CityScene movements,” according to the website. A number of cities across the country have joined the movement, although the Thunder Bay Leap group has taken it one step further by creating its own version of the Leap Manifesto with a unique vision: “Thunder Bay is uniquely positioned to become a national leader in creating new approaches and opportunities to build a sustainable world for the next generation that provides quality of life for all,” the group’s localized manifesto states.
A Bold Leap for Thunder Bay Group of Citizens and Organizations Share Vision to Transform City By Kim Latimer
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local movement recently sprung up with plans afoot to make a serious leap in the direction of municipal politics in Thunder Bay. Leap Thunder Bay hopes they can bring meaningful change to the city and shake things up for the better. “We want to break the apathy curse,” says Dave Cryderman, a lead organizer. “We want to bring hope to the community, but also we are having fun imagining a new future for our city.” Leap Thunder Bay sprung up two months ago out of initial talks at the Lakehead University Sustainability Forum. Since then, the group has been meeting regularly. What began as a larger urban movement aimed at opposing apathy, Leap is now encouraging citizens to take a stab at municipal politics. Cryderman states Leap Thunder Bay is right on course, and has plans to grow into a widespread local movement with a sense of urgency to act now and “make the leap.” The Leap Manifesto was “initiated in the spring of 2015 at a two-day meeting in Toronto attended by 60 representatives from Canada’s Indigenous rights, social and food justice, environmental, faith-based, and labour
The main themes underlying the Thunder Bay manifesto include the encouragement of sustainable energy, local and sustainable food resources, land protection and caretaking, grassroots and neighborhood empowerment, respect for diversity, honouring local entrepreneurship, and community wellbeing. It also supports working to become reflective of the Indigenous community of Northwestern Ontario and “the inherent rights and title of the original caretakers of this land. Indigenous communities have been at the forefront of protecting rivers, coasts, forests, and lands from out-of-control industrial activity. We can bolster this role, and reset our relationship, by fully implementing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.” Perhaps the most concrete move that Leap Thunder Bay is making is its clear and intentional search for new municipal representation. “We are looking for people who are candidates for the next round of city council,” says Sandi Boucher, a well-known Indigenous speaker and activist and a member of Leap Thunder Bay. Boucher makes no bones about her call to action: “If you are thinking about running for city council in 2018 and if you’ve read the Leap manifesto, we want to hear from you and we want you to realize how committed we are to the future of Thunder Bay and we’re serious.” “We are a whole bunch of active, activated people and groups and we are a place for those people to come together to unite, focus that energy, and become a really strong network to make real change,” she says. “It’s about bringing people together and bringing back a sense of hope.” To learn more about Leap Thunder Bay visit leapthunderbay.org, or find them on Facebook and Twitter.
The Walleye
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