While a trade war rages between the United States and Canada, a binational pair of Brightons are formalizing a friendship.
One of them is the town of Brighton here in Monroe County. Town Supervisor Bill Moehle traveled Friday to the Brighton in Ontario, Canada, to sign a “twinning” agreement alongside the mayor of that municipality.
That comes less than 24 hours after President Donald Trump issued an executive order directing all arms of the federal government to refer to Lake Ontario as Lake America. Trump first floated renaming the lake on Tuesday, posting on social media that "...we don’t expect to (be) doing much business with Ontario any longer.”
The "Twinning Charter" signed by Moehle and Mayor Brian Ostrander "will memorialize the shared commitment of both municipalities to fostering friendship and collaboration,” according to a news release from the town, “honoring our unique geographic relationship upon opposite shores of Lake Ontario, and encouraging exchanges and partnerships between both communities."
The agreement also acknowledges a bit of the shared history between the two Brightons: both communities were named by men who had roots in Brighton, England.
It also highlights the "special connection between our two Brightons,” the town news release continued, “whose libraries and residents have fostered friendships and exchanges through social media, inspired by the many occasions on which our communities have been mistaken for one another because of our shared name."
