Officers from the Nishnawbe Aski Police Service seized nearly $150,000 worth of cocaine and crack cocaine in a search of two Nibinamik First Nation homes.
Three women, one from Winnipeg and two Nibinamik locals, are charged with possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking and possession of proceeds of property obtained by crime under $5,000.
The woman from Winnipeg appeared for a bail hearing on Tuesday and was remanded into custody with a future court date. The other two suspects have been released from custody with conditions and a future court date. The names of suspects are withheld until charges against them have been sworn in before the courts.
Confederation College is partnering with the Royal Canadian Navy to educate future sailors.
Through their Non-Commissioned Member Subsidized Training and Education Plan (NCMSTEP), the navy will cover tuition and pay an annual salary to eligible students looking to join the military after graduation. Military-related programs like Aviation Technician, Engineering Technician and Electrical Engineering qualify for the subsidy.
Students will likely need to attain Basic Military Qualification and pursue military training in the summer to fulfill the program.
Naval officers and college administrators gathered Tuesday for a signing ceremony to formalize the partnership.
Lieutenant Navy/Thunder Bay Catholic School Board teacher Joel Biesenthal (Jacob Henriksen-Willis/March 10 2026)
“We are short personnel currently to meet our operational needs, but we’re doing what we can with what we have,” said Lieutenant Navy Joel Biesenthal. “We are working on a major recruiting blitz to get more people to enroll. This is one of those avenues.”
Biesenthal, who is also a teacher with the Thunder Bay Catholic School Board, says he’s happy this program provides opportunities for his past students considering college.
“After I graduated high school, I did not have financial means to go to university. When I enrolled in the navy, it allowed me to get that employment experience and also the financial support to achieve my goals in education,” Biesenthal said.
Confederation Vice President Academic Aaron Skillen says the school is proud to partner with the Canadian Armed Forces. He emphasized the financial benefit of enrollment for potential recruits.
“It’s a wonderful financial aid opportunity,” Skillen said. “There’s a real component there of being supported both financially in your post-secondary studies as well as employment security and stability upon time of graduation.”
Basic Military Training Coordinator Adam Beverly speaks at Tuesday’s ceremony (Jacob Henriksen-Willis/March 10 2026)
Basic Military Training Coordinator and recent Confederation graduate Adam Beverly says joining the navy has been an adventure.
“Basically, if you want to travel, meet new people and gain a lot of overall life experience, it’s a great way to pursue that. And it’s great money to pay for college,” Beverly said.
Following the conclusion of the Ontario New Democratic Party’s (ONDP) northern Ontario road tour, ONDP MPP’s Sol Mamakwa, John Vanthof, Guy Bourgoin, and Lise Vaugeois were joined on Monday by their leader Marit Stiles to host a town hall at Thunder Bay’s Slovak Legion Hall.
The town hall comes as deaths on northern highways are repeatedly casting safety into the spotlight.
Attendees packed the Legion hall to share stories of lost loved ones, fears of driving on unsafe roads, and frustration at the glacial pace of highway twinning.
Survivors of accidents described lifelong physical and mental trauma, while those forced to say goodbye to friends or family prematurely explained the difficulty of moving on.
Family members of long-haul truckers voiced the terminal anxiety they feel when their spouses, siblings, or parents are on the job.
At one point, ONDP leader Marit Stiles asked the attendees to raise their hands if they had ever experienced a close call on a northern highway.
In response, the packed room erupted with raised hands.
Locals pack the Slovak Legion Hall to voice road safety concerns. (Sam Goldstein/March 9, 2026)
Stiles expressed surprise at the large turnout, but not at the feelings shared.
“I think it’s an indication that people are really desperate to have change and to be safe,” she remarked.
Many solutions were discussed: beyond twinning or building “2+1” highways, locals also called for a deeper licensing process for truckers, with suggestions such as graduated licensing, apprenticeships, or even treating the profession as a skilled trade.
Some called for empathy for new truckers pressured or exploited by a degenerating system, asking for better worker protections; others pointed out that dangerous driving manifests in cars as well as trucks, and argued safer roads — the more systemic approach — could better account for human error.
Stiles had her own suggestion: treat the upgrades to Highway 11/17 as a nation-building project of national importance and urgency, due to the economic impacts of frequent highway closures.
“If [premier Doug Ford] can’t see that it’s bad enough that people are losing their lives and families are torn apart, then maybe he’ll see the logic in the fact that our economy is being ground to a halt multiple times a day with the shutdown of those highways,” she said. “That there’s no way the road through the Ring of Fire is going to be a reality if we have road safety issues like we have right now in Northern Ontario.”
Lise Vaugeois, MPP for Thunder Bay—Superior North, has been an outspoken critic of highway safety in the north. She agrees with those who call for a “system-wide” approach to highway safety.
Beyond simple infrastructure upgrades like more medians, shoulders, and passing lanes, Vaugeois points to a lack of oversight in the trucking industry.
