Jon Thompson
@jonthompson.bsky.social
Journalist. Belongs to Northwestern Ontario. Ricochet Media. “Thunder Bay” now streaming on Crave. Past words & baritone for Canadaland, CBC, TVO, APTN.
From @jonthompson.bsky.social through the Local Journalism Initiative. Neskantaga, one of the communities evacuated from the wildfires, returned home earlier this month. However, only 5 days later, they had to evacuate again due to a critical sewage failure. www.snnewswatch.com/local-journa...
From wildfire to sewage crisis: Neskantaga's nightmare isn't over
Read the full story and comment on SNnewswatch.com
snnewswatch.com
From wildfire to sewage crisis: Neskantaga’s nightmare isn’t over Just days after a wildfire evacuation, the fly-in Ontario First Nation has declared another state of emergency forcing residents to leave their community again. New from @jonthompson.bsky.social: ricochet.media/indigenous/f...
From wildfire to sewage crisis: Neskantaga's nightmare isn't over
ust days after returning from a wildfire evacuation, the northwestern Ontario fly-in First Nation has declared another state of emergency after a sewage disaster has forced residents to leave their co...
ricochet.media
BREAKING: Only five days after being repatriated from a forest fire evacuation, Neskantaga First Nation is flying out again, this time due to a contractor causing a sewage backup in the health centre basement. ricochet.media/indigenous/f... Just as summer festival was to begin...
From wildfire to sewage crisis: Neskantaga's nightmare isn't over
Just days after returning from a wildfire evacuation, the northwestern Ontario fly-in First Nation has declared another state of emergency after a sewage disaster has forced residents to leave their c...
ricochet.media
Just a reminder that absolutely no one cares if you're working with your community partners. Even if your local media doesn't find it categorically disqualifying when you say that, zero readers/listeners/viewers will remember you or what you do if you pretend working with community partners is news.
Trans Lives in An Age of Erasure: My @ricochetmedia.bsky.social podcast conversation w/ @trevellanderson.bsky.social about representation, resistance & resilience. podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/i...
Trans Lives in an Age of Erasure w/ Tre'vell Anderson
Podcast Episode · In Bed with the Elephant · August 4 · 47m
podcasts.apple.com
Ontario won't commit to an inquiry over response to the worst forest fire season on record, despite calls from every opposition party and First Nations leaders, whose communities have been evacuated. Chiefs have their own ideas they want to contribute. ricochet.media/indigenous/f...
Ford government won’t commit to forest fire inquiry, as chiefs demand change
‘Ontario is burning and there’s no end in sight,’ say First Nation chiefs. But ‘we have a treaty partner that refuses to listen’
ricochet.media
Running the blockade: evacuation orders challenged in northern First Nations. NEW report from Jon Thompson: Elders left behind, speedboats used to get around checkpoints as wildfires loom over northern Ontario communities. ricochet.media/indigenous/r...
As mandatory forest fire evacuations continue in northwestern Ontario, I spoke to the few people who are being threatened with huge fines and even jail time for blowing blockades, as well as police & chiefs who say those people need to get out now. ricochet.media/indigenous/r...
Running the blockade: evacuation orders challenged in northern First Nations
Elders left behind, speedboats used to get around checkpoints as wildfires loom over northern Ontario communities
ricochet.media
Eabametoong (Fort Hope First Nation) is moving into phase one of repatriation. If Ministry of Natural Resources assessment of surrounding fire risk remains low, community members could begin returning home on Friday. Eabametoong evacuated on July 19. ricochet.media/indigenous/a...
Abandoned on the road to the Ring of Fire
Eabametoong First Nations leaders say poor communication with the Ontario government is putting their communities at risk
ricochet.media
Kiashke Zaaging Anishinaabek (Gull Bay First Nation) Chief Wilfred King has issued a letter warning those left behind in the mandatory forest fire evacuation that they could face up to $50,000 fines and a year imprisonment if they remain. “Please evacuate the reserve now..."
Tension has been building between First Nations and the Ford government as wildfires tear across Northern Ontario. @ricochetmedia.bsky.social Northern Ontario reporter Jon Thompson breaks down the latest developments, as the worst wildfire season in Ontario history continues to rage.
Thunder Bay-Atikokan MPP Kevin Holland says communication is getting better between his PC government and First Nations leaders after two weeks of forest fire evacuations. He named Gull Bay Chief Wilfred King in that interview. King says he has “never” met with Holland ricochet.media/indigenous/f...
First Nations Chief says government MPP is lying about meeting with him
PC representative Kevin Holland told a reporter he met with the Gull Bay Chief. Wilfred King says it never happened.
ricochet.media
On 🌍GREEN MAJORITY🌍 ep1028 the team talk about wildfires and data centres, then @dgrdon.bsky.social interviews @ricochetmedia.bsky.social's @jonthompson.bsky.social about the fires raging in Northern Ontario and the abysmal response from the province. www.greenmajority.ca/the-podcast/...
EXCLUSIVE: First Nations Chief says government MPP is lying about meeting with him. Kevin Holland, an associate minister in the Ford government, told a reporter he met with the Gull Bay Chief. Wilfred King says it never happened. @jonthompson.bsky.social reports. ricochet.media/indigenous/f...
