Burlington Marking Netherlands Liberation Day From Home Amid COVID-19

Twin City — Apeldoorn
Written By

Every year on May 5, our friends in our twin city Apeldoorn and across the Netherlands celebrate Liberation Day to mark the end of the Second World War. This year marks 75 years since that event.Apeldoorn was liberated by Canadian troops and festivities, including many Canadian marching bands were planned over this weekend (May 9-10) at Paleis Het Loo. These preparations were more than two years in the making.A contingent of City of Burlington officials (me included as Mayor) and citizens were scheduled to attend these events as this date also marks the 15th anniversary of Burlington’s twinning with Apeldoorn. The Burlington Mundialization Committee also planned for celebrations locally in our city during May.Sadly, these celebrations in Apeldoorn and Burlington were cancelled on account of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, we will be marking this anniversary in the confines of our homes. I want to take this opportunity to thank our amazing Mundialization Committee for all the planning they did for this event and previous events. Your focus on nurturing our relationships with our twin cities to make sure they keep growing and only get stronger is what makes Burlington the great city we all know and love. Please head to the City's Mundialization Committee webpage to learn more about what they do.The cancelled plans, however, do not dampen our mood as we pay respects to the memory of the event and be proud of our connections with Apeldoorn.You can see many symbols of those connections throughout our city through the many gift exchanges between Burlington and Apeldoorn. Many of these items can be identified throughout the city by an interpretive plaque, such as:

  • Granite and stone sofa named "Louise" - in Spencer Smith Park
  • Apeldoorn Park - at 1385 Elgin St.

Learn more about Burlington's twin city relationships with Apeldoorn, the Netherlands and Itabashi, Japan on the City's dedicated webpage.Burlington’s message to our friends in Apeldoorn is one of solidarity and we celebrate with you today on Liberation Day and Canada Netherlands Friendship Day. Looking forward to the time when we will be with you to say “Hello Again!” PLEASE NOTE: To stay updated on what the City of Burlington is doing regarding COVID-19, please visit the dedicated pages burlington.ca/coronavirus (and subscribe) and bit.ly/mayormeedwardCOVID19updates, and our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page — bit.ly/COVID19BurlingtonFAQ that are updated as new information becomes available.A Burlington COVID-19 Task Force has been created to help support our community through this unprecedented emergency — updates will be provided at burlington.ca/COVID19taskforce.To report an incident of non-compliance with provincial emergency orders, please contact the Halton Regional Police Service COVID-19 Hotline: 905-825-4722.We’ve also created a dedicated page to feature the local organizations and businesses that have inspired us during the COVID-19 pandemic by taking action to support our community in new and creative ways — head to bit.ly/covidwallofinspiration.HELPFUL RESOURCES & RELATED LINKS:

 

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