THUNDER BAY – Thunder Bay's city council spent much of Monday evening discussing issues of public safety, as it received a progress update on its response to the seven youth inquest, approved a new community safety plan, and debated the urgency of a nuisance bylaw some hope will help combat drug trafficking in the city.
Seven Youth Inquest
Progress to meet recommendations from the seven youth inquest slowed in the past year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the City of Thunder Bay reported.
The 2016 coroner’s inquest into the deaths of seven First Nations students studying in Thunder Bay directed 31 recommendations toward the municipal government.
Its grade on an annual report card measuring its progress dipped last year, but the City said it continued to make progress in 2021.
Funding lacking for community safety, city says
Councillors expressed frustration over a lack of support from provincial and federal governments as they approved a new, provincially-mandated community safety and well-being plan.
The plan sets goals like building a mental health and addictions crisis centre, decreasing incidents of racism, and reducing Indigenous homelessness by 50 per cent by 2027.
Provincial and federal governments aren’t providing adequate funding to achieve those goals, councillors warned.
Nuisance bylaw
Coun. Aldo Ruberto expressed frustration after city staff delayed for the third time a report on a potential nuisance bylaw that council requested in June of 2020.
“It’s been over a year, and we’re still at the same place,” he said. “I’m disappointed in this.”
Ruberto hopes the nuisance bylaw would give law enforcement more tools to deal with "drug houses" in the city, while some of his colleagues have said it risked criminalize poverty and mental health issues.
Council can now expect an update from city administration by September, a delay Mayor Bill Mauro agreed was excessive.
Pay hike for non-affiliated staff
Non-affiliated workers with the City of Thunder Bay will see a 2.5 per cent wage increase, effective Jan. 1, 2021, following a unanimous vote at council Monday (councillors Aiello and Foulds abstained, saying they had family members who worked for the City).
Procedural changes
A new bylaw will bring changes to business at city council and its committees, including a shift to gender-inclusive language that will end the use of gendered titles like Mr. and Mrs., and Madame Chair.
It also solidifies rules allowing continued virtual participation in meetings - something Coun. Cody Fraser could save the City a "boatload" of money - and those governing next steps when council rejects a bylaw to enact its will. The issue has led to procedural impasses on issues including the designated truck route and indoor turf sports facility.
City signs agreement for regional fire training
The City will formalize an agreement with the Office of the Ontario Fire Marshal for the use of Thunder Bay Fire Rescue’s training centre as a site for the delivery of regional fire training.
The move comes after the provincial government shuttered the central Ontario Fire College in Gravenhurst. Earlier this year, moving to offer courses instead through regional centres and online.
An MOU approved by council Monday will allow the Fire Marshall to conduct regional training at TBFR’s Thunder Bay Protective Emergency Services Training Centre on a “cost-recovery” basis, with a report saying there were no financial implications for the City.
Golf Links subdivision
Council approved zoning amendments that will see a new strip mall and apartments constructed on the north side of Golf Links Road, across from Riviera Drive in the River Terrace area.
The developer's plans include an 8,000 square foot strip mall, followed by a 32-unit high-end apartment building, then in a later phase, either an 80-unit high-end apartment building or possibly a motel.
