Thunder Bay Councillors feel province was receptive at ROMA 2026

City Councillors Trevor Giertuga and Shelby Ch’ng, who respectively serve as Chair and Vice Chair of the city’s Intergovernmental Affairs Committee, raised several issues with the provincial government at this week’s Rural Ontario Municipal Association conference.

The two councillors travelled to Toronto for the conference in a delegation that also included Mayor Ken Boshcoff and City Manager John Collin.

In Toronto, the team met with a number of ministries:

• Northern Economic Development and Growth
• Municipal Affairs and Housing
• Transportation
• Finance
• Mental Health and Addictions
• The Environment, Conservation, and Parks
• The Solicitor General

Councillor Ch’ng stresses that meetings such as these are not “one-and-done,” but rather part of a long process to produce changes.

Even so, Ch’ng and Giertuga feel the city made inroads with provincial ministries, successfully making their case and conveying Thunder Bay’s unique situation.

“They heard what we said, and wherever they could give any kind of commitment, they did,” says Giertuga.

The city advocated for progress on the development of highway infrastructure, including the proposed Northwest Arterial and a group of flyover interchanges on the Thunder Bay expressway.

Giertuga says that although the province has not committed to a timeline, “they’re saying that it is on the books. So it is forecasted now, the environmental assessment is being done.”

He adds that the province said at the earliest, shovels could be in the ground for highway improvements by 2028.

The delegation also pushed to see Thunder Bay exempted from an Endangered Species Act provision protecting Black Ash trees, which can be found on a number of properties that the city hopes to see developed for industry.

“For example, six trees are holding up [millions of dollars] worth of investment,” Ch’ng says.

The province seemed to agree with the city’s advocacy, as according to Ch’ng, “everyone in every ministry that we spoke to about this, this time and the previous times, agreed that this needs to be a quick turnaround.”

The Black Ash issue seemed to have been caught up in bureaucratic processes, but the councillor feels that this meeting was different, with the province assuring that a plan will be created to get the delayed developments kick-started.

Thunder Bay’s delegation also advocated against consolidating the Lakehead Region Conservation Authority with bodies in Southern Ontario.

“We just explained the geographical problems with it,” Giertuga remarks. “I mean, 1,300 kilometres is the nearest municipality. Just how do you have meetings, anything like that?”

Another issue was budgeting, as the city provides services to communities far beyond the city.

“So for example, we’re funding a physician outside of the Sioux Lookout area for half a million a year,” Ch’ng points out. “But we’re not getting funded for that.”

Mayor Ken Boschcoff credits the Thunder Bay delegation for their efforts with the province:

“I’m quite proud of the team… We’re now into our last year as a council, and we’ve proven that we’re formidable when we’re united. And I do believe that the ministers and the ministerial staffs recognize that.”