THUNDER BAY – The City of Thunder Bay will end its formal ties with five communities around the globe after city council voted on Monday to dissolve the sister cities program.
The program was one of two dozen items included on a list of proposed cuts as city council looks to find $1.5 million in yearly spending reductions, on top of another $700,000 a year in staffing cuts.
Cutting the sister cities committee, with its $25,000 annual budget, will make little headway toward that goal, but has for years been identified as a potential "low-impact" cost-saving step for the city.
The sister cities program was one of five cuts on the list that council declined to approve in June in the face of public pushback, ordering more consultation before making a decision.
However, the sister cities advisory committee recommended council dissolve it, rather than proceed with that consultation.
Speaking to council Monday, committee chair Matthew Villella said members had little stomach for publicly defending the value of their work while cuts to core city services were being approved.
“Things are getting cut that affect our community, that affect people’s lives,” he told council Monday. “Cutting essential services, things like movies in the park, maintenance of parkettes, bus routes, EMS stations – how do we compete with that?”
Villella had argued that, while the sister cities program was a "nice-to-have" and not a necessity for the city, it nevertheless brought significant cultural and economic value by fostering visits and building cross-cultural understanding.
He called severing decades-long relationships with sister cities communities "a bad look" for Thunder Bay.
A vote to dissolve the committee as of Aug. 31 appeared to pass 7-4 on Monday, with Couns. Aiello, Ch'ng, Foulds, and Giertuga opposed.
"I think this committee does good work, but like [Villella] said, they’re having trouble competing with [cuts to services like] movies in the park, and being constantly on the cut list by council for $25,000," said Giertuga.
The vote brings to an end a program the city first established in 1974, when it signed its first twinning agreement with Seinäjoki, Finland.
Thunder Bay later inked agreements with Duluth and Little Canada, both in Minnesota, Jiaozuo in China, and Gifu City in Japan.
Those relationships had been celebrated with periodic visits by delegations between communities, gifts like statues received from Jiaozuo and displayed at the waterfront Tai Chi Park, and events like the annual peace bell ceremony held in conjunction with Gifu City.
The city will conclude its sister cities agreements, while recognizing those communities' “commitment to peace and cultural exchange and the impact on our economy during visiting delegations.”
The resolution passed by council stipulates that existing contacts with former sister cities should be maintained “where practical and appropriate to do so for both parties,” though it’s not clear how that would be accomplished.
A 2020 program and services review that recommended cutting the sister cities committee suggested a city staffer could maintain ties using digital technology. The review estimated the city would incur $7,000 in yearly costs for that work, realizing only $18,000 in annual savings.
Villella said some sister cities partners have expressed an interest in working to maintain ties outside of a formal relationship.
“Maybe we have to think outside the box a little bit,” he said. “I think these opportunities might still exist, but we might just have to do it a little differently.”
