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CJ Goater

About CJ Goater

CJ Goater is a graduate of Fanshawe College's broadcast journalism program. He is based in Thunder Bay and covers stories across northwestern Ontario, with a passion for politics, sports and crime. Contact CJ at goaterc@radioabl.ca.

Posts by CJ Goater:

Thunder-Bay-City-Council

Thunder Bay set to accept feedback on 2026 Capital Budget draft

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Thunder Bay is preparing to release the draft of the 2026 Capital Budget for the city.

The document is being made public on November 18.

Once it is released, the city will be opening a survey on Get Involved Thunder Bay to receive residents’ feedback.

On November 24, city council is scheduled to debate the budget at a special Committee of the Whole meeting.

The hope is to have the capital budget ratified on December 02.

The city plans to release the 2026 Operating Budget draft on January 16, 2026.

NOMA-Northwestern-Ontario-Municipal-Association

Transportation safety, rural immigration remain priorities for NOMA amid federal budget release

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The Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association is happy to see the commitment to invest in infrastructure, clean energy, critical minerals, and housing in the federal budget.

However, they would still like to see Highways 11 and 17 treated as a national priority, and the organization has concerns about the planned reduction in immigration.

“There’s some areas within our districts of northwestern Ontario that have some 200 plus kilometers without a passing lane that’s really not acceptable, and reality is we look at that and we ask government if you want to talk about nation building programs, this is one that you could put tens of thousands of people to work, invest billions of dollars and improve our commerce or economics and our safety for the residents,” explained NOMA President Rick Dumas.

“Our highways are our lifelines. When the Trans-Canada closes in northern Ontario, Canada closes.”

Road closures due to collisions, weather, and construction impact transportation in the region, as well as businesses that rely on the stretch of road to deliver products to and from stores.

According to NOMA, closures on Highway 11/17 cost the economy millions of dollars each year by disrupting the movement of goods, people, and essential services.

NOMA is calling on the federal government to work closely with the Province of Ontario to fast-track investment in Highway 11/17 infrastructure, including the adoption of modern designs such as 2+1 safety corridors to enhance mobility, safety, and national connectivity.

The organization also noted its concerns about the federal government’s plan to reduce immigration by nearly 50 per cent, particularly among temporary residents such as international students and foreign workers.

The association acknowledged the need to manage growth sustainably, but highlighted that these changes risk unintended and harmful consequences for rural and northern regions that rely on immigration to sustain their labour markets, fill critical service and healthcare roles, and support economic development in small communities.

NOMA cites the region’s shrinking youth population, an aging workforce, and persistent labour shortages across key sectors, including healthcare, mining, forestry, hospitality, and construction, as the reasoning for its concern.

They believe immigration remains one of the only pathways to meet local workforce needs.

“Reducing immigration without regional exemptions will deepen workforce challenges in Northern Ontario,” said Executive Vice President Fred Mota. “We need a regionalized approach that ensures newcomers are directed to the places that need them most — communities like ours that are ready to welcome and retain skilled workers.”

NOMA is looking forward to working with Prime Minister Mark Carney, Minister Patty Hajdu, and MP Marcus Powlowski to grow the North, attract new workers, and make life more affordable for those living and working in Northwestern Ontario.

The organization has extended a direct invitation to the Prime Minister to visit the region to see firsthand the challenges and opportunities facing the region.

They also hope to have meetings with the federal government in Ottawa in early December to discuss immigration to the region.

roundabout Nov 7

Thunder Bay’s newest roundabout is set to open

Thunder Bay’s newest roundabout at the intersection of Cumberland Street North and Water Street is set to open.

The road fixture is expected to open to the public late Friday afternoon.

Roundabouts are circular intersections where traffic flows counterclockwise around a central island.

Unlike traditional stoplights or four-way stops, vehicles entering a roundabout must yield to traffic already circulating.

The design improves traffic flow, reduces idling time, and helps prevent serious collisions.

The city is reminding drivers that they are not permitted to change lanes while inside the roundabout.

“Roundabouts are proven to make roads safer for everyone, drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists,” said Senior Project Engineer Brian Newman. “They slow vehicles down while keeping traffic moving efficiently.”

The new roundabout is part of an infrastructure renewal project extending along Cumberland Street from McVicar Creek to Tupper Street.

More information about the new roundabout and how it works can be found by clicking here.

TBDSSAB Building

Local Social Services Administration Board launching new homelessness data tool

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The District of Thunder Bay Social Services Administration Board (TBDSSAB) is transitioning to use a new tool to collect data in the homelessness sector.

Organizations that assist with homelessness in Thunder Bay, funded by the TBDSSAB, will all be switching to the Homeless Service System Data Tool (HSSDT).

