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Administrative Reports
CA ON00372 219 · Series · 1970-1999
Part of City of Thunder Bay fonds

Series consists of reports prepared by various departments of The City of Thunder Bay relating to assessments of current practices and systems and recommendations for improvement which are brought forward to Council for consideration. Reports cover a range of topics and issues including contracts, agreements, by-laws, property acquisition and the sale of property, city infrastructure and development, transportation, parking, services and programs, civic organization, council and committee structure and the development and maintenance of parks and recreation facilities in The City of Thunder Bay. Reports feature attached resolutions detailing council’s recommendations in relation to the issues raised in each report.

Administrative Reports are maintained by the Office of the City Clerk. The Office of the City Clerk oversees all departments of the municipal government and the operations of City Council. The main responsibilities held by the Office of the City Clerk include: presenting proposed by-laws to Council; preparing agendas for Council and providing secretarial services for Council and Committees of Council.

By-laws
CA ON00372 3 · Series · 1892-1969
Part of City of Fort William fonds

By-laws cover a great variety of issues and concerns. There are By-laws to formalize agreements with other institutions, appoint municipal officials, regulate tax collection, construct sidewalks and roadways, license local establishments, provide for holding elections, establish rates for water and other applicable utilities, and construct City facilities. While most By-laws pass after three readings by council, some early by-laws affecting the “future position” of the municipality required the electoral approval by ratepayers according to the Municipal Act. These by-laws would generally include debenture by-laws for the borrowing of funds on credit, but would also include by-laws for annexation or separation, a re-division
of wards, construction of street railways, local assessment and improvement to name a few.

Interspersed with the earliest Fort William By-laws, there are also sundry by-laws generated by the Municipality of Neebing (1890-1894).

City of Fort William (Ont.)
Census Reports
CA ON00372 202 · Series · 1970-1981
Part of City of Thunder Bay fonds

Census Reports were prepared on a yearly basis by the Regional Assessment Office of the Province of Ontario and delivered to the Office of the City Clerk. Census Reports were prepared using information obtained from the Assessment Rolls in order to garner an
understanding of the resident population of the municipality and were used by the Province in the calculation of resource allocations and grants. Census Reports were not intended to serve as an official population count.

The Office of the City Clerk reports to the City Manager and is responsible for maintaining all legislative and administrative requirements necessary for the effective functioning of the City. The primary responsibilities of the Office of the City Clerk includes managing the registration of vital statistics information, preparing agendas for City Council, providing advice to Council regarding the policies and operations followed by the City and overseeing the assessment of property tax.

Series consists of Census Reports prepared by the Regional Assessment Office of the Province of Ontario and includes statistical information on the population of the City of Thunder Bay. The information is divided into ward and subdivision and contains the total number of people for each age group, total number of male and female residents and the total male and female residents under the category of public school and separate school support.

City Clerk's Files
CA ON00372 4 · Series · 1903-1969
Part of City of Fort William fonds

This series contains records relative to Council and the City Clerk’s office. The First Box is strictly correspondence, alphabetically filed and dating from 1903 to 1913. Additional materials are arranged by file code and can be accessed through reviewing the file list.

Records in the Fort William City Clerk’s Files reflect some of the above mentioned legislative requirements, however, this series largely reflects local issues including correspondence relative to Council actions and the administration of the City through its various Boards. The earliest records of the of Fort William Clerks Files consist of correspondence for the Town of Fort William in the early part of the 20th century. These records are alphabetically ordered and cover the period from 1903 to 1913. Latter records are subject-based files organized by a file code. The following titles are in no way exclusive or consistently applied over the span of years for the City Clerks files. They are included here to reflect the variety and scope of issues addressed by the Clerk.

File headings include the following: Auditorium, Board of Education, Bridges, City Statistics, City Hall, Complaints, Court of Revision, Council, Court of Revision – Voters List, Elections, Fort William Gardens, General Correspondence, District Officer of Health, Health, Housing, Historical, Hydro-Electric Commission, Industry, Legislation, Local Improvements, Loch Lomond, Public Utilities, Railways, Rinks, Royal Visit, Streets, Street Railway, Tax, Tourists, Town Planning, Transit, Visitors, Vital Statistics, War and Zoning. A detailed file list is available.

