Carollers hope singing reopens James Street swing bridge

A group of carollers from the Fort William First Nation and city of Thunder Bay gathered this afternoonto sing at the foot of the James Street Swing Bridge.

The group, including a handful of children, hoped that by singing Christmas carols, they could put a human face on the closure of the bridge.

"It's our way of getting to the city a lot faster, and to keep that communication between both the city and Fort William," said Michelle Yantz, who lives at Fort William First Nation.

"When there's an emergency, we end up getting stuck. Like there's a couple times when I couldn't even get home. It was one o'clock in the morning and I couldn't get home because the road wasclosed. And, if there was a bridge open we could get over a lot easier."

The structure was closed following a fire in October, 2013.

Tony McGuire, who organized today's event, was pleased with the turnout.

"There is no media coverage that is like this showing a human spin. It's always a politicized face, this and that, and now there is a human face."

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