhibit will cross the country starting next year. The city is working with the Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame and the Thunder Bay Historical Museum to bring it to Thunder Bay.