In 1949 a report conducted by Stevenson and Kellogg identified the work performed in the Clerks department. In addition to duties already mentioned, the clerk oversaw City insurance matters, performed secretarial duties for Council and its committees (such as the Police Commission and Board of Health) issued marriage licenses, and was responsible for the internal coordination of work between departments as well as the coordination between departments and the committees of Council which managed the City. This last responsibility for the coordination between departments and Council was likely alleviated after the appointment of Sydney H. Blake as City Administrator in January of 1958, his duties being described in By-law 58-1961 to include the control and direction of department heads.

City of Fort William (Ont.). City Clerk
City Manager's Files
CA ON00372 412 · Series · 1986-2004
Part of City of Thunder Bay fonds

Under the Municipal Act (2001), the City Manager is responsible for the overall management and control of the municipal government and the general administration and direction of all departments within the City. Reporting directly to City Council, the City Manager performs research on behalf of Council and provides advice to Council with regard to the development of business plans, programs, policies, procedures and the overall objectives of the City. The City Manager also works with City Council in the development of long term strategic plans.

Departments currently reporting directly to the City Manager include Corporate Communications and Strategic Initiatives, Human Resources and Corporate Safety, Management Studies and the Office of the City Clerk. As of September 2011, Emergency Medical Services, Internal Audit and Continuous Improvement no longer report to the City Manager. The City Solicitor and Corporate Council also report to the City Manager and City Council.

In 1975, a major review of the organizational structure of The City of Thunder Bay was performed. As a result of this review, the position of Chief Administrative Officer was created to replace the role of the City Coordinator. With the implementation of a Chief Administrative Officer, long term corporate and strategic planning became a primary function of the position. The title of City Manager replaced the title of Chief Administrative Officer.

Previous City Managers include: Bruce Thom (1994 – 1996); Brian McRae (1998 - 2002); Robert Petrie (2003 - 2007); and Tim Commisso (2008 - present).

Series consists of records of the City Manager covering a range of topics including, reports and correspondence relating to the management of departments under the City Manager’s control, records relating to the development of the Fast Forward Plan from 2000, reference material relating to the development of strategic plans, organizational charts and other records relating to planning and corporate structuring of the City, correspondence with associations and other levels of government relating to the development of regional boards addressing community issues and economic development in the area, correspondence with other
municipalities in the northwestern Ontario region regarding activities and corporate structuring.

City of Fort William fonds
Fonds · 1892-1969

The fonds consists of minutes, by-laws, agreements, correspondence, reports, financial records , maps and plans which documents virtually all aspects of municipal rights, responsibilities and activities. As a result of a disastrous fire in March of 1903, which destroyed the original Town Hall and almost all of the municipality’s early records, there is relatively little documentation covering Fort William’s first decade. The post 1903 records, however, reflect all categories of municipal functions, and responsibilities including council, administration, finance, waterworks, roads, planning, building, engineering, public transportation, parks, recreation, telephone, welfare, police and fire service.

City of Fort William (Ont.)
CA ON00372 148 · Series · 1969-2003
Part of City of Thunder Bay fonds

Under the provisions of the Municipal Act (2001), City Council votes on the passing of new by-laws and the amendment of existing by-laws in Council meetings, based on recommendations and advice from the Office of the City Clerk. Council also delegates statutory responsibilities to sub-committees, and through Committee of the Whole Meetings, Council discusses critical issues covering the broad mandate of the City. It is through Council Meetings that decisions are made and resolutions are achieved.

This series contains minutes from Council meetings of The City of Thunder Bay. The City of Thunder Bay was officially incorporated under the City of the Lakehead Act (1969) when the former municipalities of Port Arthur, Fort William, Neebing and McIntyre were amalgamated. The merging of the municipalities occurred following a regional study prepared by the provincial Minister of Municipal Affairs in 1968. The study had been proposed by Saul Laskin, former Mayor of Port Arthur and first Mayor of Thunder Bay, and jointly signed by the Mayors of all five councils. The report recommended the merging of the municipalities citing benefits such as the economic promotion of the area and benefits of scale such as cost reductions and development opportunities. In 1969, a formal Organization Committee was established to prepare for the administration of the new City.

