Peter Diedrich for Mayor of Thunder Bay

I’m Peter Diedrich. My vision as your Mayor is simple. A city government that is faster, more transparent, more coordinated, and way more bold and ambitious. A city that believes in and supports all of its people. A city that doesn’t settle for “good enough” anymore. A city government that is a responsible steward and ambitious investor of its resources, truly accountable to its taxpayers and citizens.

My fellow residents of Thunder Bay, today I’m asking you to imagine what our city could be — not decades from now, but five years from now.

• Imagine a city where people again feel safe walking downtown and in their own neighbourhoods.
• Imagine a city where those struggling with homelessness, addiction, or mental health challenges aren’t left behind.
• Imagine a city where new businesses are created, where these businesses grow and create better jobs and careers, where young people choose to stay, where world class talent chooses to locate, and where new families choose to build their lives.

We can get there — but only if we change how our city works.

We will grow our economy by focusing on Thunder Bay first. When someone wants to open a café, build housing, or invest in our city, the answer will need to be simple: “We can help you do that. Right away.” When technology and commercial spinouts of our post-secondary institutions need an innovation ecosystem to grow and thrive, we need to have all of it in place and we will be able to say “We’ve got you. Let’s grow now.”

We will strengthen and renew partnerships to create better jobs and keep graduates – including talented newcomers - here. As an experienced tech leader and investor, I am confident that we can and we will build a thriving innovation ecosystem that commercializes the vast knowledge and continuing inventive spirit from Lakehead University, Confederation College, and our Health sciences sector.

We will invest in and sustainably support Indigenous entrepreneurship and economic leadership, recognizing with great reverence that our collective future and economic prosperity is tied to strong, respectful, long term and committed partnerships.

We will promote Thunder Bay as a destination for outdoor living, remote work, and affordability — a place where quality of life is not a luxury, but a standard. Talent and attracting and creating new businesses always follow quality of life. Thunder Bay has the raw ingredients to become one of the most attractive mid-sized cities in Canada.

For those that are falling though the cracks today, someone in crisis might interact with police, outreach workers, shelters, hospitals, and social agencies — yet no single entity is responsible for guiding them from the Street to Stability. We will work with all of these key stakeholders to create an integrated system that brings outreach, shelter, treatment, and housing into one coordinated pathway addressing all those affected.

We will need the genuine and respectful partnership of all levels of government and with all stakeholders – in this way, we will make it work.

However, safety and compassion will not be enough.

We need a stronger, more dynamic economy built on a city we will again be proud of. This will take a long term, prioritized, resourced and realistic plan. Settling for “good enough” has meant that for too long, our services have been fragmented and the outcomes insufficient and unsustainable. We will invest and re-invest in the things that make people proud to call this city home: better roads and infrastructure, safer streets, truly revitalized and exciting public spaces, arts and culture, downtowns and event spaces that feel vibrant again.

We will need to prioritize to get this done. We will budget for it and assign actual names accountable for its delivery, starting with my own. We will set clear, public milestones — 100-day, 6-month, and 1-year, 2-year and 5-year goals — we will measure and report progress openly. Thunder Bay taxpayers deserve accountability and professional transparency. We will deliver results, not excuses.

We are at a true fork in the road like never before in Thunder Bay’s long and proud history. We have lost a lot of time and a lot of opportunity. Today, there are critical choices that lie before us, choices between:

• Prosperity or Potholes
• Partnerships or Pettiness
• Accountability or Absence
• Capability or Culpability
• Compassion or Cruelty
• Common Sense or Nonsense
• An Ambitious Ascent or a Continuing Decline

These are your choices. Our choices. The case for change is undeniable. I ask only one thing of you all in 2026: Vote. Make your voices heard.

I call Thunder Bay my home. I will not be a spectator anymore.

I need to see your hope, hear your voices, channel your strength to build a better Thunder Bay together, a Thunder Bay that is safer, stronger, full of possibilities and opportunities for generations. A city that works — for everyone.

Are you ready? I’m ready. I am listening.

Change can’t wait. As your Mayor, I will lead with Common Sense. Join me. And let’s get to work.

— Peter