First Council targeted 791 Arundel, then they went after the MS Society Park within Junot Park. If you think they’ll stop there, you are very mistaken.
Ever since Council decided in 2023 to include parkland in their quest to find city-owned lands to surplus, sell, and develop, our parks, parkettes, greenspaces, and open spaces have been under threat.
Council refuses to make their list of targeted city-owned lands public, so we filed a Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy request and obtained some very intersting information.
The following is just a sample of some of the parkland that City Administration considered as potential “surplus” in their report for Council’s consideration:
- 791 & 755 Arundel St – Boulevard Lake Complex parkland
- 837 Hodder Ave – Centennial Park “buffer”
- 419 Roberta St – part of Boulevard Lake Park
- 420 Adelaide St – part of Boulevard Lake Park AND home to the Adelaide Butterfly Garden
- 661 James St/Ryerson Crescent – College Neighbourhood Park
- River Terrace Park
- Junot Park – specifically the MS Society Park
- Minnesota Park
- Bayberry & Newberry Cres – Part of Uniberry Parkette
- Cumberland St Horseshoe Pits & RC Track
- and many, many more….
Other than 791 Arundel St and Junot Park, we don’t know what other parkland City Council has decided to surplus and sale, as they refuse to make that information public. What we do know, is they’ll proceed with the surplus and sale of any of these lands regardless of the feedback from community members, or the impact to the environment, or how the lands are zoned in the Zoning Bylaw, or the guiding principles or land designations outlined in the Official Plan, or the recommendations in the Housing Land Needs Study & Strategy, the Net-Zero Strategy, the Active Transportation Report, or even the Transportation Master Plan. We could go on, but you get the point.
You can find the spreadsheets we obtained through our Freedom of Information request here:
- Parkland & Open Space
- Vacant Land (Realty Jurisdiction) – You will find 791 & 755 Arundel St on this sheet
- Parking Authority
City Council doesn’t have a mandate to sell off our parkland. Let’s make sure we remind them that they represent the residents of Thunder Bay, not developers. Attend the rally/protest at City Hall on August 11, 2026 starting at 4pm. Demand they stop the development at 791 Arundel St. Demand they reverse their decision to include parkland for potential surplus and sale.
