10. Workers staged a rally, joining thousands across the United States and Canada, seeking a minimum-wage increase to $15 an hour, a promise NDP candidate Andrew Foulds later said his government would try to fulfill if elected in October.
9. A cross-party committee arrived in Thunder Bay looking at ways the province can change its approach to sexual violence and harassment, noting current attitudes and reaction are shocking.
8. Thunder Bay Police were joined by an Ontario Provincial Police search team and spent several days trying to locate a missing 42-year-old Thunder Bay man. Terry Brasseur was reported missing on April 16. Tragically, the man's body would be found a month later.
7. Lakehead University students were unsuccessful in their bid to keep tuition hikes tied to the cost of living index and instead will pay three per cent more in 2015-16 to attend school. However, the university’s board of directors did promise to start the consultation process earlier in future years and will consider keeping tuition increases at the level of inflation.
6. . Elders from Hornepayne First Nation staged a sit-it at Nishnawbe Aski Nation’s Fort William First Nation office, seeking official recognition of the band’s election results. The community is recognized by NAN, but does not have actual band status or land. NAN officials said they would make it a priority to try to find a solution.
5. Council gave developers the approval to convert the former Hillcrest High School to condominiums, saying with condo fees included, purchases could expect a mortgage of between $1,000 and $1,200 a month.
4. Minister of Northern Development and Mines Michael Gravelle sang high praises for the provincial budget, which he said delivered plenty of goodies to Northwestern Ontario, including $1 billion for Ring of Fire infrastructure, an industrial hydro rate and increased spending on regional highways.
3. Target officially closed its doors in Thunder Bay on April 1, putting 130 people out of work. The company lasted less than two years north of the border. It was a bad month for employment in the city, as HGS call centre left town too, putting another 100 people on the unemployment line.
2. Peter Collins bested incumbent Georjann Morriseau to recapture the chief position at Fort William First Nation and immediately said he plans to hold one-on-one meetings with CN Rail in an attempt to get the James Street Swing Bridge reopened to vehicular traffic. Collins, who won by five votes, also stressed an increased emphasis on education and quality of life for seniors as his priorities.
1. Mayor Keith Hobbs and eight other city councillors decided to push ahead and seek alternative ways to build an event centre for Thunder Bay. The mayor argued the city had come this far and that it didn’t make sense to give up now, despite being told by Ottawa and Queen’s Park no funding would be forthcoming if the main tenant was a professional or semi-professional team.
