So the Shaw Ocean Discovery Centre wants to rebrand Sidney on a we want, you pay basis? Maybe they have forgotten that naming rights are usually paid for by the protagonist. After all, the Ocean Discovery Centre was rebranded, even before opening, with the Shaw label after a substantial cash donation.
Sidney itself is in the middle of two half-hearted rebranding attempts. The Salish Sea is the re-rebranding of all the various straits that comprise it as renamed by the early explorers. It’s time Sidney cashed in once and for all, rolled all these various efforts by special interests into one project that could yield a big payoff. The name I propose is: Save-On-Foods Memorial Booktown-by-the-Salish-Sea.
Of course, Jimmy Pattison would have to be persuaded, and the loss of the name Sidney would merely be collateral damage. Replacing existing signage might be expensive, but for small town politicians, given the choice between spending money on potholes and water and sewer systems, or on more signage, it would be no contest.
Jim D. Gillespie
North Saanich