City welcomes growth to foster prosperity

City manager Norm Gale said Thunder Bay is in relatively good shape at the end of 2023 with some positive indicators.

The local economy from the City of Thunder Bay’s perspective is somewhat bright and promising but there is work to be done.

City manager Norm Gale said Thunder Bay is in relatively good shape at the end of 2023 with some positive indicators.

The construction of 300 residential units is nearly double the five-year average of 175 units.

“Thunder Bay is one of only nine Ontario municipalities to have met its provincially mandated housing target,” Gale said.

Another indicator is Thunder Bay’s gross domestic product growth, which is at two per cent for 2023, above the national rate of 1.5 per cent. Other positive signals include a tourism boost with 15 cruise ship visits to the city and 24 expected next year, and rebounding retail sales.

Gale pointed out that there is a new record in Thunder Bay for building permit construction, with the $1.2-billion jail being the predominant one.

“That record is $450 million and ($240 million) of that is the jail, which has had an enormous impact,” he said, adding the remaining $210 million is still much higher than any of the past five years in which the city has averaged $125 million.

“So this is a very positive indicator. Let’s also add the economic impact of the Ontario Winter Games, which the City of Thunder Bay is going to host (in 2024). That’s $6 million. And we also have the women’s baseball Championships coming up.”

Gale says there is concern about the Toronto Transit Commission cancelling the order from Alstom, but the light-rail factory in Thunder Bay appears to have enough work to employ 400 people for the time being.

“I do worry about the gig economy, which refers to services provided through short-term contracts or temporary work arranged through an online platform of mobile application such as Airbnb’s and ride services.”

“These large multi-national corporations do business in the city, but they have no physical footprint here,” he said.

“They don’t pay property taxes, have no physical parts here and compete with businesses who do pay property taxes. I’m also worried about a labour shortage, with skilled labour in particular for the City of Thunder Bay corporation. We’re having trouble finding paramedics, registered practical nurses and early childcare education workers.

Although the overall crime rate in Thunder Bay decreased from last year, the crime severity rate remained relatively unchanged, ranking the city far above the national average for the crime rate.

“It is troubling,” Gale said. “When it comes to business, the economy and economic growth, shoplifting has become a very significant problem and is a sign of socio-economic maladies faced by many people. It’s an incredible drain on businesses, and crime rates negatively affect tourism.”

He said there are legitimate safety concerns that may constrain people from going out and spending money, contributing to the economy and enjoying what businesses have to offer.

“Local businesses, especially in the cores, have been adversely impacted, but those business owners are also digging in,” he said. “They’re trying to thrive while also trying to help people who need help. It’s been a tough goal for everyone.”

The community’s safety and well-being plan, which is a provincially mandated plan, combines the city, broader community stakeholders and police to work together on specific issues for strategies to combat racism, homelessness, mental health, addiction, violence and poverty.

“There’s also a task force of community groups that are working with homelessness and supporting people in encampments taking a human rights approach to help them help themselves,” Gale said. “It’s important to note that for many of these issues, the police are not well suited to respond in terms of mental health, addictions and homelessness. These are psychosocial maladies that are complex, and there’ll be another task force developed within the city to deal with this aspect of social inequities.”

Gale says the city remains hopeful for continued growth in the economy. He says the real gross domestic product growth for Thunder Bay is forecast to be around 2.5 per cent in 2024, continuing above the Canadian forecast. He predicts that employment will likely rise due to job growth, construction, transportation, warehousing and finance.

“We’re predicting a modest rise in population again due to immigration and I do worry about the availability of labour in general,” Gale said. “Recruiting and retention is a struggle for employers everywhere.”

The city’s commitment to reconciliation is led by its Indigenous relations office.

“We’re guided by the Indigenous relations strategy, and we have Indigenous advisors,” Gale said.

“The city takes our guidance from the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous People and the Thunder Bay Anti-racism Accord, which references the Truth and Reconciliation calls to action, missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, calls for justice and the Seven Youth Inquest recommendations.”

Gale outlined goals for the city next year.

“Our perspective, Maamawe, Growing Together Strategic Plan will be returning to council for their direction on details of the goals,” Gale said. “Here we honour the truth and reconcile for the future. The safety and well-being goal is for our community to be healthy, safe and strong.”

Other goals include attracting and retaining new diverse businesses and community members for sustainability and an advanced and thriving economic environment.

“Our financial goal is for continued responsible budgets that reflect actual need, demand and desires to make our city a better place to live, work and play,” he said.

Gale said Thunder Bay, like every municipality in Canada, is on an unsustainable financial path.

“Ontario municipalities, particularly, need a new deal, one that provides for sufficient infrastructure funding while providing programs and services that people enjoy and indeed demand,” he said. “We can’t do this long-term in the current property tax system that is supplemented by government grants. There needs to be a review of what municipalities do, and how that’s funded.”

While the city needs growth with more housing, people, and businesses, that will also lead to new costs with new subdivisions and streets that will need to be serviced and maintained.

“But when we have growth, we will get more revenue, and that will help the bottom line,” Gale said.

“However, more people will increase tax revenue, but they will demand more services, more responses from emergency services, more social services, more cultural and recreational services, and more athletic facilities. So, we need to look at both sides of the ledger. Let’s be careful. Let’s be thoughtful, and let’s be deliberate. Growth is necessary, and growth is positive. But we need to have our eyes wide open.” – tbnewswatch.com

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This is the city that could not come up with $42,000 to run public transit on New Years Day.  No transit service on Christmas Day 2024.   How do you attract people to a city that leaves the segment of the population that do not have access to a vehicle  but still must go to work, leave that segment stranded on holidays?

I hope people do not believe that stream of bullshit that Gale is spewing.  This city depends heavily on monies from senior levels of government to finance any if not all infrastructure maintenance and improvements.  Thunder Bay is in decline financially. No city cuts transit service to save money on holidays if its financially thriving.

Cut that government funding and this city would not last five more years.