Following the formal amalgamation of the City, by-laws were established to set out the rules for procedure for Council meetings and the organization of policy committees to cover the various elements of government administration. In July 1970, Council approved the establishment of four policy committees which were divided into the following categories; Protection of Persons and Property, Health and Social Services, Recreation and Community Services and Planning. With changes to the corporate organization of city government throughout the 1970’s, policy committees had been reorganized. In 1978, under By-law 303-1978 (amended in 1979, 1981 and 1982) three Standing Committees were established relating to Engineering and Operations, Community Services and Community Planning and Development. These committees comprised of members of Council who wished to serve on them, with no fewer than seven members per committee. At 2011, Committee of the Whole Meetings are attended by all City Councilors and are divided into; Community Services, Planning, Operations and Administrative Services.

Between 1973 and 1976, Councilors were elected representatives from each of the four wards established for The City of Thunder Bay at that time; Fort William, Port Arthur, Neebing and McIntyre. From 1977, Council consisted of representatives from the newly established ward system which included the creation of seven distinct wards within the City; Current River, McKellar, Red River, Northwood, Westfort, McIntyre and Neebing. As of 1986, Council consisted of 12 members and the Mayor; one representative from each of the seven wards and 5 representatives reflecting the at large areas surrounding Thunder Bay. In accordance with Bylaw
139-2006, the 13 members of Council each serve a term of four years.

Mayors presiding over Council in the time reflected in this series include; Saul Laskin (1970-1972), Walter Assef (1973-1978 and 1981-1985), Dusty Miller (1979-1980), Jack Masters (1986-1991), David Hamilton (1992-1997) and Ken Boshcoff (1998-2003). The Office of the City Clerk is responsible for maintaining the records of proceedings for Council.

Series consists of meeting minutes of City Council for the City of Thunder Bay and include the adoption and consideration of minutes from the Committee of the Whole meetings, particularly relating to key issues such as capital expenditures, community plans and development, transportation, infrastructure, education, zoning applications and the approval or rejection of by-laws for the City. Also included are the minutes of the Organization Committee prior to the formal amalgamation of the City in 1970. Major issues discussed in these minutes include the organization study, plans for birthday celebrations for the City of Thunder Bay, and the establishment of an organizational structure for the amalgamated City.

Early minutes cover key establishment issues such as urban renewal schemes for the South and North ward, establishment of a Citizen Advisory Committee to encourage citizen participation in civic affairs, development of traffic systems and transportation for the City and the establishment of the Thunder Bay Public Library Board. Recent meeting minutes include issues relating to social services, the redevelopment of well-known properties in the City, civic recognition ceremonies, civic beautification, crime and capital budgets.

Council Resolutions
CA ON00372 410 · Series · 1984-2001
Part of City of Thunder Bay fonds

Under the Municipal Act (2001), City Council votes on the passing of new by-laws and the amendment of existing by-laws in Council meetings, based on recommendations and advice from the Office of the City Clerk. Council also delegates statutory responsibilities to subcommittees, and through Committee of the Whole Meetings, Council discusses critical issues covering the broad mandate of the City. It is through Council Meetings that decisions are made and resolutions are achieved on the matters discussed in Committee of the Whole Meetings. Resolutions serve as a record of the motions carried and lost by City Council through Council Meetings.

Mayors presiding over Council in the time reflected in this series include Walter Assef (1973-1978 and 1981-1985). The Office of the City Clerk is responsible for maintaining the records of proceedings for Council.

Series consists of duplicate meeting minutes of City Council and attached resolutions for each meeting. Each resolution is signed by the councilors responsible for moving and seconding the resolution. It is also signed by the Mayor or Chairman of the council meeting and the City Clerk.

Each file contains an index in the front explaining which meetings and dates are included in each individual file.

Daniel H. Coghlan fonds
Fonds · 1960 - 1968

These papers consist of photographs, certificates, pamphlets, programmes, correspondence, notebooks, memos, balance sheets, and newspaper clippings all relating to Coghlan's insurance business, his numerous careers, political and social involvement, and personal life.

Douglas Fisher fonds
Fonds · 1957 - 2006

Douglas Fisher was a politician and journalist from Northwestern Ontario. He served as Member of Parliament for Port Arthur from 1957 to 1965, representing the CCF and then NDP.

These papers largely consist of correspondence from his time as MP, and cover a range of subjects, most notably including: transportation, shipbuilding, shipbuilding industries and the St. Lawrence Seaway; labour; House of Commons documentation; and Canadian Federal Politics in general.

Fisher, Douglas
Fort William Council Minutes
CA ON00372 1 · Series · 1892-1969
Part of City of Fort William fonds

This series consists of meeting minutes for the Municipal Council for the Town and City of Fort William. Comprehensive indexes compiled by staff at the City Clerk’s office provide access to the various issues discussed at council meetings.

