Thunder Bay—Rainy River

This sprawling northwestern Ontario riding extends from the southern half of the city of Thunder Bay westward along the U.S. border to the town of Rainy River on Lake of the Woods, covering a vast territory of boreal forest, shield lakes, and small resource-dependent communities. Fort Frances, the largest town west of Thunder Bay, sits on the Rainy River across from International Falls, Minnesota. Atikokan, a former iron-mining centre roughly midway between, has reinvented itself around outdoor tourism and the Ontario Power Generation station north of town.

Candidates

Don Rusnak (Liberal) — Rusnak grew up in northwestern Ontario as the son of Ukrainian and Anishinaabe (Ojibway) parents. He studied political science and integrated forest resource management at Lakehead University before earning his law degree from the University of Manitoba, where he specialized in Aboriginal lands, resources, and governance during a final-year program at Osgoode Hall Law School. He practised law in Thunder Bay, drawing on professional experience in the forestry industry and the public sector.

John Rafferty (NDP) — The incumbent MP since 2008, Rafferty had carved out a career in education and broadcasting before entering politics. He graduated from the University of Western Ontario, spent several years teaching in Africa with World University Services Canada, and later worked in Yellowknife. After returning to Thunder Bay, he completed the broadcast program at Confederation College and worked as a broadcaster on CKPR radio. He subsequently ran a voice-over and production business.

Moe Comuzzi (Conservative) — Comuzzi carried the Conservative banner in the riding, having also been the party's candidate in 2011.

Christy Radbourne (Green Party) — Radbourne represented the Green Party, bringing environmental concerns to the campaign in a region where resource management and conservation are central issues.

About the Riding

Thunder Bay—Rainy River has been shaped by the boom-and-bust cycles of the resource economy. The closure of the Resolute Forest Products paper mill in Fort Frances in January 2014—once the town's largest employer—devastated the community and became a symbol of the forestry sector's decline across northern Ontario. Atikokan faced a similar reckoning when its iron mine closed decades earlier, though the Ontario Power Generation station and proximity to Quetico Provincial Park provided alternative employment. The southern wards of Thunder Bay contribute the riding's largest population concentration, with residents working in transportation, health care, education, and the grain-handling facilities at the Lakehead terminal elevators on Lake Superior. Several First Nations communities, including Fort William, Couchiching, and Seine River, are part of the riding, and Indigenous issues—particularly housing, clean water, and economic development—featured prominently in the campaign. The 2015 contest marked a generational shift, as Rusnak unseated the two-term NDP incumbent amid a national Liberal wave that swept all three northwestern Ontario ridings.