THUNDER BAY -- It was a turbulent decade in Thunder Bay, with violence and accusations of racism dominating the headlines for much of the 10-year period.
Here’s our look back at 10 of the most newsworthy stories between 2010 and 2019.
1. In May 2012 the perfect storm hit sections of the city, flooding sections of Thunder Bay’s east end and parts of the Northwood ward. In the former’s case, the failure of the Atlantic Avenue sewage treatment plan allegedly led to raw waste back flowing into people’s basements, leading to a class action lawsuit that has yet to be resolved more than seven years later. The City of Thunder Bay has also filed suit against the Ontario Municipal Insurance Exchange, looking for $30 million to offset the cost of the repairs to the sewage treatment plan.
2. Thunder Bay Police and the Thunder Bay Police Services Board both came under fire, accused of fostering systemic racism within their midst. The Office of the Independent Police Review Director issued a report, authored by Gerry McNeilly, that said police on an unacceptable high number of occasions failed to treat or protect the deceased and their family because the deceased was Indigenous. Meanwhile, a report issued by the Ontario Civilian Police Commission by Sen. Murray Sinclair accused the board of systemic racism, which led to its members being temporarily stripped of their powers while they underwent sensitivity training. The board later apologized.
3. Gang violence became a regular occurrence in Thunder Bay as the decade wore on, with organized crime from southern Ontario flooding the city trying to capture their share of the lucrative drug trade throughout the region. The city was routinely one of the most violent in the country and regularly earned the dubious title of murder capital of Canada. There were 63 homicides in the city between 2010 and 2019, three times as many as there were between 2000 and 2009.
4. The James Street Swing Bridge caught fire in 2013 and its owner, CN, closed it to vehicular traffic for more than six years as the company fought the City of Thunder Bay in court, maintaining it didn’t have to live up to the terms of a 1906 agreement requiring the railway to keep the bridge open to traffic in perpetuity. The city estimates it spent more than $2 million in legal fees to win the fight. The closure had a major impact on nearby Fort William First Nation, who lost an access point to the city and plenty of business. The bridge, which reopened to train traffic in days, finally reopened to vehicles in November 2019.
5. It’s not often in Ontario that a former mayor and his wife go on trial for extortion, but in Thunder Bay, it seems, anything is possible. Keith Hobbs, who stormed into office in 2010 to start the decade, promising to rid the city of its growing criminal element, instead found himself in legal hot water as his second term came to a close in 2018. Hobbs, his wife Marisa, and their acquaintance, Mary Voss, were on trial in 2019, trying to clear their names after being charged with extortion of an unnamed victim, accused of trying to force him to buy Voss a $429,000 house. A verdict is expected in early 2020.
6. The chase for a sparkling new event and convention centre dominated the headlines for much of the decade, led by then mayor Keith Hobbs and then city manager Tim Commisso. The facility came with a $114-million price tag and led to a lengthy debate on whether it was needed or not and where it should be located. At one point the Winnipeg Jets organization, a partner in the plan, suggested it would be willing to relocate their American Hockey League team to the new facility. The project ultimately failed when senior levels of government refused to help fund construction.
7. The Seven Youth Inquest spurred the city into action to combat racism and find ways to welcome Indigenous youth into the community. A total of 144 recommendations were made following the inquest, which was spurred by the deaths of seven youth who came to Thunder Bay to further their education between 2000 and 2011, culminating with the death of teenager Jordan Wabasse. The city and many of its institutions have worked hard to implement the vast majority of the recommendations.
8. The Ring of Fire brought much promise to the region as the decade began, but 10 years later little progress has been made bringing the multi-billion-dollar mining project in Ontario’s Far North much closer to reality. Successive governments promised to make it happen, with then mining minister Michael Gravelle promising $1 billion in provincial support for the project – subject to matching dollars from Ottawa. Premier Doug Ford later tore up the regional framework in attempt to jump start the project after years of stalling.
9. Adam Capay, charged with first-degree murder in the 2012 stabbing death of fellow inmate Sheldon Quisses, spent more than four years in solitary confinement for up to 23 hours a day at the overcrowded Thunder Bay District Jail. It led to the charges being stayed in early 2019, after a judge ruled his rights had been violated under the Charter of Rights and freedoms. Capay, deemed a threat to himself and other prisoners, was forced to live in a plexiglass cell with lights on 24 hours a day. The province has since promised to replace the jail, but no timeline has been put in place.
10. Parents and students were up in arms in 2016 after Lakehead Public Schools announced a plan to close a number of schools in its north side renewal plan. The plan called for Superior Collegiate and Vocational Institute to be reinvented as an elementary school, which would lead to the closure of St. James, C.D Howe and Vance Chapman public schools. High school students from Superior, which opened in 2009, would then transfer to Hammarskjold. Trustees ultimately nixed the plan. On the south side, there was less combativeness, which led to the closure of Sir Winston Churchill Collegiate and Vocational Institute, along with a plan to shutter Agnew H. Johnston and Edgewater Park public schools and merge students into a new school now under construction on the former Churchill grounds. Churchill students were sent to Westgate Collegiate and Vocational Institute as a result.