City of Fort William (Ont.)
Frederick O. Robinson fonds
Fonds · 1937 - 1963

Frederick O. Robinson was born in Port Arthur, Ontario on Aug. 2, 1903. He attended public and high school in Port Arthur and then served his apprenticeship to the machinist trade in the C.N.R. shops. He worked for 25 years as a skilled machinist in the Port Arthur shops of the C.N.R. until his election to the Ontario legislature in 1943. He continued to work as a C.N.R. machinist between sessions of the legislature, and after his election to the office of mayor, he worked in the C.N.R. shops on weekends.

He entered public life in January 1943 when he was elected to the Port Arthur Board of Education. In August of the same year he was elected to the Ontario legislature as C.C.F. member for Port Arthur. He was M.L.A. for Port Arthur until his defeat in 1951. In civic affairs, he remained on the Board of Education until 1946 when he was elected as alderman. In 1949, he became Mayor of Port Arthur; he remained in this post except for 1952 when he was defeated until 1955 when he resigned to become personnel manager for the Public Utilities Commission. He left active political life at this time. He resigned from the Public Utilities Commission in 1966 because of ill health. In July, 1969, he died.

The Frederick O. Robinson fonds comprises 7 feet of correspondence, clippings, pamphlets, articles and other material and is contained in seventeen transfer cases. The folder titles in the main are those designated by Mr. Robinson. Some re-arrangement of the material has been effected in order to comply with the folder titles. Since the folders themselves were in no apparent order when .they were donated to the university, the following arrangement was thought to be most suitable for research purposes:
I. Pre-1943 Period
II. Political Affairs (relating to the C.C.F.)
III. The Ontario Legislature and Provincial Affairs, 1943-51
IV. Provincial and Local Affairs.
V. Local and Municipal Affairs.
VI. General
VII. Miscellaneous

Indexes to Minutes
CA ON00372 2 · Series · 1901-1968
Part of City of Fort William fonds

This series consists of index books for the Fort William Council. Each index is filed by year and contains an alphabetic order of topics with references to the page number where the topic was recorded in the Council Minute Book.

City of Fort William (Ont.)
James Whalen collection
Collection · 1896 - 1990

The collection consists of photo albums, photographs, newspaper clippings, assets, agreements, stocks, bonds, certificates, correspondence, miscellaneous items, and two videos with the same recording. The collection is composed of three sous-fonds:
James Whalen
Laurel Conmee and James Conmee
Thunder Bay Hydro

Collection · 2018

Web material related to the 2018 municipal elections in municipalities across Northwestern Ontario.

Sites crawled include those of municipalities, candidates, news sources, and third party groups making endorsements or recommendations.

Thunder Bay Original By-Laws
CA ON00372 98 · Series · 1970-2003
Part of City of Thunder Bay fonds

Under Section 5 of the Municipal Act (2001), powers of a municipal government must be exercised through by-laws, approved by City Council, which enable the municipality to govern its own affairs and respond to local issues. These by-laws work within the framework of provincial and federal legislation. By-laws relate to a broad range of issues and generally provide for a system of licenses, prohibitions, and requirements of persons. The Office of the City Clerk holds responsibility for maintaining Policy Manuals and the corporate by-law and reporting system. The City Clerk and the City Solicitor share the responsibility of interpreting
by-laws for municipal officials. City Council passes new by-laws and votes on amending and existing by-laws in Council meetings, based on recommendations and advice from the City Clerk. The City Council is governed by a board of 13 elected members including the Mayor, who each serve a four year term. One elected official presides over each of the seven wards within the City and an additional 5 elected officials represent the broader regional areas surrounding the City.

Council Meetings and Committee of the Whole Meetings are now held in accordance with Bylaw 139-2006. Council discusses issues in Committee of the Whole Meetings based on the following four key divisions; Community Services, Planning, Operations and Administrative Services. The City Council also delegates responsibility to three sub-committees; the Committee of Adjustment, the Heritage Advisory Committee, and the Ad Hoc Advisory Committee.

Mayors presiding over Council in the time reflected in this series include Saul Laskin (1970-1972), Walter Assef (1973-1978 and 1981-1985), Dusty Miller (1979-1980), Jack Masters (1986-1991), David Hamilton (1992-1997), and Ken Boshcoff (1998-2003).

