Mayor’s Monday Mailbag – May 16, 2022 – What is the Burlington's Mundialization Committee & Why do we have Twin-City Agreements?

Mayor's Mailbag
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Welcome to the Mayor’s Monday Mailbag, an initiative Burlington Mayor Marianne Meed Ward and the Mayor’s Office launched to share weekly answers to questions from the public we’ve received through our main email inbox at mayor@burlington.ca or the Mayor’s social media platforms.At the end of the month, we’ll publish a roundup of those most pressing questions we’ve received in the weeks prior.Mayor’s Monday Mailbag – May 16, 2022QUESTION:“What is the City of Burlington Mundialization Committee and why do we have twin-city agreements with Apeldoorn, The Netherlands and Itabashi, Japan?”ANSWER:The definition of "mundialization" is the act of a city or local authority declaring itself a "world citizen" and being aware of global issues with a sense of shared rights and responsibility. The concept involves the twinning of cities from around the world, in the belief that peaceful cooperation depends on mutual trust and appreciation among peoples of different nations, races, cultures and systems. Mundialization encourages citizen connections as a way of fostering world peace and global understanding.Burlington's Mundialization Committee was formed in 1984 to pursue twinning with another country. In 1985, a bylaw was passed at the city to declare Burlington a "World Community" dedicated to international cooperation (mundialization) and that the City of Burlington, as part of its Mundialization program, proceed: (a) to undertake a twinning program with a municipality in another country, and (b) to fly the United Nations flag with the Canadian flag from City Hall at all times.The Burlington Mundialization Committee reports to City Council through the Enviroment, Infrastructure & Community Services Committee and encourages community understanding of different cultures global issues by:

  • Maintaining our twin city relationships in accordance with the agreements;
  • Promoting activities that celebrate our similarities and respect our differences;
  • Organizing a celebration of the United Nations Day each year around Oct. 24;
  • Providing advice and assistance on twin city relationships to Burlington City Council;
  • Developing achievable annual action plans with assistance of City Staff; and
  • Presenting an annual report to Council with assistance of City Staff.

The City of Burlington has two twin-city agreements -- one with Itabashi, Japan and one with Apeldoorn, The Netherlands.On May 12, 1989, Mayor Roly Bird signed a twinning agreement with Mayor Keizo Kurihara of Itabashi, Japan.On May 6, 2005, Mayor Rob MacIsaac signed a twinning agreement with Mayor Godefridus Jan "Fred" de Graaf of Apeldoorn, the Netherlands.On Saturday (May 14), the City held two Mundialization events for Canada Netherlands Friendship Day (May 5) and the Sakura Festival (when our Sakura trees at Spencer Smith Park bloom).Our nation’s special relationship with the Netherlands extends back to the liberation of the Netherlands by Canadian forces during the Second World Ward and we were fortunate to have some of our amazing veterans at the May 14 event including:

  • Burns McLeod, who is President of Branch 60 of the Royal Canadian Legion and who served in the Royal Canadian Air Force and the Canadian Army;
  • retired Sgt. Dan Lauzon, CD, SSM, who served in the Gulf War with 1 RCR in 1991 and in Somalia Africa in 1992 and 1993 with the Airborne Regiment; and
  • retired Sgt. Robert Graham who served in the Gulf War, Bosnia and Kosovo.

We are grateful for the service of these veterans and all of Burlington's veterans -- including those who are with us and those we have lost.Since the end of WWII, our connection has grown into so much more over more than 7 decades. The City of Burlington and Apeldoorn, The Netherlands communities are tied together in an important twin-city mundialization relationship that officially began in 2005.The Sakura trees at Spencer Smith Park were generously donated by Kan Naka-Zawa, a resident of Itabashi, Japan who considers Burlington his second home, and are a treasured tradition for our community to enjoy as we welcome spring and the season of renewal.The cities of Burlington, Ontario and Itabashi, Japan are tied together in an important twin-city mundialization relationship that officially began more than 30 years ago, in 1989.Our annual celebration of the gift of these Sakura trees and our ability to enjoy them year after year is a reminder of our ongoing connection and our shared appreciation for nature, our planet, and each other.Members of the cities of Burlington and Apeldoorn, and Burlington and Itabashi have visited one another over the years, we have stayed in touch throughout changing leaders and world events like the pandemic, and we fully embrace what mundialization is all about: the belief that learning about people of different nations, races, cultures and governments encourages connections that foster world peace and global understanding.World events that are going on right now are a great reminder of how important it is to build strong relationships that create connections with each other all over the world. Events like the ones on May 14 help us all focus on what binds us together and what we have in common.

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—*Posted by John Bkila, Mayor’s Media and Digital Communications Specialist

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