According to the board, many organizations have already made the switch to the new system.

The hope is that all support organizations, even those not funded by the TBDSSAB, will implement the tool.

The local DSSAB plans on assisting organizations with implementing the new service.

The HSSDT will streamline data and reporting into one system, replacing other single-purpose reporting processes.

The new system will record data on those receiving provincial funding, as well from the service-system level, including information from the by-name list data, case management records, and service system capacity for emergency shelter and transitional housing.

The tool will track who is receiving support, which service providers are involved, and where they are in their journey.

The outcome will be a more complete, detailed picture of homelessness needs and supports throughout the District of Thunder Bay.

The district receives funding for the program through the Province of Ontario’s Homelessness Prevention Program for the homelessness service system.

The HSSDT will ensure that reporting requirements of the province are met, while serving the program and decision-making needs for the service system in the district.

The HSSDT was custom-built by Clark Communications in partnership with TBDSSAB staff and service providers in the emergency shelter system.

“Our team worked with community partners and Clark Communications to create something more user-friendly while still meeting our reporting requirements of our funders,” says Ken Ranta, CEO. “

“Streamlining the process means data is entered more quickly, with fewer errors, and puts less of the administrative burden on funded programs. The tool will capture information that service providers can use to inform client care, while also showing trends in the system.”

“We can now see all the moving parts in one system, which means the data informing our decisions is more reliable.”

Hospice Northwest logo Edited

Hospice Northwest set to launch annual fundraising campaign

Hospice Northwest Services is set to launch its annual fundraising campaign.

This year, the focus of the campaign is to “Help us Care for the Caregivers”.

The funds raised are being used to help the organization offer supportive caregiving programs at no cost to clients in the upcoming year.

“Requests for caregiver and grief programming have grown substantially in the last several years, alongside referrals for palliative support. We strive to help people in our city and region make every moment matter by offering comfort and a sense of connection, whether they are ill themselves, are caring for a person with a life-limiting illness, or are grieving the loss of a loved one,” explained Hospice Northwest Executive Director, Janet Fairbridge.

“While our organization does receive some core government funding, we rely on the generosity of donors to help us cover approximately 30 per cent of our annual operating budget. These fundraising dollars allow us to offer grief and caregiver support to hundreds of clients each year, at no cost to the client.”

Hospice Northwest has introduced multiple new programs in recent years, including ones for grieving children and teens (HUUG – Help Us Understand Grief), and growing the Gashkendamide’e (Be Grieved from the Heart) Grief Support Group for Indigenous Peoples, offering support to the vulnerably housed population.

“Without the support of our community, we could not provide these kinds of extensive services,” added Fairbridge. “Donations from our generous individual and corporate donors make the difference in the number of people we can help.”

Donations can be made by clicking here, calling 807-626-5570, or by visiting the Hospice Northwest office at 63 Carrie Street.

Hospice Northwest Services offers comfort, support and a sense of connection to families who are dealing with a life-limiting illness or struggling with grief.

The organization is a non-profit community hospice organization that started operation in 1986 as the Thunder Bay Community Palliative Care Volunteers.  

They serve approximately 450 end-of-life clients and their families each year.

The organization defines hospice as a philosophy of care, rather than a place.

Their trained palliative care volunteers provide emotional and spiritual support for clients and their families in their homes, hospitals or long-term-care facilities. 

TBFR Thunder Bay Fire Rescue trucks

Thunder Bay Fire Chief set to retire in January

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Thunder Bay will soon be looking for a new fire chief.

The city’s current Fire Chief, Dave Paxton, plans on retiring at the end of January.

Paxton joined Thunder Bay Fire Rescue in 1998, after spending eight summers working with the public works department.

He rose through the ranks to division chief in 2008, deputy chief in 2012, acting chief in early 2024, and permanent chief in June 2024.

“I know this was a difficult decision for the chief, and he certainly will be missed,” said City Manager John Collin. “I know he will continue to serve until his last day at the end of January and serve the community with pride and with distinction.

“So we will say goodbye closer to the date, but I simply wished to inform Council and the public that we will soon lose an invaluable member of our team.”

TBPS Thunder Bay Police Car

24-year-old facing second-degree murder charge following homicide investigation in Thunder Bay

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Thunder Bay’s city police have made an arrest in connection with a homicide investigation in Thunder Bay.

On October 30, officers received a call for assistance around 3:00 p.m.

When they arrived on scene, they located a deceased 67-year-old man in a home on College Street.

The victim is Maurice Kenneth Bruins from Thunder Bay.

Police believe he was the victim of an interrupted break-and-enter, and that this was not a targeted incident.

