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Good morning, Thunder Bay — and welcome to issue one hundred and seventeen. Cloudy today with a high of 20°C, mild for late September, with light winds and no precipitation expected. In today's issue: a new federal labour bill puts Ottawa's own Thunder Bay MP on one side of a fight with unions; the hospital foundation is giving away two vehicles instead of one this year; Rockin' Recovery expects its biggest crowd yet at the CLE this Saturday; and Fort Frances asks the northwest about ditching the clock change — 92 per cent say yes. Plus four things to do between now and next Wednesday, this fortnight's real estate snapshot, and Scrollback on the week's big debates.
In this Harbour Beat Issue…
Trivia: L. Frank Baum's original book gave Dorothy a different pair of magic shoes than the movie did. What colour were they before Hollywood made them ruby red? (Answer at the bottom!)
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Thunder Bay Events
Saturday runs from an artisan fair out the Slate River valley to a weekend of tabletop gaming and a night of drag; then things go quiet until Wednesday's trivia night.
Saturday, September 26
SEP 26 · Autumn Rendezvous artisan show — 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., free · 📍 4485 Highway 61, out through the Slate River valley · Seventh year for this one: local artisans, live music from Jim and Chris of tbay TRAD, and a Welsh cream tea in the pines. · 📅 Add to Calendar
SEP 26 · Gaming Weekend at the Thunder Bay Museum — 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., museum admission · 📍 425 Donald St. E. · Second edition: two days of tabletop RPGs, Warhammer, miniature painting, card and board games. · 📅 Add to Calendar
SEP 26 · 2nd Annual Supreme Drag Sovereign of Pride Pageant — 5 to 10:30 p.m. · 📍 Prince Arthur Hotel, 17 Cumberland St. N. · Pink Mafia Productions and the Prince Arthur Hotel host the region's drag entertainers competing for the title. · 📅 Add to Calendar
Wednesday, September 30
SEP 30 · Name That Tune Trivia @ Wayland Bar & Grill — 7 to 9 p.m. · 📍 Wayland Bar & Grill, 1019 Gore Street West · Weekly music trivia night, teams welcome. · 📅 Add to Calendar
✅ NO WEATHER ALERTS IN EFFECT
Environment Canada has nothing posted for Thunder Bay as of Thursday afternoon. The mild, cloudy stretch running into next week looks routine — no severe weather expected.
☁️ Saturday, September 26 — Thunder Bay
20°C
Overnight low 9°C
Cloudy through the day, clearing to cloudy periods overnight. Light winds, no precipitation expected.
Saturday stays cloudy with a high of 20°C and a low of 9°C overnight. Sunday turns a bit more unsettled with a mix of sun and cloud and a 30 percent chance of showers, high 18°C. Monday holds at 18°C with a mix of sun and cloud, then Tuesday and Wednesday both cool into the mid-teens with a lingering 30 percent chance of showers each day. Winds stay light through the stretch. Forecast from Environment Canada.
A new labour bill puts Ottawa's own MP on one side of a fight with unions
Jobs and Families Minister Patty Hajdu, the Thunder Bay–Superior North MP, helped table Bill C-39 this week — a federal bill that would let Ottawa step in to end a strike or lockout it judges a matter of national interest. She says the bill doesn't touch the right to strike; the Canadian Labour Congress says it does.
Hajdu says about 95 per cent of federally-regulated labour disputes already settle without disruption — this bill is aimed at the other five.
🗳️ Your call: Ottawa's Bill C-39 would let government step in to end a strike or lockout when it's judged a matter of national interest. Where do you land?
Ottawa's Bill C-39 would let government step in to end a strike or lockout when it's judged a matter of national interest. Where do you land?
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The hospital foundation is giving away two cars this year instead of one
The Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Foundation is doubling the stakes on its annual Cruising for a Cure raffle: this year's winner takes home both an Acura ADX and an Acura MDX Type S, supplied with support from the Witiluk family.
Proceeds go toward the region's new cardiac surgery wing, so Northwestern Ontario patients no longer have to leave home for heart surgery.
