Sean Vanderklis settles into new role with CBC Thunder Bay

By Rick Garrick

THUNDER BAY — Curve Lake’s Sean Vanderklis is enjoying his new role as host of CBC Thunder Bay’s Superior Morning radio program since officially taking on the role on Oct. 18.

“The first day I got here we went to Anemki Wajiw right away,” Vanderklis says. “Being a pow wow dancer, it was one of the first places I wanted to check out.”

Vanderklis says he also toured the Terry Fox monument, Kakabeka Falls and Hillcrest Park, a city park that features a view of the Sleeping Giant.

“I’m Anishinabek, so the Sleeping Giant is significant within our culture,” Vanderklis says. “I used to come to Thunder Bay a fair bit when I was younger and I was just always mesmerized by it. Now to see it on a regular basis, there’s times I’ll be driving and I just take it in. If I do go out for lunch, I try to go someplace where there is a good view of it — Hillcrest Park, as an example, has a perfect view of the Sleeping Giant. I go down to the water all the time too to check it out; to me, there’s that spiritual connection. It’s reminiscent of home, it’s reminiscent of my community where I come from.”

Vanderklis says he experienced a “huge culture shock” after moving to Thunder Bay for his new role.

“I come from southern Ontario where everything is a little more fast-paced, everything is always open, everything is on the go,” Vanderklis says. “There seems to be more of an appreciation for the present [here], whereas in southern Ontario it’s just a matter of getting to your destination. One thing that threw me off is everything seems to close here a little early, so that’s taken some time to get used to.”

Vanderklis says there is more support at CBC Thunder Bay than in his previous position, including a designated reporter who chases down stories.

“It’s a good time to be coming into this position because CBC is really supporting this role and supporting my endeavours to tell stories that I want to tell,” Vanderklis says. “The community itself has been fantastic — they’ve gone out of the way to be accepting and welcoming.”

Vanderklis notes that he is one of the first if not the first Indigenous person to host a morning show in Ontario.

“There’s a different perspective that I bring because I’ve focused on politics or issues that affect Indigenous people for my entire career, so I’m very well informed,” Vanderklis says. “I have the lived experience of living in that urban environment while also being Indigenous, so those are the big stories I really want to focus on, but again there’s a collaborative effort. The way our show is comprised is we each pitch stories and consensus determines whether or not we cover them.”

Vanderklis says he recently met with Fort William Chief Peter Collins and attended an Elders conference with Indigenous journalist Tanya Talaga.

“At that Elders conference, I got to meet some Elders from all across northwestern Ontario which was a fantastic experience,” Vanderklis says. “My goal probably within the next month is to meet as many key players as possible.”

Vanderklis says he got involved in journalism through the One Dish, One Mic podcast he co-founded with Karl Dockstader that covered issues affecting Indigenous people. He was awarded one of the 2020 CJF-CBC Indigenous Journalism Fellowships by the Canadian Journalism Foundation and has since hosted CBC’s annual National Indigenous People’s Day program special and worked on CBC’s Unreserved program.

“One of the big breaks that got me into this role was I hosted the National Indigenous People’s Day special broadcast that was broadcast out of all the Ontario markets,” Vanderklis says.