Police also believe the accused left the residence in the victim’s vehicle and travelled to a community outside of the city where they committed a separate offence.

As a result of the investigation, a suspect was identified.

On Tuesday, the individual with no home address was arrested and charged with second-degree murder and break and enter.

The accused remains in custody with a future court date.

Image (64)

Federal budget draws support from northwestern Ontario member of parliament

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No complaints on the federal budget from a local member of parliament.

Thunder Bay Superior North MP, Minister of Jobs and Families, and Minister responsible for FedNor, Patty Hajdu, is really excited about the budget.

“Listen, I think these are things that, in particular, smaller communities have been calling for a long time. There’s a huge focus on bringing down costs for Canadians,” explained Hajdu.

“We’re protecting vital social programs that Canadians rely on, like the National School Food Program, which has been made permanent, that so many people talk about in our region and are involved in, we’ve got the $10 a day childcare commitment that’s continuing, we’ve got the Canadian Dental Care Plan that so many, especially seniors, have talked to me about in terms of the way that they can actually get support and it really reduces their costs.”

Outside of programs, the minister was also happy with the extensive investment in infrastructure.

A total of $115 billion has been earmarked for infrastructure over the next five years.

“This is, I think, one of the most exciting things for me as an MP who represents small communities and rural communities who often have a really hard time replacing aging infrastructure, whether it’s water and sewer infrastructure, whether it’s road infrastructure, whether it’s community centres, roofs on libraries, linings of pools like I’ve basically heard it all in 10 years, and all of those things are deeply important, whether they’re visible or whether they’re not,” said Hajdu.

“The functioning of municipalities rests on the ability of its infrastructure to not only provide quality of life, safe drinking water is like an essential for every community across the country, but also to make sure that we can not only attract people to these communities, but keep them.”

Hajdu adds that support for entertainment and recreation infrastructure is also important.

“I mean, people need more than a job. We often talk about good jobs being the attractant. That might be the case, but if someone doesn’t have a place to go and play pickleball or go for a swim or bring their kids for skating lessons,” added Hajdu.

“Those kinds of things can really undermine attracting people to the region, and we see that people leave because there aren’t the kinds of quality of life infrastructure that they’re looking for.”

More ongoing infrastructure projects in the region and country will also create more jobs for Canadians.

“For everybody that’s in the skilled trades, everybody who’s thinking about going into the skilled trades, we need you because to build things, we need the builders,” said Hajdu.

“We need the welders, the electricians, the heavy equipment operators, the carpenters. You know, the stonemason workers like these are the folks that are going to be building up our communities and building Canada strong.”

Meanwhile, the budget highlighted that immigration numbers are set to be greatly reduced.

This comes amid support for the Rural and Northern Immigration Program in northwestern Ontario.

According to the federal government, in 2018, 3.3 per cent of Canada’s population were temporary residents.

By 2024, that number had more than doubled to 7.5 per cent, an unprecedented rate of growth that put pressure on housing supply, the healthcare system, and schools.

Budget 2025 announces that the 2026-2028 Immigration Levels Plan will stabilize permanent resident admission targets at 380,000 per year for three years, down from 395,000 in 2025, while increasing the share of economic migrants from 59 per cent to 64 per cent.

The new plan will also reduce the target for new temporary resident admissions from 673,650 in 2025 to 385,000 in 2026, and 370,000 in 2027 and 2028.

“I think ultimately what the government wants to do is to really bring immigration down to manageable levels,” said Hajdu. “I would say that this immigration plan is a responsible plan to help with communities that, conversely, have had a hard time absorbing newcomers at some places in southern Ontario, in particular around temporary residents.”

“We want to make sure that obviously regions like Northern Ontario have what they need to keep growing, and so in the budget, it specifically mentions the needs of rural communities, and so we’ll be working with rural communities like the ones in my riding to make sure that there are pathways to permanent residency that we can, bring in, you know, a percentage of temporary workers as needed in a rigorous way that ensures Canadians come first for any work that’s available in the community.”

Thunder-Bay-City-Council

City council approves $2.5M in additional funding for waterfront art gallery

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Thunder Bay is allocating additional money to support the establishment of Thunder Bay Art Gallery’s waterfront location.

City council has approved delivering an additional $2.5 million towards the project.

The money will be delivered in two installments of $1.25 million each.

The money is being delivered from the Municipal Accommodation Tax Reserve and the Renew Thunder Bay Reserve Fund.

The release of the first round of additional funding is conditional on the confirmation that the gallery has received all other sources of funding required to achieve partial opening of the new facility.

