By: Carl Clutchey, Local Journalism Initiative ReporterSource: The Chronicle-Journal
A bi-annual forum that focuses on how small and rural Northern communities can best respond to floods, wildfires and other natural disasters will convene its next conference in Thunder Bay.
Northwest Response Forum chair Sharon Bak said a number of factors led organizers to choose the region’s main city as its venue, including the potential to expand the event, which was created in 2009.
This year’s event was held in Dryden in April at that city’s modern regional training and cultural centre.
“We love Dryden, but logistically, it makes more sense to have it in Thunder Bay,” Bak said on Wednesday.
Since the forum attracts experts and speakers from across the U.S. and Canada, it will likely be easier for them to book commercial flights if their destination is the Lakehead’s international airport, Bak said.
About 200 delegates have attended previous forums.
“We want to grow this event,” Bak said.
The next forum is set for April of 2027. Bak said details about the exact location and dates are still being finalized.
“We have just started the process of getting some quotes,” she said.
The Northwest forum was established so that area municipal and Indigneous community reps didn’t have to travel to major centres like Toronto to attend similar conferences.
As well, Bak said, ideas discussed at the Northwest Response Forum are developed with Northwestern Ontario communities in mind. Many of those lack the resources that southern Ontario communities either have, or have access to, Bak said.
