Thunder Bay MPPs say they're committed to fighting hunger as food bank usage hits record highs

Though they are on different sides of the Ontario Legislature, Thunder Bay's two MPPs say they're committed to making policy changes to reduce community reliance on food banks.

Speaking to a crowd at the Feed Ontario Road Show at the Wasaya Airlines hangar in Thunder Bay on Friday, the MPPs acknowledged that the levels of reported food bank use are higher than ever and that it will take government to make structural changes to make a differnece. 

The new report by Feed Ontario, a collective of hunger relief organizations, says more than 800,000 people in the province turned to emergency food support between April 1, 2022 and March 31, 2023. The amount of people seeking food bank support rose 38 per cent last year. It's the largest single-year increase recorded by the province's food bank network.

The RFDA serves around 2,500 unique individuals in Thunder Bay alone, with upwards of 9,000 to 12,000 people across the region in northwestern Ontario, according to executive director Volker Kromm. Like many other food providers, the RFDA is receiving fewer donor dollars as people have less cash to spare.

The number of people who used Ontario food banks rose 38 per cent last year, according to a report released this week by Feed Ontario. It's the largest single-year increase recorded by the province's food bank network.

Kevin Holland, the Progressive Conservative MPP for Thunder Bay-Atikokan said he met with Feed Ontario and RFDA organizers to discuss Ontario Works (OW) and Ontario Disability Support Program rates, as well as other ways to lift household incomes levels, he said.

"A lot of good things have happened in the last year and a half to start addressing decades long issues, but the work is ongoing," said Holland. 

Holland said that part of the solution would involve: "investing in education to allow (people) the opportunity to better themselves, to be able to take advantage of these more higher paying skilled jobs." 

Lise Vaugeois, NDP MPP for Thunder Bay–Superior North said that part of her role as a member of the Opposition in provincial parliament is to advocate for change so less people fall through cracks in policies. 

Vaugeois said that education is becoming more expensive, and no longer assures good job prospects. 

"We've been pushing very hard for the doubling of social assistance rates," Vaugeois said. "We'd also like to see a frankly, the the grocery industry held accountable when they're making the highest profits ever." 

At the event, a $50,000 donation from Ontario Power Generation was presented to the RFDA. 

RFDA executive director Volker Kromm said the money will go toward buying protein, vegetables and fruits and flying it up to remote northern communities. Canned food donations alone often aren't enough to provide a proper diet to those who rely on food banks, said Kromm.  "In the North, we also have a lot of disadvantaged areas that don't have transportation, they don't have access to food and grocery stores the way they do in southern Ontario," he said, adding  the challenges of distributing food across the large area that encompasses Northwestern Ontario are significant. 

"But that's alright because that that we are not alone," said Kromm. "We are not an island although a lot of the communities we serve are on islands."