The second phase of additional funding is conditional upon a partial opening happening and confirmation of all other funding sources required to achieve full opening.

This funding amount ensures the city’s contribution to the project remains consistent at 10 per cent when considering the increased project cost.

The vote to increase funding passed eight to five.

The Councillors who opposed the funds were:

  • Michael Zussino (Red River Ward )
  • Dominic Pasqualino (Northwood Ward )
  • Greg Johnsen (Neebing Ward)
  • Trevor Giertuga (At-Large)
  • Albert Aiello (McIntyre Ward)

“I think it’s a critical point right now that the city via city council show that we are in, I like the number, let alone the number side, that we’re 10 per cent in on the project,” said McKellar Ward Councillor Brian Hamilton.

“I think that’s going to speak well to investors, certainly to the province or the feds when we go asking for more money, this is a really critical time council.”

The decision to provide more funding has been on city council’s radar for a few months.

At the August 25 Committee of the Whole Meeting, the Thunder Bay Art Gallery delivered a presentation providing a progress update on their project, identifying the successes and financial challenges the project is facing and a potential path forward.

During the meeting, the gallery requested that the city consider providing additional funding.

The Art Gallery is exploring a phased approach that would allow the facility to partially open while continuing fundraising for a complete opening.

According to the city, the estimated cost to achieve this partial opening is $64.2 million, which left the Art Gallery looking for an additional $12.1 million beyond funds already committed heading into Tuesday night’s council meeting.

City council referred the request for additional funding to Administration, asking for a report back with information on timelines, financial impacts, recommended funding sources, and how the funds could be released if approved.

The report was heard by Finance and Administration Standing Committee on October 14.

The committee received a recommendation from administration that was not supported.

“There was a general support from a slight majority of the members for providing some level of addition of financial contribution, with the main question being the appropriate amount,” explained Commissioner of Corporate Services and City Treasurer, Keri Greaves.

“Based on discussion and feedback at Standing Committee administration has refined its recommendation to propose 2 separate contributions of $1.25 million each.”

In 2015, city council formally approved a $5 million contribution to the new Thunder Bay Art Gallery project.

The funding amount was equal to 10 per cent of the project’s total cost.

Since the city’s original commitment was approved, the estimated capital cost of the new Thunder Bay Waterfront Art Gallery has increased to a final estimated maximum cost of $75 million.

According to the art gallery, the increase in cost, while significant, is not inconsistent with industry-wide construction trends over the past decade, particularly during and following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Costs associated with required environmental cleanup have also additionally contributed to the increasing cost of the project.

The cost of the remediation work is estimated to have cost the project an additional $10.2 million as of the last assessment by the gallery.

The city has made significant contributions to the project outside of direct financial contributions.

The city has provided land it owns to host the gallery, as well as a municipal property tax exemption.

Any additional business operating at the gallery, like a coffee shop, would also be exempt from property taxes.

“I do not want to be bailing out a project for $20 million down the road,” added Hamilton.

“I think now is the pivotal moment, I think waiting for future endeavors or any kind of failures, I think is only going to further financially challenge the city and taxpayers could be looking at a more substantial bailout downstream. I think it’s important to get on board now, put shoulder to wheel and get this project across the finish line.”

indoor turf facility

Tbaytel Multiplex selected as name for indoor turf facility

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Thunder Bay’s City Council has approved a name for the Multi-Use Indoor Turf Facility.

The new structure is going to be called the Tbaytel Multiplex for the foreseeable future.

In exchange for the naming rights, Tbaytel will contribute $50,000 per year towards the facility for the duration of the 10-year agreement.

“This name was proposed by Tbaytel. They do have the privilege of naming the asset as a benefit of what they are purchasing through the naming rights process,” explained Callie Hemsworth, a supervisor with the Thunder Bay community services department.

“This name really symbolizes the multiplex being, multiple uses, multiple sports, coming together under one roof, together as a community.”

All councillors present voted in favour of the new name.

At-Large Councillors Shelby Ch’ng and Kasey Etreni were absent during the vote.

The City’s Sponsorship and Naming Rights Policy encourages the city to seek out businesses to become sponsors of municipal programs, facilities, events, and other assets.

Naming rights offer a way for businesses to support the community while enhancing the city’s ability to deliver programs and services by providing an alternative revenue-generating option.

In August, city council approved an exception to the Sponsorship and Naming Rights Policy to allow administration to negotiate this naming rights agreement without formally advertising the opportunity.

Planning Services has circulated the proposed name to internal departments and external agencies for comment in accordance with the Civic Naming of Streets, Buildings, Structures and Recreational Facilities Policy, and the name was approved.

Administration intends to move forward with branding and marketing for the recreational hub.

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