Letter: Now is the time for Northern neighbours to pitch in
With severe wildfire season unfolding in Ontario, a Sudbury.com reader is encouraging communities to pitch in and support their neighbours impacted by the fires
Letter to the Editor about 12 hours ago
As we watch the devastation unfolding across Northern Ontario, it's hard to put into words what so many people are facing. Entire communities have been forced from their homes, and some have lost nearly everything.
Thunder Bay has stepped up in an incredible way, opening its doors to thousands of evacuees. But as hotels fill and emergency shelters open, one thing has become clear: no single community can carry this alone.
Maybe this is also a moment for all of us to remember who we are. Northern Ontario has never been just a collection of towns scattered across a map. It has always been a community.
This region was built by Indigenous peoples and by generations of people from every background who came here to build a life. French, Irish, Italian, Ukrainian, Finnish, and so many others helped shape the communities we call home. As the years passed, new Canadians continued to make Northern Ontario their home, bringing with them new traditions, new celebrations, new food, new stories, and new perspectives.
What made Northern Ontario special wasn't that we all came from the same place; it was that we chose to celebrate one another.
We didn't just live beside each other. We attended each other's festivals, community events, powwows, cultural celebrations, and fundraisers. Every new community that made Northern Ontario home didn't replace what was already here; they became part of it. Together, we built something stronger with every generation.
That's what Northern Ontario has always been. Because of that, these communities aren't just names on a map.
Many of us may live in Greater Sudbury, Timmins, Thunder Bay, Sault Ste. Marie, Red Lake, Dryden, Sioux Lookout, or countless other communities, but we work together every day. In our mines, mills, forests, hospitals, schools, construction sites and businesses, our coworkers come from every corner of Northern Ontario. We spend weeks together away from our families, build friendships that last a lifetime, and become part of one another's communities.
The people affected by these fires aren't strangers. They're our coworkers. They're our neighbours. They're our friends. They're the people we've celebrated with, worked beside, and shared our lives with over the years.
When one Northern Ontario community hurts, all of Northern Ontario hurts.
But as hotels fill and emergency shelters open, one thing has become clear: no one community can do this alone.
Perhaps now is the time for communities like Greater Sudbury, Sault Ste. Marie, Timmins, North Bay, and others across Northern Ontario to ask a simple question: How can we help?
I hope residents will reach out to their mayors, Members of Parliament, Members of Provincial Parliament, Indigenous leaders, community organizations, and local businesses to ask how our communities can support those who have been displaced. Whether it's helping find temporary accommodations, organizing local support, or offering other resources, every community has something to contribute.
We cannot rebuild someone's home overnight. But we can make sure they know they are not facing this alone.
Northern Ontario has always been strongest when we stand together. This tragedy is an opportunity to remind ourselves and to show the rest of Canada what has always made this region different.
It has never been the kilometres between our communities that defined us. It has always been the people willing to cross those kilometres for one another.
Now is the time to do it again.
Krista Racette
Chelmsford