Series consists of by-laws established by The City of Thunder Bay beginning from the point of the City’s amalgamation in 1970. By-laws established by the City cover a range of issues including Agreements pertaining to items such as land acquisitions, leases, employment unions and major institutions within the City such as Canadian Pacific, Canadian National Railway and the Hydro Electric Commission; road maintenance, traffic systems and parking regulations; appointment of municipal officers; zoning; capital works and development of infrastructure, including urban renewal, licenses; rules of procedure for City Council; and taxation. In addition to these general items, early by-laws established in the City relate to the establishment of traffic light systems and intersections, the development of Boulevard Lake, and the establishment of a ward system for the City. Recent by-laws from this series also cover accessibility provisions, heritage designation, animal control and records management.

By-laws contain indexes for each year which can be located in the first box pertaining to each year. Indexes are arranged alphabetically by topic and name. For example, there are alphabetical arrangements of street names, names of people for appointed positions, corporate names and institutional names. There are also topical terms such as taxation, official plans and agreements.

CA ON00372 176 · Series · 1953-1981
Part of City of Thunder Bay fonds

The Urban Renewal Department was established as a department of The City of Thunder Bay upon amalgamation of the City in 1970. The department was headed by a Director of Urban Renewal, who reported to the City Coordinator. The main responsibilities of the department included property acquisition and the relocation of persons and businesses affected by these acquisitions, neighbourhood improvement, commercial development, including retail and parking areas, installations and improvements to city infrastructure and industrial development. Between 1970 and 1974, the Urban Renewal Department also engaged in social services activities including activities relating to welfare and job assistance. Following the reorganization of The City of Thunder Bay in 1975, the Urban Renewal Department became known as Urban Redevelopment and was incorporated under the Planning Department, reporting to the Director of Planning. It was at this time that social services activities were withdrawn from its portfolio.

Series consists of records of the Urban Renewal Department of the City of Thunder Bay and predominantly refers to the period of change and development immediately following amalgamation. The records of the Urban Renewal Department relate to a variety of areas within the City, however, the majority of records in this series refer to the development of the downtown area of the former Port Arthur ward. Included are agreements and draft agreements relating to construction, leases and property acquisition.

Predominant in this series are agreements with the construction company, Headway Corporation Ltd, and with various retail corporations. Also included in this series are construction and development contracts, correspondence, financial records relating to budgeting and cost estimation for urban renewal projects, site plans, meeting minutes and reports. In addition to the records of the Urban Renewal Department are records of the City Coordinator and meeting minutes of the nonprofit organization, Thunder Bay Community Projects Incorporated.

Included in this series are a small quantity of records of the former City of Port Arthur’s Urban Renewal Committee created prior to the amalgamation of Port Arthur with The City of Thunder Bay.

Varpu Lindström fonds
CA ON00370 F0558 · Fonds · 1887-2012

Fonds consists of Lindstrom's professorial and scholarly research files throughout her career, as well as records documenting her academic activities. Research files pertain to her publications and monographs such as "Defiant Sisters : A Social History of Finnish Immigrant Women in Canada, 1890-1930" (both the English and Finnish editions), and "From Heroes to Enemies : Finns in Canada, 1937-1947," as well as book chapters, articles, papers, presentations and lectures, and her involvement with the National Film Board production "Letters from Karelia," and subsequent research. The research files span the activities of Finnish and Finnish-Canadian organizations across the political spectrum, such as the Finnish Organization of Canada (left wing), and Loyal Finns in Canada (right wing). Records include oral history interviews (audio cassettes and transcripts), research notes, clippings, a significant and extensive number of photograph and letter collections passed down through generations of Finnish Canadians, diaries, correspondence, publication drafts, academic and professorial notes, microfilm of Finnish language newspapers published in Canada and archival records, financial records of Finnish-Canadian organizations such as newspapers and post-World War II relief funding bodies, scrapbooks, photocopies of rare and unusual documents such as two volumes of a Soviet register of Finnish War Crimes, a list of persons found in the mass grave at Karhumaki, and Soviet lists of North American Finns who journeyed to Karelia to help build a socialist utopia there, academic and professorial files, publicity files, files pertaining to her work with the School of Women's Studies, and her own papers as a university student. The fonds also includes letters written by Lindstrom as a newly-arrived teenaged immigrant to Canada to her best friend in Finland; many of these letters were published in Finnish with English translation in 'Letters from an immigrant teenager' in 2012.

Lindström, Varpu