Thunder Bay's council composition review committee has recommended a hybrid model for the city's future council, with two councillors per ward and two at-large councillors.
Thunder Bay — City residents could be voting for two councillors to represent them in each of four new wards that stretch the entire width of the city in the next municipal election. After a 14-month process, the council composition review committee decided on its recommendation for the future of democracy in Thunder Bay . The committee will recommend council switch to an 11-member hybrid model , with two councillors in each of four wards, two at-large councillors and the mayor.
The intent is to have a decision on the council restructuring in time for the next municipal election on Oct. 26, 2026. It's the model that was recommended to the committee by city administration and one of two options presented for public input late last year. Committee chair Rebecca Johnson told Newswatch, “the community was divided in many ways, but at the same point in time there was enough influence from the surveys and the community engagement that we had, whether it was a focus group or just talking to people at ward meetings, that identified that the hybrid system was so important to them. With that, we have been able to do that with a recommendation that we're proposing to council: keeping that hybrid system.” “If we went with all wards and no councillors at-large, we would lose that hybrid system. And to get it back again, I think, would be very difficult. I think that continuing on with the hybrid system is a good management tool for the future of the community,” said Johnson. The committee came to a consensus that the hybrid model was the recommendation they wanted to put forward, but it wasn’t without debate. Committee member Wayne Bahlieda agreed the riding boundaries should be redrawn into four wards, but he would have liked to have one councillor per ward and six at-large councillors plus the mayor. “My preferred option was to have councillors at-larg
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