“Tisdale, land of rape and honey.”
For over 60 years this was the slogan for a town of just over 3200 in the heart of northeast Saskatchewan.
The phrase is a play on the Biblical reference to the Promised Land, ‘the land of milk and honey.’ The area was home to a plethora of beekeepers, and fields and fields of rapeseed. Commonly called rape, the yellow flowered brassica was the grand daddy of today’s canola.
The slogan was printed on the town’s letterhead, souvenir knick-knacks and on big welcoming signs at major entrances to the town. It raised a few eyebrows, especially in recent years when canola has almost totally replaced rapeseed, and knowledge of the crop is less and less prevalent.
Mayor Al Jellicoe says Tisdale’s slogan brought notice to his town, but not in a good way. “For a lot of people across the whole country, North America and even further afield, if you tell them you’re from Tisdale, they say, ‘Oh, I know your slogan . . . ‘And when it comes to promoting business (perspective clients and partners) just don’t want to be associated with that.”
The mayor isn’t exaggerating when he talks of the far flung notoriety of Tisdale’s slogan. Stories about retiring the controversial tag line have popped up in the Toronto Star, the Guardian, Huffington Post and tons of other print and non print media.
Last October Tisdale town council ran an online poll and the results were clear. Sixty-one to 39 voted to change the slogan, says Jellicoe.
As of August 22, 2016, it’s a done deal. “The land of rape and honey” is gone. The new slogan is “Opportunity grows here.”
He knew it had to be done but Mayor Jellicoe is not without respect for the past and especially for the people who have gone before. About a year ago, he sought out Rankin Hodgins, the man who had been mayor of Tisdale when the Land of rape and honey slogan was put in place.
“He’s 93 years old now and a little hard to understand sometimes but he’s still got his thinking cap on,” says Jellicoe.
They discussed the slogan and Mayor Hodgins told Jellicoe, “It was a great slogan at the time. People knew what rapeseed was but enough time has gone by that you should change it.”
And did that make Mayor Jellico feel kind of good to have his predecessor’s blessing?
“Absolutely. Absolutely!”
- Shirley Byers