Open Talks with NAN and Thunder Bay

THUNDER BAY – NEWS – The City of Thunder Bay and Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) are pleased to have had a joint meeting of leadership including Grand Chief Harvey Yesno, Mayor Keith Hobbs, NAN Deputy Grand Chiefs, and members of the City’s Intergovernmental Affairs Committee.

NAN and City leaders engaged in an open and honest discussion on a variety of issues of common interest and have agreed to move forward together with a focus on youth, youth engagement and safety, and the well‐being of the entire Thunder Bay community. NAN and the City look forward to future meetings and the development of specific action plans to address these issues.

“It is our goal to build a healthy, safe community and that requires many partners, I am very pleased with the commitment of NAN to work together with us towards that goal,” said Mayor Keith Hobbs.

“The safety and success of our young people who will soon arrive in town to attend high school is of paramount concern to us, our First Nations and especially the families of these students, and I am pleased that the City has reaffirmed its commitment to work with us to create a welcoming environment for them,” said NAN Grand Chief Harvey Yesno.

NAN and the City of Thunder Bay look forward to joint participation in upcoming initiatives and will join together next week to welcome secondary school high school students from NAN First Nations to Thunder Bay at the Working Together for Student Success student orientation at the Victoria Inn on September 5 (11 am – 2 pm) and the Maadaadizi 2014 Post‐Secondary Student Orientation at Marina Park on September 6 (12‐5 pm).

Thunder Bay is the destination for hundreds of high school students who come from northern community in Nishnawbe Aski territory. Those students arrive in our city bringing their hopes and dreams with them.

However over the past eight years, eight of those students have died in Thunder Bay often in circumstances that have left parents, grandparents, and Anishinawbek communities questioning the reasons why.

There is an inquest scheduled for the Reggie Bushie case, and that of other young people who have died in Thunder Bay. That inquest has been delayed several times.