Crave | Thunder Bay (Crave Original) | Trailer

This series is produced, written, and co-directed by Anishinaabe journalist Ryan McMahon, who is on a quest to uncover the truth behind the deaths of numerous Indigenous people in Thunder Bay, Ontario.

Thunder Bay, the new four-part Crave Original documentary series premieres Feb 17 on Crave.

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[MegaAndyandyandy]

This is my town. My sister was murdered when I was young. Its brutal on these streets.... I hope they cover Agnew Johnston in this one. I am a white man. I can tell you FOR SURE this place has rampant systemic racism towards our Nishnawbe brothers and sisters. Hopefully some more exposure will lead to positive change.

[chriscanada]

I live in Thunder Bay. I’m English/Italian. But I have been mistaken for being Ojibway my whole life. I look more Aboriginal than most people from our local reserves. Every First Nation person I meet asks me what reserve I’m from.

Therefore, I can confirm the racism. I was called a Bogan and picked on as a youth because people thought I was “native”. I left TBay after high school to get away from racisms. Went back at 35 and since then (10 years now) the racism is so thick that it caused me to be depressed and feel like the city is hopeless despite its good qualities.

Looking “native” and not being First Nation has given me an opportunity to see both sides of the racism here. People who know my heritage will be racist around me about “natives”, people who think I’m “native” will be racist towards me, and people in between are either defeated by the toxic racist culture or are angry. Toxic all around effects of racism.

Thanks for doing the doc and I can’t wait to watch it!

[jennifersmith]

I have lived in Thunder Bay for my whole life. I am a white women from a middle class family and the racism I have witnessed towards the natives here from the police in this city is UTTERLY DISGUSTING. Beyond belief to be honest. So glad to see to see this documentary is coming out.

[waynejohnson]

Didn’t expect to see a documentary on Crave about how horrible my city is but I’m not surprised lol

[robinbeauclair]

I'm excited but anxious. I am an Anishinabekwe; born and raised in Thunder Bay. I've encountered Racism firsthand here in Thunder Bay and Across Northern Ontario.
Just a few weeks ago, in an anonymous letter to residents of Ignace, I was referred to as a "Squaw"- it went on a rant about Indigenous people in the most disgusting, hateful manner. ANONYMOUS, mind you.
Miigwetch for creating this documentary special. It is so very very REAL. Miigwetch

[Brodykab]

It's about time! Miigwetch Ryan, aseema down & prayers up for you, your family & everyone watching this documentary, especially for the family & friends of those who were taken too soon! 💜

[keenancooper]

I myself am half indigenous. I'm white presenting and moved from southern Ontario to thunder bay 7 years ago. The racism in this city is unbelievable until you experience it. As white presenting I see how people actually talk about the indigenous population. They think I'm white and they assume I agree with them

[wihamaki]

It will be interesting if they dare touch on things from more than one side. Hopefully this leads to more resources to surrounding areas to provide help to those who need it. So many people are falling through the cracks, end up in Thunder Bay and overwhelm it's resources.

[jaeo]

Thank you Ryan and thank you Crave for making this.

[sandrajameson]

Can't wait to watch this! As woman and single mother who lived in Thunder Bay, Ont., I can't tell you how many times I was followed when alone. Either when I lived on Bethune St. or Simpson St. It got really scary when my neighbors daughter was at my door naked, saying someone was trying to rape her. She didn't want the police called because of others she new who she didn't see again after they were. Proud that someone is finally taking a deep dive into Thunder Bay and what happens there.

[Ilytweak]

I live here and the amount of death and sadness here is immense I lost 4 people 1 was my brothers freind I went to school with and the other 3 I was freinds with, all the deaths were unnatural, I made a song about it called loosening my head, but it’s sad to say this is our reality I’m so glad people in our town are wakeing up and standing up to the discrimination, the hurt, and pain, and uniteing together

[andrewrowaan]

Watched the first 2 episodes last night, excellent work. It's sad how the Indigenous are treated in Thunder Bay. The incompetence and or unwillingness to investigate properly by Thunder Bay Police is sickening.

[truth]

I look forward to see this I’ve live in Thunder Bay all my life I’m in my mid 40s and have wondered why certain things get sweep under the rug. There are thing that should be brought to light then maybe things will change here.