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Thunder Bay's Rockin' Recovery expects its biggest crowd yet — this Saturday
The 13th annual Rockin' Recovery runs this Saturday from 1 to 4 p.m. at the CLE Coliseum — free, family-friendly, and built around people sharing their own stories of addiction and recovery to help break down the stigma around it.
Organizers expect more than 3,000 people this year, up from about 150 at the very first event thirteen years ago.
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Fort Frances surveys the northwest, and 92% say ditch the clock change
Fort Frances asked residents whether Northwestern Ontario should follow Manitoba and stop changing the clocks — of roughly 3,600 responses so far, more than 90 per cent said yes. Kenora, Red Lake and Sioux Narrows–Nestor Falls have their own surveys open too.
Regional mayors met with Kenora–Rainy River MPP Greg Rickford last week and expect to bring a combined answer back within days.
🏡 Harbour Beat Real Estate Snapshot
Brought to you by [your brokerage here — this slot is open]
August cooled off from a hot 2025: fewer homes changed hands and it took a little longer to sell them, even as prices kept climbing and the list of homes for sale kept growing.
By the numbers — single-detached homes, City of Thunder Bay (August 2026):
💵 Median price: $405,819 — down 9.7% from August 2025, though the year-to-date median of $415,000 is still up 3.8%
🏠 Homes sold: 104 — down 10.3% year-over-year, but still 1.4% above the five-year average for August
⏱️ Median days on market: 17 — up from 15.5 days in August 2025
📈 Total value of sales: $45.7 million — down 12.7% from August 2025
What it means: Board president Karen Hill says new listings have now risen for a seventh straight month, giving buyers more choice than they've had in a while — but with the MLS® HPI benchmark price still up 5.9% year-over-year, she says conditions continue to favour sellers for now, while the board watches for any real shift in balance.
Source: Thunder Bay Real Estate Board via CREA, August 2026 MLS® data. Informational market snapshot only — not financial advice.
Thinking of buying or selling? This space is open to one local realtor or brokerage — just reply to this email.
📊 Scrollback: How the City Voted This Week
This week, readers wanted the new jail phased in rather than delayed, the clock change gone for good, and real consequences for landlords who let a building fall apart.
The results:
🏚️ New jail staffing: 62% said open it in phases and close the old jails as you go; only 8% wanted the June 2027 date pushed back.
🕒 Clock change: 79% want Ontario to ditch the switch and go permanent daylight time alongside Manitoba.
🏭 Pulp mill funding: 88% want the money staying in the mills already running.
⛏️ Critical minerals fund: 70% want more processing plants built here, not just more mines.
☢️ Nuclear waste vault: the only real split of the week — 38% say don't fast-track a 650-metre-deep vault, 25% say it depends on the affected First Nations being genuinely onside, and 19% say list it for the jobs.
🏛️ Vickers Manor: the week's biggest landslide — 85% want tougher provincial penalties for landlords who let a building get this bad.
🏗️ John & Junot apartments: 56% say build it, 28% want the density capped.
Takeaway: readers leaned practical over ideological this week — happy to phase a facility in rather than delay it, ready to cut Ontario loose from the clock switch, and unified almost everywhere except the nuclear file, which actually split three ways.
What Readers Are Saying:
On the nuclear vault, one reader worried more about moving waste through isolated highway stretches in winter than about the vault itself, while another argued the project's jobs and spinoff work could help keep young people in the region for good. On Vickers Manor, one reader wanted displaced tenants compensated for their moving costs and given first right to return on their old rental terms, noting the building had housed people living paycheque to paycheque. On the apartment proposal, one reader questioned whether any of the new units would actually be affordable, while another argued that five- or six-storey buildings are easier to maintain and build real community in than one 400-unit tower.
Final thoughts: keep the opinions coming — every issue's "Your call" poll feeds straight into next Saturday's Scrollback.
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: Silver. In L. Frank Baum's 1900 book "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz," Dorothy's magic shoes were silver — MGM's 1939 film changed them to ruby red so they'd pop against the new Technicolor yellow brick road.
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