The goal was to have a bold new logo — but a re-branding attempt in the Halifax Regional Municipality hasn’t been met with open arms, especially by one Dartmouth councillor.
“Can you imagine tourists coming here and looking at Halifax and saying, ‘oh somebody missed crossing the a’s,’ or ‘somebody can’t spell in Halifax,'” said Gloria McCluskey, who represents Dartmouth North.
READ MORE: Opposition of ‘Halifax’ re-branding spanning across HRM communities
It’s estimated the “Halifax” re-branding campaign has already cost the municipality hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Once again, the new logo is expected to be a hot topic at this week’s council meeting.
McCluskey says the entire attempt has been poorly done, and that changes coming to the campaign won’t be enough. According to McCluskey, it’s proposed the letters in the logo will be made smaller to try to accommodate concerns.
“It’s just so ridiculous. Now, they’re going to make the letters smaller — that’s still not going to cut it,” said McCluskey. “People are still not going to be happy.”
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McCluskey says the branding campaign has affected the identities of different communities in the Halifax Regional Municipality, and wants to know why “Halifax” needs to be on every sign in the municipality.
“I know what the re-branding was for — it was to market the Metro area nationally and internationally. Can you tell me what that has to do, or what it has to do with putting all Halifax on everybody’s signs? Sheet Harbour, Halifax? Dartmouth, Halifax?” she said.
READ MORE: Identity crisis: HRM communities stand up against ‘Halifax’ re-branding
Tim Rissesco, executive director of the Downtown Dartmouth Business Commission, agrees with McCluskey that signs don’t need to all read Halifax.
“If it’s a park sign, it really should just say the name of the park, the community it’s in and who they should call if there’s a problem there as well as the civic address — we don’t really need to put the brand on those signs,” Rissesco said.
Rissesco says despite the concerns that have been voiced about the branding campaign, it’s had no real impact on business in Dartmouth.
“We’re thriving. The pride in Dartmouth has never been stronger,” said Rissesco.
“The only thing that the whole branding debate has done is its been a distraction — we don’t really need it. And sometimes, it can be confusing.
“Out in Burnside — is that the brand or is that the communities name? Are you in Burnside, are you in Halifax, are you in Dartmouth?”
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