In 1901, the town councils of Port Arthur and Fort William decided to establish separate municipally-owned telephone systems. The Bell Telephone Company, which had held the franchise in both towns since 1884, conducted a spirited campaign against the telephone bylaw voted on in May, 1902. The Fort William Times-Journal announced the overwhelming victory for municipal ownership in this banner headline: THE FIGHT IS OVER, THE PEOPLE WON. In the first call over the municipal system, Mayor Dyke of Fort William fervently expressed to Mayor Matthews of Port Arthur the general antimonopoly sentiment of the period: "We already have linked our destiny with municipal ownership, and municipal ownership is one of modern democracy - government by the people and for the people.... Our two towns now stand united on behalf of the people against monopolies of every kind in the great utilities of life."
Despite the "people's" victory, however, the Bell ignored their verdict by operating in competition with the two municipally-owned telephone systems. Until 1910, when the Bell finally relinquished its claim to the local service, each town had two separate telephone companies, each with its own switchboard, lines and equipment. The City of Thunder Bay today operates the second largest municipally-owned telephone system in Canada.
This 1914 photograph shows operators at the new Port Arthur exchange located in the recently completed eight-storey Whalen Building.