First Nations Chief says government MPP is lying about meeting with him
PC representative Kevin Holland told a reporter he met with the Gull Bay Chief. Wilfred King says it never happened.
ricochet.media
It was meaningful to be asked to guest on Green Majority Radio this week (@greenmajority.bsky.social) Canada’s longest-running environmental news hour Thanks Dave Gray-Donald (@dgrdon.bsky.social) for turning ears to the Northwest’s forest fire story in the south www.greenmajority.ca/the-podcast/...
Heat Laws, Wildfires, Oil Profits & North Ontario (1028) — Green Majority Radio
Aired July 24, 2026: We talk about El Niño, wildfires, maximum indoor heat bylaws, better nation-building projects, data centres and record oil profits from the US-Israel war on Iran. Dave Gray-Donald...
greenmajority.ca
MARK CARNEY, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! ottawacitizen.com/public-servi...
Carney government cut nearly half the jobs at nerve centre for managing wildfires: union
The Carney government cut about 50 positions from the federal nerve centre responsible for managing forest fires, the union says.
ottawacitizen.com
Wow. Staff for Ontario’s emergency measures minister Jill Dunlop just audibly jumped in ON AIR and pulled her out of a CBC As It Happens interview on forest fire response. “Let’s just wrap it up now if that’s OK.” www.cbc.ca/listen/live-...
© CBC/Radio-Canada 2026. All rights reserved.
cbc.ca
As #wildfires engulf northern Ontario in historic fires, the union representing forest firefighters is blaming the Doug Ford government for “mismanagement at the highest levels.” Northern communities are now paying the price. New from @jonthompson.bsky.social: ricochet.media/climate/envi...
Union blasts Ford government for ‘mismanagement’ of forest firefighting efforts
Despite warnings from the Auditor General, budgets have failed to keep pace with climate change — and northern communities are now paying the price
ricochet.media
MNR placed Kiashke Zaaging Anishinaabek (Gull Bay First Nation) under mandatory evacuation at midnight. The community's leadership says the order took effect at midnight and that no one will be allowed to pass the Highway 527 closure. Six fires burn nearby.
Following rain over the weekend, Upsala Fire is now advising residents, "I am not telling you you should go home, I am no longer suggesting you shouldn't," but also to "sleep with one eye open." Fire chief Doug Kiezebrink says MNR continues not to allocate resources to this fire.
Just did a hit on 640 Toronto re: northwestern Ontario’s Forest fire situation. Host @gregbradyx was kind delay the news hit on the hour to have his audience hear how provincial communication has soured necessary relationships in the proposed Ring of Fire. ricochet.media/indigenous/a...
Abandoned on the road to the Ring of Fire
In the path of raging forest fires, First Nations leaders say poor communication with the Ontario government is putting their communities at risk
ricochet.media
Whitewater Lake First Nation has confirmed that "much of the community" northeast of Armstrong has been destroyed by forest fires. "While no words can adequately express the magnitude of this loss, the Whitewater Lake community remains steadfast in its identity and strength."
The City of Thunder Bay is opening some splash pads on Sunday and is hinting at re-opening municipal golf courses. The city closed outdoor pools and beaches while cancelling outdoor concerts, and other services on Wednesday, due to poor air quality from forest fire smoke.
Me on CHCH Hamilton news re: northern Ontario forest fires: “The communications they [First Nations leaders] are getting from Ontario are insufficient for them to make the decisions they’re making and Ontario is making it incumbent upon them ti make those decisions.” www.chch.com/chch-news/pr...
Premier Ford in Thunder Bay as fires continue to devastate northern Ontario
Just shy of 200 wildfires are burning across northern Ontario today as the Ford government continues to face criticism over its wildfire management.
chch.com
One of the best scoops of the year. Ontario internal documents on its new prison AI: “Indigenous & racialized individuals face systemic discrimination in our justice system…As a result, assessments like SAFER would likely contribute to overrepresentation of Indigenous inmates in maximum security.”
The Breach@breachmedia.ca · 3w agoOntario jails are using an AI tool that claims to predict prisoners’ behaviour. And it’s disproportionately placing Black prisoners in maximum security. An investigation by @desmondcole.bsky.social reveals the province knew the tool would discriminate against Black people—and used it anyway.
As Northwestern Ontario fires rage, First Nations leaders whose support is instrumental for developing the proposed Ring of Fire mines say they feel burned by poor communication and inaction. ricochet.media/indigenous/a... My latest for @ricochetmedia.bsky.social
Abandoned on the road to the Ring of Fire
In the path of raging forest fires, First Nations leaders say poor communication with the Ontario government is putting their communities at risk
ricochet.media
NEWS: Abandoned on the road to the Ring of Fire. @jonthompson.bsky.social reports from Northern Ontario, where First Nations leaders say poor communication with the Ontario government is putting their communities at risk — as raging forest fires close in. ricochet.media/indigenous/a...
Abandoned on the road to the Ring of Fire
In the path of raging forest fires, First Nations leaders say poor communication with the Ontario government is putting their communities at risk
ricochet.media
Ontario & Canada want a $40B mining project in northern Ontario they call the Ring of Fire. But First Nations leaders who live there have spent days under fire smoke and what they call unacceptable communication & service. "Protect Ontario? What is that?" ricochet.media/indigenous/a...
Abandoned on the road to the Ring of Fire
In the path of raging forest fires, First Nations leaders say poor communication with the Ontario government is putting their communities at risk
ricochet.media