[moriartyvonfacesmasher]

I'm from TBay...I got out.
That place is not only corrupt, but vicious. Everyone who grew up there in 80's-90's-00's knows that.
The police will come after you if have any record with them, and maliciously attack you (and your family) if they think you did something wrong.
I was ripped out of my house at 3a.m, 2 days after baby was born...tired, watching gameshow network with no clothes on...slammed into a snowbank, cuffed and taken to Balmoral for suspicion os stealing navada tickets from Oliver Rd convenience store a few hrs earlier...🤨
I was a known criminal, I did do bad things, I get that. But the cop came to my house and himself id me as the culprit. Had to go to court and i the end, cameras were too shotty to see who it was (wasn't me) but the cop gets off with no problems...

[williammaki]

Thunder Bay was a great place to grow up in, friendly, generous and community oriented. We always saw the drunk native sleeping on a corner but they spent most of their time on the reserve so no one cared. In the 1990’s the Federal Govt. rather than fix up northern Indian communities brought them all into Thunder Bay and turned the city into a reservation displacing the long time residents. Muggings and robberies jumped and the police had their hands tied by social justice warriors because 95% of the crime was caused by Indians. You don’t know the history of TB so don’t criticize before you learn. It is so ugly now that I have not even visited in 15 years and I love my home town and always believed I would finish my life there just like my ancestors.

[matth]

Heartbroken. My heart sank and my eyes opened even more. As a white male living in Ontario, I cannot begin to imagine the horror of living under the shadow of blatant genocide of my friends, family, community members and colleagues. I just finished the doc. Thank-you very much for showcasing the grim reality of living in Canada as a minority. A must watch. Should be shown in high schools everywhere. Peace. Love. Respect.

[nakashalynn]

What about the family in town who wasn't allowed to identify their son/brother when he passed. Rybeck identified the body. The family wasn't allowed to see the body at the funeral home either. 14 years ago this summer.

[karidennis]

Thunder Bay is my home, i am part native but don’t look it and i can tell you there is systemic racism here. See, when you don’t look native people feel a lot more comfortable speaking derogatory about native people in front of you and to you. I have heard some pretty brutal comments, many from cab drivers. The racism here is quite prevalent, through all walks of life. The real problem is that police have power over peoples actions and lives and there is a lot of racism in the police department. Not all the cops are bad but enough.
My ex-husband was arrested once, he is part native and looks it. He was inside a bar and they came in and arrested him for something that happened earlier and elsewhere, he went outside with them and was handcuffed but would not get into the cruiser because they would not tell him why he was under arrest so they kept kicking him in the back of his thighs. He wasn’t violent, he just stood against the cruiser and would not get in until they told him why he was under arrest. So they pepper sprayed him. Then he got in the cruiser, and once inside it he asked for their badge numbers they laughed and said “ i’m number “ and “i’m number 2”. He never made a complaint because he felt there was no point. This is really a minor thing compared to many other stories to be honest but it doesn’t feel minor when it’s someone you care about.
Then my husband and i and our children had rented a house from my parents, we moved out of town for a year then came back. A native man had rented the house while we were gone, we heard he sold drugs but he was nice enough and never gave my parents any problems so who cares. One night my husband was watching a movie in the living room, the younger kids were sleeping, and i was stripping old wallpaper from one of the bedrooms. Suddenly there was pounding at the door, it was the police, we sat quietly and ignored it, my husband wanted nothing to do with them after the last time he had been arrested by them. We did not realize the back door was unlocked and they came right in through there and tried to say they received a call about a woman screaming for help out the door or window or something. It was a complete fabrication. I told them so and they were very insistent that they received a report of a woman screaming for help. Then just 2 or 3 minutes later an undercover officer came in, i knew he was undercover because he had long greasy hair and a bunch of tattoos and he came up to me and said “where’s A——— M———?” This was the native man that had lived there when we were out if town. I told them i had no idea where he was, which i didn’t, he had moved out the month before and we moved back in. Funny how they supposedly received a call about a woman screaming for help but came in looking for a suspected drug dealer. So they made up a story or had someone falsely call in with this made up story about a woman screaming for help so they could have an excuse to come inside our home without a warrant to arrest a native man they believed was selling drugs. Nice one, right?

[meangrizzgreen]

I stayed in Thunderbay for about 1 month visiting my girlfriend who is a foreign exchange student at lakehead university. I noticed native people there all looked so depressed and in a bad mood all the time. All in all I hope as time goes by the city and the people will heal. The city is mostly filled with foreign exchange students filling the colleges.

[aliwilliams]

This is an excellent documentary. Just riveting and gut wrenching. It’s our Canadian wake up call.