Fort Erie looks to partner with a town from the old country

While on a vacation to visit his wife’s hometown halfway across the world, Chris McQueen couldn’t help but feel a sense of familiarity.

Fort Erie’s CAO said the trip to Accadia in Italy came with more than a few reminders of home. He even bumped into a few Fort Erie residents while overseas.

“It was interesting to go through the town and see the number of last names that were quite familiar to Fort Erie,” he said at the council-in-committee meeting held Monday, where councillors approved a report recommending the town establish Accadia as a sister city.

The twinning of the two municipalities is more than just a symbolic connection between two places with a shared history, the report said. By pursuing the agreement both Fort Erie and Accadia can pursue economic development projects together, encourage tourism between the two areas and work on other topics of shared interest like agri-food, heritage and more.

Fort Erie has a strong Italian community, many of whom came from the small town of Accadia, which counts about 2,400 residents.

“I think this is a great idea,” said Mayor Wayne Redekop of the twinning. “Many of them helped to build a lot of the structures in this community.”

The first wave of immigrants to Fort Erie from Accadia came in the 1930s, following an earthquake that rocked the Italian town. Many settled in either Buffalo or Fort Erie. In the years that followed, other residents from Accadia followed, either to reunite with family or to seek new opportunities in North America.

Fort Erie officials plan to follow a similar template to the Town of Caledon, which has a sister city agreement with Isola del Liri based on similar shared connections. They’ve been working with their Caledon counterparts to develop the agreement.

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