THUNDER BAY — As the calendar turns to a new year and the last one comes to its inevitable end, Dougall Media asked some of Thunder Bay's political representatives to reflect of some of their highlights for the past year in office and their hopes for the year to come
Thunder Bay–Superior North MP Patty Hajdu said her highlight of the year was working on First Nations water legislation.
“It really imbues the desires and aspirations of First Nations communities around not just how to make sure that they can access clean water, but how to protect water for generations. I found working on this bill extremely fulfilling,” Hajdu said.
Another highlight for the federal MP was advocating for Thunder Bay to get much-needed resources like infrastructure funding or the Canadian Dental Care Plan.
Looking ahead to 2025, Hajdu wants to see her First Nation's drinking water and wastewater legislation pass into law.
“We're hoping to get it to the Senate so that we can see it become law. This isn't just good for First Nations, by the way, this is good for all of us. Protecting fresh water really needs to be a priority for everyone as we see water and water quality degraded across the country. This has deep implications for the entire country,” Hajdu said.
Thunder Bay–Rainy River MP Marcus Powlowski said his political highlight for 2024 was successfully advocating for rural communities like South Gillies, Conmee and O'Connor Township.
According to Powlowski, his government will be extending its carbon tax rebate to more rural communities in the new year.
“People from those communities came to me and complained. Saying how come we don't get the extra? It was then 10 per cent, but now, it's 20 per cent carbon rebate because we live in rural areas. So I pursued that. I brought it to the Liberal Party. I brought it to Chrystia Freeland I campaigned for it and guess what, we want it we got it as of April they're gonna get it,” said Powlowski.
He also noted that he was proud to advocate for Alstom to build subway cars for the two new lines in Toronto, Frontier Metals lithium refinery, and Nuclear Waste Management Organization's site selection for a deep geological repository in Ignace.
“If all those things come through, it's gonna be a real economic boom for Thunder Bay. We have created all those new jobs, well-paying jobs, and for each of those jobs are spinoff jobs. So, I think things are looking great for Thunder Bay,” Powlowski said.
Powlowski said he looks forward to “surviving” in 2025.
“I mean, right now, we're in political turmoil, and I think, especially with Donald Trump coming into power, there's a great amount of uncertainty internationally and now nationally there's uncertainty with our government,” Powlowski said.
“And all this going on with them, I'd like to see some political stability within Canada. I think especially dealing with Trump. I think we need to have that political stability."
Thunder Bay–Atikokan MPP Kevin Holland had a busy 2024, but he said his biggest highlight was ensuring his riding has a voice in Queen’s Park.
“I've been that instrument in bringing the message down to Toronto Queens Park with regards to what the needs are. But I don't do it alone,” Holland said.
“It's in collaboration with all the organizations and agencies that I took the time to meet with, talk with, hold those round tables – so that we can pull out what it is that we need to do to advance the interests of Thunder Bay, not just to address some of the challenges we have, but also make sure we're capitalizing on the opportunities."
Holland said that he has never been the type of person to say his job is done and he is always looking for the next important opportunity to move his riding forward.
In 2025, pushing his riding forward is exactly what he intends to do.
“It's about continuing to do the work that I've been doing and making sure that we're bringing those investments into Thunder Bay. That we're bringing those solutions into Thunder Bay and we're attracting those businesses into Thunder Bay. So that's gonna be my focus,” said Holland.
Thunder Bay–Superior North MPP Lise Vaugeois said her highlight of 2024 was raising awareness about the dangers of Northwestern Ontario’s highways.
“I think I've been quite successful in identifying where the problems originate and what we could be doing to solve them, and that I think most people now understand what is going on and what needs to happen to change it,” said Vaugeois.
Vaugeois noted that in 2025 the province might be facing an early election, but said that as long as she remains the voice in her riding, she will keep fighting to keep services in the hands of the public.
“We may have an election coming up, but, if we don't have an election and we're able to work at Queens Park, then I would be working very hard to make sure that public health care remains public and that it's properly funded,” Vaugeois said.
Thunder Bay Mayor Ken Boshcoff
Mayor Ken Boshcoff said his political highlight of 2024 was the city success on the housing front.
“I would think it was easily exceeding our housing target and being recognized by the province with big lumps of cash and the feds for the same. So, the fact that we're doing so well on the growth in the city, I think is making lots of people happier throughout the city,” Boshcoff said.
Going into 2025, Boshcoff said he's looking forward to addressing some of the important issues the city is facing.
“We continue to work on solving the big problems, but we have to take the energy and the sustained factor that people are optimistic about the future to encourage housing and the people moving here and to sustain the business that we have,” Boshcoff said. “But the ones that are coming in are actually doing that for us, so we're glad to see all the new people and the new businesses."