“The Ontario Trucking Association says that 90 per cent of trucking fleets have not been audited. There is no control, there is no supervision happening in the trucking industry,” she explains.
A recurring theme at the town hall was that everyone more or less agrees on what is needed to make highways safer, but that there is a lack of political will to force the issue.
Some of the attendees suggested blocking highways, or threatening strikes.
While ONDP members refrained from outright endorsing civil disobedience, they encouraged disgruntled highway travellers to organize, build movements, and place steady, long-term pressure on provincial leaders to keep their promises.
Stiles promised her party would do the same at the provincial legislature.
“We’re going to keep going back at them with more motions, more bills to continue to raise the pressure on the government,” she assured. “I don’t think they’re going to want to say no this time after so many people are losing their lives. I think it’s going to look very badly for the government, so I hope they will agree.”
Alan Doyle. Jim Cuddy. Greg Keeler. Paul Brandt. Johnny Reid. If you’ve lived in Thunder Bay for a while, there’s a good chance you’ve seen them live.
These Thunder Bay Community Auditorium (TBCA) stars are a part of the city’s cultural legacy.
Now’s your chance to own a part of that history.
Signed guitars from all five artists are up for auction, and proceeds will go towards renovating the auditorium to improve accessibility and fan experience.
A signed guitar from Alan Doyle is up for grabs at the TBCA auction (via TBCA)
“We have a lot of history over the last 40 years,” said Andrew Edwards, Acting General Manager of the TBCA. “We don’t want (valuable items) collecting dust in our archives. It felt right to celebrate our past and let items go into the community where they can appreciate them.”
This is the first of four auction rounds hosted by the TBCA. A new round will open each month, with the featured memorabilia revealed as a surprise.
“The artists that we chose specifically for the first round of auctions were people that had some pretty extensive history of playing the building multiple times,” Edwards said.
A guitar signed by Jim Cuddy and Greg Keeler of Blue Rodeo is up for auction (via TBCA)
Edwards says he has fond memories hosting some of their performances.
“Jim Cuddy’s backstage before one of his shows, and he’s just sitting there doing a crossword from the local newspaper, cool as a cucumber. And I’m like, man, this guy’s about to go be a rockstar in front of a sold out crowd, and he’s just dong a crossword right before like a normal person,” Edwards recalled.
“Paul Brandt comes into the auditorium and he knows his way around. He actually sets up a workout room in the basement and goes to town. Same deal with Johnny Reid, but he would actually travel with a personal trainer and set up his workout machines in the lobby. He would try and get staff to join in on his workouts too.”
Signed concert posters from artists such as Down With Webster, Jesse Cook and Coney Hatch are available for bidding as well.
Thunder Bay’s outdoor ice skating rinks are temporarily closed due to warmer temperatures over the weekend.
Residents can find updated information on the status of their local rink by checking the Outdoor Rinks Map.
Temperatures are expected to cool down in the coming week. The city’s Parks & Open Spaces Division will work to reopen skating rinks throughout the week as conditions allow.
It took Lakehead Thunderwolves forward and Thunder Bay native Nick De Grazia five minutes to make hockey history.
Down 5-1 and killing a five minute major penalty, Lakehead needed a hero late in Game 1 of their playoff clash against Brock University last month.
De Grazia answered the call — and then some. He netted three straight to drag the Thunderwolves back into the game, but Brock kept firing and ended up winning the game 8-5. Brock would go on to win the series 2 games to 1.
Despite the loss, De Grazia’s heroics have earned him a place in hockey’s most hallowed halls. The Hockey Hall of Fame is currently in contact with Lakehead University about acquiring De Grazia’s stick, jersey and/or a puck from the game to put on display.
He may not have known it at the time, but De Grazia scored the sport’s first-ever natural shorthanded hat-trick at any level university or above. That means none of Gretzky, Crosby, Poulin or Wickenheiser (or anyone else for that matter) have ever scored three straight goals on the penalty kill. Thunder Bay’s Nick De Grazia did.
“I was just looking for offense at that point,” De Grazia said. “We’re down 5-1, so I’m not really worried about them getting any goals. So I’m just looking for chances I can get going the other way.”
“It was just kind of crazy. It happened so quick.”
De Grazia says he “didn’t have a clue” at the time that his feat was so rare, and it was a happy surprise to hear it caught the attention of the Hall of Fame.
“It’s a huge honour,” De Grazia said. “If (my gear) gets to the Hall of Fame, I’ll definitely visit. It’ll be cool to take the kids there one day when I’m older and go check it out.”
De Grazia is in his junior year of a General Arts degree at Lakehead.
A Kapuskasing resident is dead following a collision on Highway 11 near Smooth Rock Falls on Saturday.
This is the tenth highway death of 2026 in northern Ontario.
The collision involved four tractor trailers and a passenger vehicle. A section of the Trans-Canada Highway was closed for nearly 18 hours as a result.
