In 1982, Halifax set out on a journey of mutual appreciation with an adoring sister city in Japan. Separated by a mere 10,000 kilometres (give or take), Halifax and Hakodate were obviously siblings separated at birth—both are port towns, both have distinctive star-shaped birthmarks (ours is called the Citadel; theirs is Goryokaku Fort)…
But, like many siblings, it seems that Halifax and Hakodate have grown apart. It’s rare, if ever, that one hears Hakodate mentioned on the streets of Halifax—and it’s our 25th anniversary!
Still, this week, Saint Mary’s University will be hosting the first event of 2007 to mark the milestone. A Koshogatsu (“little New Year”) celebration will be held on Sunday, January 28 at 1pm in the McNally Theatre Auditorium. Heidi Taylor, one of the organizers at SMU, says that the annual event does take on a special significance this year.
“This is the first real event of the year to mark the . This is the kick-off,” says Taylor.
And it does promise to be a dazzling kick-off, with Taiko drumming, martial arts demonstrations and a Squid Dance (or Ika-odori)—“I expect,” says Taylor, “ will be quite bouncy.”
But, unlike a typical kick-off, nothing seems to follow. Halifax.ca/sistercities proudly announces the big anniversary, but follow the link to “special event information,” and this weekend’s celebrations appear to be, so far, the only formally planned event for 2007. So, where’s the year-round party? Why aren’t there cherry blossoms lining our streets?
Councillor Sheila Fougere has long been involved in the Halifax-Hakodate relationship. She says that there are additional plans to mark the anniversary; likely either in August (the month the cities first agreed to twin) or in November (when the official agreement was signed). She acknowledges that despite all of the good will between the two cities, Halifax hasn’t always been the most attentive sister.
“It’s very much kept alive on the Hakodate end, but not so much on our end,” she says. “They sent a delegation for Halifax’s 250th birthday. They even sent junior high and high school kids over here for the 20th anniversary of the twinning.
“But really, we’ve not had a lot going on in the other direction.”
Oh, Hakodate, we’re sorry. It’s not you, it’s us!
Council watch, 2000
A few familiar Halifax causes are likely to be brought up at council on Tuesday, all in one sitting. A report from the city’s urban design office will make recommendations regarding councillor parking on the Grand Parade (get rid of it), the corner of Spring Garden and Queen (confirm it as the site for a new public library) and the Birks site on Barrington Street (make it provincial office pace, and let it handle councillor parking).
After so much discussion on these issues—particularly on the crappiness of cars on the Grand Parade—how much impact can yet another report truly have? We posed that to Fougere while we had her on the phone for Hakodate-related questioning.
“From a realistic action perspective? Well…I think because it’s been mentioned so many times, there’s recognition with the parking that it goes above and beyond the personal parking habits of councillors,” she said. “There’s definitively a public will about that issue, and you can’t continually ignore the public will.”
True. Although, council has done a pretty good job of that thus far…but hey, it’s never too late to change!
Voice the public will. Email: mikef@thecoast.ca
This article appears in Jan 25-31, 2007.
