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Them’s fighting words! Page A27
THURSDAY
Thursday, October 10, 2013 X Volume 26 No. 81
Kamloops, B.C., Canada X 30 cents at Newsstands
THIS WEEK
Boeing Boeing brings chaos, mayhem to Sagebrush Theatre Page B1 Thompson River Publications Partnership Ltd.
SISTERLY LOVE
IS SIBLING CITY BOND WORTH THE INVE$TMENT? By Andrea Klassen STAFF REPORTER
andrea@kamloopsthisweek.com
Had history played out differently, it’s possible Mayor Peter Milobar and 15 others would be boarding a plane today headed for the District of Lusaka, Zambia, rather than to the Land of the Rising Sun. In 1989, the same year the City of Kamloops began exploring a sister-city agreement with the Japanese city of Uji, the council of the day voted to formalize its intent to twin with Lusaka, home to the African nation’s capital city and today home to more than 1.7 million people. Or, perhaps the plane would today be bound for Mount Ira, a mining community in north-
east Australia that sent sisterly Christmas cards to Kamloops in the 1980s. Uji wasn’t even the only Japanese city in the running to become Kamloops’ international twin. The 1989 council — apparently intent on amassing as many siblings as possible — also looked at a relationship with Himeji, Japan, which lies about two hours to the west of Uji by rail. But, for the past 23 years, it has been Uji that has captured the attention and airfare of Kamloops’ mayors, councillors, athletes, artists, students and regular everyday citizens. (A more recent twinning agreement with Changping, China, hasn’t racked up nearly as many frequent flyer miles.)
PAN-PACIFIC STATS 16: Number of people on 2013 trip. 4: Number of people on taxpayer tab. 6,400: Estimated taxpayer-funded travel cost, in dollars, for four city representatives. 23: Age of sister-city relationship. 40,000: Estimated cost, in dollars, of sister-city relationship to Kamloops taxpayers this year. 225,000: Estimated cost, in dollars, of sister-city relationship to Kamloops taxpayers since 2000.
Kamloops representatives are supposed to visit Japan every other year, hosting delegations from Uji in between trips. But, the Kamloops delegation opted to cancel its trip in 2011 after an
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earthquake and tsunami devastated large swathes of Japan. This month’s visit will be the first in four years. The 2013 delegation has 16 people, including Milobar, councillors Marg Spina and Donovan Cavers, and one city staff person. The quartet’s travel expenses, which Milobar estimates at about $1,600 each, are covered by the city, though it’s customary for the host city to cover hotel costs. The remaining 12 members of the delegation are paying their own way. Adding in costs of hosting the yearly delegation of Uji schoolchildren this summer, along with other sister-city program expenses, City of Kamloops assistant finance director Doug Stewart said taxpay-
ers will fund up to $40,000 as a result of its sibling relationship this year. All told, the city will have spent more than $225,000 on the program since 2000. What it gets in return is not quite so easy to quantify. Over the years, the two cities have exchanged some lump sums of financial aid. When the Kamloops Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre was damaged by fire in 2008, Uji sent $15,000. After the 2011 earthquake, Kamloops sent $10,000 in lieu of a delegation. However, the hopes of some of the program’s early architects have yet to be realized. X See MAYOR A10
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