“These tragedies are becoming far too common on northern Ontario highways,” said NOMA President Rick Dumas. “For northern communities, these roads are lifelines. When a major collision closes the highway for hours, sometimes nearly an entire day, communities can become isolated and the movement of people, emergency services and essential goods is disrupted.”
NOMA says municipal leaders across the Kenora, Rainy River and Thunder Bay districts continue to advance highway safety as a regional priority through the Kenora District Municipal Association, Rainy River District Municipal League and Thunder Bay District Municipal League.
“These issues have been raised consistently by northern municipalities,” said Fred Mota, Mayor of Red Lake and NOMA Executive Vice President. “Communities across northwestern Ontario are working together to push for practical improvements that make these highways safer for everyone who relies on them.”
“Northern Ontarians should not face a higher level of risk simply because of where we live. Our communities deserve safe, reliable highways and a clear commitment to improving them.”
In collaboration with the Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities (FONOM), NOMA released a Northern Ontario Transportation Task Force report in 2023 outlining recommendations for improved safety and efficiency along Highways 11/17.
Expanded passing opportunities, strategic four-laning, improved road design and the use of the 2+1 highway model were among the primary recommendations. A 2+1 highway is a three-lane highway with a centre passing lane that changes direction approximately every two to five kilometres.
Ontario is moving forward with plans to implement the 2+1 highway model along a section of Highway 11 near North Bay (the first of its kind in North America), but otherwise NOMA says many of their ideas have been tabled.
“Northern leaders have already done the work,” Dumas said. “We encourage the Province to reopen the NOMA and FONOM Transportation Task Force report so progress on Highway 11, Highway 17 and the Highway 11/17 corridor can move forward.”
Special Olympics officials are praising Westgate Collegiate & Vocational Institute for their Unity Cup, a month-long basketball tournament of teams mixed with special needs and mainstream high school students.
Student volunteer Nathan Vispert poses with Unity Cup athletes (Jacob Henriksen-Willis/March 5 2026)
Students packed the stands for the gold medal game Thursday afternoon.
“The Unity Cup is about bridging the gap between mainstream students and special needs students,” said Westgate special needs classroom teacher David Workman. “The idea is that unified partners can play as hard as they want against each other, but also facilitate gameplay with the Special Olympics athletes.”
The final game was a buy‑in event for Westgate students, featuring a $5 entry fee, with all proceeds donated to the Special Olympics.
“The growth we’ve seen in the students in just four weeks has been phenomenal,” Workman said. “(The athletes went) from not knowing how to clear or check the ball to now you saw people guarding each other in a way we didn’t even see last week.”
“We’ve got mainstream students and special athletes working together, building friendships, building social connections, being accepted as part of the school.”
The 2026 Westgate Unity Cup Champions (Jacob Henriksen-Willis/March 5 2026)
The game doubled as a banner ceremony for the school’s 2025 Special Olympics Ontario School Championship in basketball.
“Special Olympics has been a part of Westgate’s curriculum for as long as I can remember, 20-plus years,” Workman said. “It matches really well with the goals of the students, things we’re working on.”
Senior student and Special Olympics volunteer Nathan Vibert was a major organizer, referee and coach for the tournament.
David Workman and Nathan Vispert pose with Westgate’s 2025 Special Olympics Provincial Championship banner (Jacob Henriksen-Willis/March 5 2026)
“It was perfect,” Vibert said. “I’ve heard nothing but positive things from the athletes and the students that helped volunteer.”
Vibert has been a Special Olympics volunteer his entire high school tenure. He says the idea for an integrated sports tournament came from him and Workman.
“Everyone had such a fun time, and hopefully we can get more kids to do it next year,” Vibert said. “Maybe we grow the teams, or maybe other schools will catch on and we can start a league between schools.”
He will travel with Westgate’s special needs basketball team to London, Ontario in May as they defend their provincial title at the 2026 Special Olympics Ontario School Championships.
Westgate also hosts integrated Unity Cup tournaments in soccer, floor hockey and track and field.
The City of Thunder Bay is announcing they have passed a water quality test with flying colors.
Our drinking water system received an inspection rating of 100% from the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks
Taste and odour tests were reported as inoffensive, and there was no trace of E. Coli or Coliform in any samples tested.
The full report can be found here. It also provides an overview of how the city treats and delivers safe drinking water, as well as tips on how residents can help protect water quality at home.
“Our water is monitored around the clock to ensure it meets strict safety standards. This report confirms the city of Thunder Bay continues to provide high-quality, safe drinking water,” said Michelle Warywoda, Director of the Environment Division for the city. “We encourage residents to read the report to learn more about where their water comes from and how it can be protected, and about the operator certification process for the city’s water operators who work with the drinking water system.”
As part of the city’s Lead Action Plan approved in 2014, Thunder Bay has provided a water purification system and lead testing services free of charge to residents and businesses with known or suspected lead services. In 2025, 525 lead water samples were tested and approximately 107 publicly owned lead services were replaced.
