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Happy Tuesday, Thunder Bay! The smoke keeps loosening its grip, but the fires are still reshaping the week — 157 cots are made up and waiting at the Fort William Gardens, and nobody has walked through the door yet. In today's issue: an evacuation centre sitting empty, a charity handing rural fire halls a brand-new weapon, Via Rail's northern route knocked out again, and a re-enactment crew celebrating 50 years of muskets and canoes. Plus this week's Harbour Beat Connect and your week-ahead events. 🧡
In this Harbour Beat Issue…
🏒 157 cots, zero evacuees: inside the Fort William Gardens
🚒 A charity hands rural fire halls a pickup-sized fire truck
🚂 Via Rail's northern run is cancelled again
🛶 Fifty years of muskets, canoes and one big family
🪶 Indigenous Community Feature: the Dilico Powwow turns 40
🎧 Harbour Beat Connect: Build & Thrive Thunder Bay
Trivia: Which planet in our solar system rotates on its side, tipped over at roughly 98 degrees? (Answer at the bottom!)
The best HR advice comes from those in the trenches. That’s what this is: real-world HR insights delivered in a newsletter from Hebba Youssef, a Chief People Officer who’s been there. Practical, real strategies with a dash of humor. Because HR shouldn’t be thankless—and you shouldn’t be alone in it.
Your week-ahead guide to Thunder Bay. ⚠️ Smoke heads-up: air quality is improving, but wildfire smoke is still drifting through the region — please confirm any outdoor event with the organizer before you head out, since conditions can change plans fast.
Tuesday, July 21
JUL 21 · 1999: The Ultimate Prince Experience — 7:30 p.m. · 📍 Thunder Bay Community Auditorium, 1 Paul Shaffer Dr (indoor) · A high-energy tribute to Prince and the sounds of a purple era · 📅 Add to Calendar
JUL 21 · Karaoke Tuesdays at Howl — from 8:30 p.m. · 📍 Howl at the Moon, 8 Cumberland St S (indoor) · Grab the mic — the weekly downtown singalong · 📅 Add to Calendar
Wednesday, July 22
JUL 22 · Live on the Waterfront — 6–9 p.m. · 📍 Marina Park Festival Area, Water St (outdoor — weather & air-quality permitting) · The free Wednesday-night concert series, running through Aug. 19 · 📅 Add to Calendar
Thursday, July 23
JUL 23 · 8th Annual Dilico Powwow — from 1 p.m. · 📍 200 Anemki Pl, Fort William First Nation (outdoor) · A day of drumming, dance and celebration marking Dilico's 40th anniversary · 📅 Add to Calendar
JUL 23 · Public Open House — Central Avenue Development Lands — 4–6 p.m. · 📍 West Thunder Community Centre, 915 Edward St S (indoor) · Free. Round two of the city's input sessions, with a draft preferred development plan on the table · 📅 Add to Calendar
JUL 23 · Open Mic Comedy at Campfire Comedy — 7–10 p.m. · 📍 Campfire Comedy, 117 Cumberland St N (indoor) · $5, students free — watch local comics or take a swing at the mic yourself · 📅 Add to Calendar
Friday, July 24
JUL 24 · Dear Evan Hansen — Summer Theatre at Badanai — 7 p.m. · 📍 Badanai Theatre, 499 Dewe Ave (indoor) · $30. The Tony-winning musical, directed by Robert Perrier and Candi Badanai · 📅 Add to Calendar
Saturday, July 25
JUL 25 · Bay and Algoma Buskers Festival — 12–9 p.m. · 📍 Bay & Algoma neighbourhood (outdoor) · Street performers, food and shops all through the district — the neighbourhood's signature summer party · 📅 Add to Calendar
✅ NO ACTIVE WEATHER ALERTS
For the first time in a while, Environment Canada has no alerts posted for Thunder Bay — the air-quality warning and thunderstorm watch have both come down. Smoke is still listed as “local” in the forecast, so keep it in mind if you're planning something strenuous outdoors, but conditions are the best they've been in over a week.
⛅ Tuesday, July 21 — Thunder Bay
21°C
Overnight low 11°C · Wind NW 30 km/h
Cloudy · 30% chance of morning showers · Local smoke · UV 4 (moderate)
A cooler, breezier Tuesday — and a welcome one. Expect cloudy skies with a 30% chance of showers in the morning, then a mostly dry afternoon. There's still local smoke in the forecast, but a steady northwest wind at 30 km/h should keep pushing it along. The high tops out near 21°C — four degrees below the seasonal normal — with a UV index of 4 (moderate). Skies clear overnight and the wind eases toward midnight, dropping to a crisp low of 11°C. Looking ahead: sunny and 25°C on Wednesday, and 26°C Thursday and Friday. Full forecast and any new alerts at Environment Canada.
