Collingwood Mayor Chris Carrier has just returned from a 12 day visit to Japan, including a stay at Collingwood’s Sister City, Katano. Mayor Carrier was joined by Deputy Mayor Sandra Cooper and Collingwood CAO Gord Norris on the visit.

The visit marked the 26th anniversary of the Town of Collingwood’s Sister City relationship with Katano. A delegation of 25 to 30 residents from Katano will visit Collingwood on Canada Day 2008 to participate in our Sesquicentennial Celebrations.

Mayor Carrier took time to visit Buddhist Temples and to attend many cultural events as a part of the Natural Cultural Festival which was underway during his visit.

Mayor Carrier says a highlight of his visit was a visit to a local primary school, spending a few hours with grade 4 students including joining them for lunch. Carrier said one interesting point that stood out from this visit was the fact that the students were in charge of cleaning their school. Instead of employing custodians, the students take ownership for all cleaning, inside and out. Carrier said the teachers feel that this type of responsibility helps the students later in life to make good choices.

While in Katano, Mayor Carrier found himself face-to-face with a real learning experience as he toured a small manufacturing factory with computer aided design equipment. The plant manufactured plastic parts for cars, gambling slot machines and cookware. Mayor Carrier says this type of manufacturing facility represents the type of manufacturing base that the province of Ontario should be changing to. He pointed out that the plants are flexible, being able to manufacture five or six different products with the equipment, computer programs and staff employed on site. He said the plant he visited had been re-tooled and had successfully adapted to the global changing economy. Carrier said that part of the visit was to encourage these companies to expand and locate to Collingwood because of the relationships that they have in place with Honda and Toyota.

Carrier said that the visit to Katano, Japan was a real cultural experience. The group stayed with a host family for six days, sharing and taking part in their every day activities. Mayor Carrier also spent five days in Tokyo taking time to meet with the Canadian Ambassador, Canadian Embassy Officials and with representatives from Nippon Sheet Glass, owners of the Collingwood Pilkington Glass Plant.

Mayor Carrier says that he was very pleased with how his meeting went with Nippon Sheet Glass representatives who feel the Ontario market for them is quite positive. Carrier says that the Collingwood facility enjoys a healthy relationship with Toyota and Honda and that he feels the future of Pilkington in Collingwood is a bright one. Carrier said he was assured that the decisions at the Collingwood plant are made locally by the Plant Manager.

Mayor Carrier and CAO Gord Norris attended the Tokyo Car Show and saw what Carrier referred to as very impressive and environmentally friendly new vehicles including new hydrogen buses.