By Moe Comuzzi – Candidate for Mayor of Thunder Bay
Public safety must be a priority. Residents should feel safe in their homes and neighbourhoods, businesses should feel confident operating here, and vulnerable people should be able to access the help they need.
My approach would focus on three areas: effective policing and enforcement, better treatment and supports, and prevention through stronger, more connected communities.
Thunder Bay Police need appropriate staffing, training, technology and resources to respond to violent crime, illegal firearms, organized crime, drug trafficking and calls for service. I would work with Council and the Police Services Board to ensure policing priorities are appropriately resourced and that results are transparently reported to the public.
It is important to understand that the Mayor and Council do not direct police operations or determine how our community is policed. Those operational decisions belong with the Chief and the Thunder Bay Police Service. Council’s responsibility is to provide good governance and appropriate resources while ensuring our municipal investments are accountable for results.
I would also advocate aggressively with Queen’s Park and Ottawa for additional resources to address illegal firearms, organized crime and drug trafficking. These problems cross municipal boundaries and require all levels of government working together.
We also need safer downtowns and neighbourhoods. That means appropriate police presence, effective bylaw and property standards enforcement, action on problem properties, good lighting and well maintained public spaces.
But enforcement alone is not enough.
People experiencing mental health and addictions challenges need timely access to appropriate health care, treatment, recovery services and supportive housing. That must also include an effective crisis response for situations where an individual may pose a serious risk to themselves or others and requires immediate assessment and care.
These are difficult situations involving individual rights, public safety and medical decisions, and they must be handled appropriately within Ontario’s health care and legal framework. Police and correctional facilities should not become substitutes for health care and treatment.
As Mayor, I would advocate strongly for greater provincial investment in crisis services, treatment, recovery and supportive housing, and for a system that gives families, health professionals and first responders appropriate options when someone is experiencing a serious crisis. Municipal property taxpayers cannot continually be expected to fill gaps in provincial health and social services.
Prevention must also be part of public safety.
Municipal government can help create the conditions for safer communities by building strong, connected neighbourhoods and supporting sports, recreation, arts, culture, mentorship, education, employment and opportunities for young people.
When people feel connected to their community and have opportunities to succeed, we build stronger neighbourhoods. Thriving businesses, good jobs and economic growth also create stability and strengthen our ability to fund the services residents rely on.
I will not promise that every problem can be solved by spending more money. Existing programs and new investments should be measured against results.
After four years, residents should be able to ask straightforward questions. Is violent crime decreasing? Are police response times improving? Do residents and businesses feel safer? Are downtown and neighbourhood problem areas improving? Are more people accessing treatment and supportive housing? Are fewer people repeatedly cycling through homelessness, hospitals, policing and the justice system? Are more young people connected to recreation, mentorship, education and employment?
If something is working, we build on it. If it is not, we change it.
The City cannot do this alone. Police cannot do it alone. Health care providers and community organizations cannot do it alone.
As Mayor, my job would be to bring people together, ensure municipal resources are being used effectively, support the people doing the work and fight for the provincial and federal resources Thunder Bay deserves.
Public safety requires enforcement and prevention, compassion and accountability, investment and opportunity.
That is how we build safer neighbourhoods and a stronger, more connected Thunder Bay.
We’re stronger together.
Moe Comuzzi
NetNewsLedger asked all of the candidates running for Mayor this question:
Public safety remains one of the most serious concerns facing Thunder Bay residents. A 2026 Thunder Bay Police Service citizen survey found only 51 per cent of respondents said they felt safe in the city. Disorder and substance use were each identified as concerns by 87 per cent of respondents, while homelessness and encampments were cited by 77 per cent. Residents ranked solving violent crime and illegal-firearms offences, neighbourhood patrols and reliable response to 911 calls among their highest policing priorities.
Over the past year, Thunder Bay has experienced a series of serious incidents, including a February shooting investigation in the Vale Crescent area that resulted in an attempted-murder charge against a youth; a June investigation in which police seized more than 1.5 kilograms of suspected fentanyl and a handgun; a July homicide investigation on Cumming Street that resulted in second-degree murder charges; an August Dawson Road assault in which the victim later died and two people were charged with manslaughter; and several reported stabbings and weapons-related incidents.
At the same time, police themselves acknowledge that enforcement alone cannot resolve the conditions affecting public safety. Residents have identified addiction treatment, mental-health services, affordable housing and homelessness supports as essential parts of the solution. Thunder Bay Police have also expanded downtown patrols through Project Support in response to concerns about open drug use, aggressive behaviour, vandalism, trespassing and public disorder.
Question:
If you are elected mayor, what specific actions will you take during your four-year term to make Thunder Bay measurably safer for residents, businesses, visitors and vulnerable people?
Please explain how your plan would address violent crime and illegal firearms, drug trafficking and organized crime, downtown and neighbourhood disorder, homelessness, addictions and mental-health crises, police staffing and response times, and prevention programs for youth.
What responsibilities should belong to the City and Thunder Bay Police, what assistance will you demand from the provincial and federal governments, and what measurable results should residents use after four years to determine whether your public-safety strategy has actually worked?
As a candidate, please be encouraged to identify what you proposals would cost, how they would be funded and what they would change from the city’s current approach.