157 cots, zero evacuees: inside the Fort William Gardens
The cots are made. The diapers, baby formula, water and hygiene supplies are stacked next door in the curling club. There's even room to house pets for as long as it takes. And as of Monday afternoon, not one person had registered. Site commander Jason Kay of the Loomex Group says the Red Cross has 157 cots on the rink floor with more capacity if it's needed — the centre was set up for Namaygoosisagagun (Collins) First Nation and Armstrong evacuees, who left home on July 13, though the building wasn't ready until Friday. Emergency Preparedness Minister Jill Dunlop suspects most found room with family instead. Fire chief Dave Tarini added some helpful context: the arena is really a backup, in case flight crews or aircraft issues strand people passing through the airport en route to hotels in southern Ontario. Anyone who needs it can register onsite with a QR code, or on paper.
A charity hands rural fire halls a pickup-sized fire truck
Here's some good news you can lift into a truck bed. Toronto-based charity GlobalMedic has been delivering “fire skids” to volunteer fire halls around the region — all-in-one units with a 1,000-litre tank, a gas-powered pump, a compressor and a reel of hose. “What it does is it converts a pickup truck into a small fire truck,” said rapid response team leader Don Jorgensen. Halls in Pass Lake, Shuniah, Lappe, Upsala and Shebandowan are among those that have received them; six or seven arrived last Friday and another seven landed Monday. Shebandowan fire chief David Del Zotto says the difference is time — crews normally burn five or 10 minutes finding a water source and running hose before they can start knocking a fire down. “This way here, we've actually got water to the site right off the top.” GlobalMedic has distributed roughly 500 of the units across Canada in the past 18 months.
Via Rail's northern run is cancelled again
If you or someone you know has a train booked through the northwest, check it. Via Rail has been cancelling runs through the region for almost a week because of fires burning close to the CN line near Armstrong, and an update posted Monday confirms the Toronto–Winnipeg train scheduled for July 22 is cancelled — the service will only operate between Winnipeg and Vancouver. A spokesperson says affected passengers have been contacted directly and will get a full refund, or a refund for the leg they couldn't complete. The disruption traces back to July 13, when a CN crew narrowly escaped a wall of flame that surrounded their train near Armstrong and the railway halted all operations in the area.
Fifty years of muskets, canoes and one big family
Something lighter to end on. The Canadian Corps of Voyageurs — the re-enactment group you've seen firing muskets and the odd cannon at Fort William Historical Park — is marking 50 years, and turned out in force for the park's Great Rendezvous. “We're just a big family basically,” said group leader Chris Mills, who counts 31 active members spanning a three-week-old baby and a member turning 90 this year. They cover a sweep of eras, from the fur trade through the First World War, and some are heading to a rendezvous south of Minneapolis. Mills himself started at the Fort in 1977 as its very first junior interpreter. “I've always been here. It's a second home.” The group welcomes newcomers — details are on their Facebook page.
Indigenous Community Feature 🪶
The Dilico Powwow returns — and this one marks 40 years
After a summer of smoke and evacuations, Thursday brings something the whole city can gather for. The 8th Annual Dilico Powwow takes place Thursday, July 23 from 1 p.m. at 200 Anemki Place on Fort William First Nation — and organizers say this year carries extra weight, because it doubles as the 40th anniversary of Dilico Anishinabek Family Care.
Dilico has spent those four decades delivering child welfare, mental health and health services to Anishinabek communities across the region, and the powwow has become its yearly open door: a day of drumming, dancing, food and visiting that welcomes everyone, Indigenous and non-Indigenous alike.
If you've never been to a powwow before, it's a good first one — come as you are, bring a lawn chair, and follow the MC's lead on when photos are welcome and when to stand. Questions can go to Dilico at 807-623-8511.
Harbour Beat Connect 🎧
Build & Thrive Thunder Bay
Host: Robert Downing · Guest: David
The AI Search Revolution: How to Make Your Business Visible Beyond Google
Searching has quietly stopped meaning “type it into Google.” More and more customers are asking an AI assistant instead — and getting one answer back rather than ten blue links. This week Robert and David dig into what that shift means for a small Thunder Bay business, and why the shops that show up in those answers aren't necessarily the ones spending the most on ads.
In this episode:
Why AI assistants pick some local businesses and skip others
The basics worth fixing first — before you spend a dollar on marketing
How to stay findable as search keeps changing under your feet
New episodes every Monday.
Meme of the Day
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What's faster than word of mouth? The Harbour Beat Spotlight! Keeps you updated on what's going on locally and connects businesses to our vibrant community.
Trivia answer: Uranus. Its axis is tilted about 98 degrees, so the planet essentially rolls along its orbit like a barrel — most likely the result of an enormous collision early in its history. It also means each pole gets roughly 42 Earth-years of continuous sunlight, followed by 42 years of darkness.