A delegation on behalf of the City of Thunder Bay led by Mayor Ken Boshcoff, the chairman of the City’s intergovernmental affairs committee, along with committee members, councillors Trevor Giertuga and Kasey Etreni, returned from the 2026 Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) Conferenc last week in Ottawa.
The committee, which was accompanied by Kevin Holland, MPP for Thunder Bay-Atikokan, used the opportunity to advocate for provincial support for infrastructure, housing, health care, transportation, public safety and community development.
Giertuga says the announcement of $1 billion for communities without development charges is significant for Thunder Bay because we’re the only community over 100,000 people in Ontario that doesn’t have development charges.
“We’ve been lobbying for years that we need some funding to make up for that shortfall to help with our infrastructure gap, and we felt like we weren’t just listened to; we were heard,” he said.
He added that they also met with ministers of health, municipal affairs and housing about the regulatory framework that is in place for Vickers Manor, a seniors residence which he called significant for the community.
“We’ve been trying to do what we can, but it’s a private entity that owns Vickers Manor. They have a regulatory framework, but it needs to be improved, and that’s what we’ve driven home,” Giertuga said, adding that the troubles unfolding at the residence can’t happen again for seniors and people with disabilities in the community.
“They’ve heard our voice and they agree they need to improve that framework.”
The committee spoke with ministers related to Infrastructure Ontario, and municipal affairs and housing, about the former Lakehead Psychiatric Hospital property.
“We’re looking to get the right of first refusal for that property, which could be a huge economic driver for the community with 2,000-plus homes, mixed-use community, walking trails, and commercial places,” Giertuga said. “Infrastructure Ontario has surplus that land, and they had to run it by all ministries to find out if anyone has requires that property for anything. They’ve done that, and so we’re asking for the right of first refusal. It’s a significant part of our growth plan in the community.”
He said the building has to come down because it’s full of asbestos, and they discussed potentially severing the property with other organizations, including First Nations.
Etreni discussed mental health and addictions and what the community needs with the minister of health.
“We talked about the safe sobering beds that we presently have, but now we need to be looking at things like treatment,” said Etrini, adding they presented the minister with statistics that showed that by August, the city has seen the number of opioid deaths equate to six-times the provincial average.
“We presented our case and the minister was quite alarmed by those statistics.”
Etreni said they talked about policing, and the forensics lab, pathology unit, guns and gangs, as well as the new police facility and funding for police for Northern Ontario and Thunder Bay.
“We also met with the minister of sport about more funds and grants coming available that focus on the revitalization of facilities that presently exist and also new builds.”
Giertuga said they talked to the minister of transportation about “our 13 kilometres of expressway.”
“It’s a $450-million project with six interchanges. They have committed to us that the tender will be awarded next month for the design-build, which is significant because they don’t award that tender unless they’re going forward with it,” he said.
“We can expect that in the next two or three years.”
Giertuga added that they also lobbied for the inclusion of the Northwest Arterial Roadway, a $33-million project that the City is prepared to commit to in partnership with the province.
