Town rethinking slogan
For many decades motorists entering the town of Tisdale in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan have been greeted by a large sign welcoming them to ‘‘The Land of Rape and Honey’’.
This has been the town’s proud slogan for 60 years, in recognition of the two things that helped to make Tisdale the place it is today.
Yet as Canada’s population has gravitated towards the cities and Canadians have became more ignorant of agricultural terminology, the mayor and town officials have found themselves fielding irate inquiries from outsiders accusing them of promoting sexual violence.
‘‘We are not glorifying sexual assault,’’ Sean Wallace, the town’s director of economic development, said. ‘‘For the agricultural community, rape is a plant, oil seed rape. We are glorifying a crop that built this town.’’
Such has been the disquiet, however, and the time expended explaining agriculture to prospec- tive business partners, that residents are being asked whether they would like to replace their town’s slogan with something less likely to cause offence.
A survey asks the town’s 3200 people nine questions, noting that ‘‘organic rapeseed accounts for less than 1 per cent of crops grown in the region and honey production has decreased significantly’’ and asking: ‘‘Do you believe it is time for Tisdale to update our town brand?’’
Wallace, who described himself as a neutral public servant who would do the will of his masters, said complaints about the slogan had come from a certain demographic. ‘‘I don’t want to single anyone out, but if you come from downtown Toronto you are probably not going to know about crops and agriculture.’’
Other towns in Saskatchewan have also captured attention for their names or slogans among metropolitan visitors, particularly the hamlet of Big Beaver, the village called Semans and the town of Biggar, which has delighted travellers with its slogan: ‘‘New York is big, but this is Biggar.’’