A better slogan for a bad attitude

Opinion

The City of Brandon’s coat of arms bears the Latin phrase “vires acquirit eundo.” The Public Register of Arms, Flags and Badges of Canada, a Government of Canada website, says the phrase translates into “She acquires strength in her progress,” but Google translator says it means “He acquires strength by walking.”

Either way, I think there’s a phrase that would be a more accurate slogan for the city: “quod numquam proderit.” It’s Latin for “That will never work.”

A slogan should reflect the nature and attitude of the city, and what I am proposing more accurately reflects the “can’t do,” “don’t bother trying” attitude that has taken root in this city.

If you think that’s harsh, consider all the things Brandon no longer has, and how few new assets have been added over the past several years.

For example, this might shock people who are new to the city, but we once had our own television station — CKX — that was a CBC affiliate and broadcast local news at least twice daily.

We also had a lovely ski hill west of town, two movie theatres downtown, a range of great restaurants (many of which were also downtown), an Eaton’s, a Bay and other great shopping options.

For years, we even had daily non-stop jet air service to Calgary and Toronto.

We had a beautiful downtown hotel — the Prince Edward Hotel — and a quaint city hall building right across the street. We also had three city-owned outdoor pools, a point I will return to shortly.

In the late 1960s and 1970s, this city saw the construction of the Keystone Centre, the current city hall building, the Provincial Building, the Western Manitoba Centennial Auditorium, several buildings at Brandon University (most notably, the Brodie Science Building and McMaster Hall), the Assiniboine Community College campus, several seniors’ homes, Crocus Plains Regional Secondary School, the Brandon Shoppers Mall, the K-Mart mall, the downtown Gallery shopping centre and the Canada Games Sportsplex.

That’s not even a complete list.

With thousands of dedicated volunteers, we also earned a well-deserved reputation as Canada’s top “host city” for national and regional events. We hosted the Canada Games (twice!), several Canadian curling championships and Olympic trial events, the Memorial Cup junior hockey championship, along with countless sports tournaments and other events.

The city even hosted the Wally Byam Airstream Caravan — twice!

We were only able to do all those things, and more, because Brandon was full of community-minded people who believed in their city, believed in themselves and believed in their fellow Brandonites. They worked together and got big things done, again and again.

Now, ask yourself this question: What have we done in the past 25 years? The past 35 years? What have we built? What have added that has improved the quality of life in this city?

The Queen Elizabeth music building at Brandon University, Assiniboine College’s North Hill campus and expansions at the Prairie Mountain Regional Health Centre and Keystone Centre.

And we have some new bridges over the CP tracks and the Assiniboine River.

The biggest reason for the lack of momentum in this city isn’t just a lack of vision — a complaint I constantly hear. It’s a lack of commitment, combined with too little community spirit.

As I have written before, too many of us don’t plan on staying here for the long run, so we don’t put any effort into making the community better.

Beyond that, this city has allowed itself to become divided into a number of segments that largely stick to themselves.

Given that lack of “community glue,” it’s hard for the city to work together toward big goals under those circumstances.

The bigger problem, however, is our annoying habit of quickly rejecting big ideas that would improve life in the city.

The latest example is a proposal by Coun. Bruce Luebke (Ward 6) to construct a new outdoor aquatic complex.

On Aug. 18, the councillor presented a resolution to city council that would direct city staff to “immediately investigate design parameters and location for a new outdoor aquatic facility.”

The facility would have a maximum cost of $4.5 million, a capacity of up to 300 persons, a lazy river and other amenities.

At the council meeting, Luebke discussed the fact the city currently has just one pool — the Kinsmen pool at Rideau Park — and that it is on its last legs and needs replacement. He argued that “We need to start coming up with a plan for replacement and/or other options for outdoor pools, outdoor aquatic facilities in our community.”

He pointed out that smaller Westman communities have been able to construct very nice outdoor pools — including the new Pilot Mound pool for $3.2 million — while Brandon is left with one pool that didn’t open until July 23 this year, and only after last-minute repairs.

Luebke’s proposal was passed by council, which means it will be discussed during budget deliberations in January.

That’s all well and good, but where is the public support for such a much-needed project?

If this was 50 years ago, service clubs and prominent businesses would be clamouring to raise funds for the new pool.

That’s what happened in Souris, Wawanesa and Pilot Mound, but all we hear in Brandon is crickets. We sit waiting for city council, or the provincial government, to solve the problem instead of trying to fix it ourselves.

With an attitude like that, it’s no wonder that smaller communities are leaving us in the dust when it comes to recreational facilities and economic development.

It’s time to choose. Are we willing to work together toward a better Brandon, or is this another one of those “quod numquam proderit” situations?

Time will tell.