Â鶹´«Ã½

Skip to main content

Podcaster Ryan McMahon determined to uncover truth behind multiple teen deaths in Thunder Bay

Share

The tourism board in Thunder Bay, Ont. probably won’t like this week’s W5 episode.

Maybe they should, if it helps to undo a despicable and embarrassing reputation: Thunder Bay is Canada’s murder capital.

There are more murders per capita in the city than anywhere else in the nation.

Homicide rate per 100,000 population, by Census Metropolitan Areas (Data source: Statistics Canada)

What makes it worse is that many Thunder Bay murders have an undeniable stink of racism. Racism that targets Indigenous people. Racism that many believe is a barrier to solving a slew of missing persons cases that end up in undeterminable deaths.

This week’s W5 is a first-hand story told by Anishinaabe podcaster . Ryan loves Thunder Bay. It’s where he spent much of his youth, playing hockey and visiting friends and family.

But Ryan admits that he also fears Thunder Bay. It’s a city in which young Indigenous people have repeatedly turned up dead in local waterways. Ryan suspects that the murder rate in Thunder Bay is actually higher than reported because at least some of those bodies were murder victims.

Ryan McMahon’s investigation also sheds light on the history of racism in Thunder Bay, and examines the failings and the injustices of its social systems and institutions. (Crave)

Back in 2018, Ryan produced a about it. He ended up uncovering more questions than answers. That’s why he produced a to look more closely at what happened in several specific cases that are wrapped in and even fuelled by racism.

A Crave publicity person sent me a screener, so I could watch episode one. She was hoping that we might do a story on Ryan and his series. But when I saw episode one I thought, wow the best way to share Ryan’s story…is to share Ryan’s story.

So, this week, W5 viewers will see Ryan’s documentary on what happened to a young and talented hockey player named Jordan Wabasse. And he dissects the fascinating murder trial of a young white man named Brayden Bushby, who was accused of murdering an Indigenous woman Barbara Kentner in the most heinous way: by throwing a steel trailer hitch at her from a moving vehicle.

CTVNews.ca Top Stories

Police have arrested a Toronto woman in connection with three recent homicides and investigators say that they believe two of the victims may have been 'randomly targeted.'

A northeastern Ontario jury has started deliberating in Canadian musician Jacob Hoggard's sexual assault trial, we can now tell you what they weren't allowed to hear.

A teen charged with the murder of another teen on Prince Edward Island last year has pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of manslaughter.

At least two people are dead and others are injured after a fire ripped through a century-old building in Old Montreal early Friday morning, sources told Noovo Info.

The jury tasked with determining if Canadian musician Jacob Hoggard sexually assaulted a young woman in northeastern Ontario eight years ago began deliberating Friday after nearly two weeks of testimony that saw the singer and his accuser give starkly different accounts of what happened.

Local Spotlight

Chantal Kreviazuk is set to return to Winnipeg to mark a major milestone in her illustrious musical career.

From the beaches of Cannes to the bustling streets of New York City, a new film by a trio of Manitoba directors has toured the international film festival circuit to much pomp and circumstance.

A husband and wife have been on the road trip of a lifetime and have decided to stop in Saskatchewan for the winter.

The grave of a previously unknown Canadian soldier has been identified as a man from Hayfield, Man. who fought in the First World War.

A group of classic car enthusiasts donated hundreds of blankets to nursing homes in Nova Scotia.

Moving into the second week of October, the eastern half of Canada can expect some brisker fall air to break down from the north

What does New Westminster's təməsew̓txʷ Aquatic and Community Centre have in common with a historic 68,000-seat stadium in Beijing, an NFL stadium and the aquatics venue for the Paris Olympics? They've all been named among the world's most beautiful sports venues for 2024.

The last living member of the legendary Vancouver Asahi baseball team, Kaye Kaminishi, died on Saturday, Sept. 28, surrounded by family. He was 102 years old.

New data from Greater Vancouver and the Fraser Valley shows a surge in supply and drop in demand in the region's historically hot real estate market.