Ottawa 2017 is a municipal initiative designed to complement national Canada 150 celebrations. Canada 150 speaks to municipal partnership, engagement with the profit and non-profit sectors (especially tourism), and implementing Canada 150 activities in the National Capital Region specifically. This logo not only evokes the Canada 150 logo, it also evokes these elements. Like the Canada 150 logo, there are thirteen triangles representing each of Canada’s provinces and territories. Both logos also use the same font, which implies connectivity. However, the prominence of the CIBC logo is particularly striking: while it is typical for festivities to have corporate sponsorships, the prominence of a corporate logo within the actual design can reveal underlying attitudes. This relates to Edwardson, who argues that Canada’s neoliberal prioritization of the private over the public sector creates cultural disenfranchisement, which corporations can profit from (2004, 25). As such, corporations can use cultural events for advertising and to embed themselves within symbols, helping to further entrench “an increasingly corporatized national identity” (Adese 2012, 497). While Ottawa municipal politics are non-partisan, this logo reveals overarching neoliberal interests and the conflation of cultural and economic policy decisions (Osborne 2006, 162). Overall, corporate interests are entrenched within a symbol meant to celebrate Ottawa’s party within Canada 150. This is not inherently a bad thing, since part of the goal of Ottawa 2017 is to boost the tourism sector. However, it does demonstrate an alignment between state (in this case, municipal) interests and corporate interests. The alignment of such symbols can be explained through the broader processes of globalization, where globalization and corporatization are linked with social well-being and security (and therefore values) or a furthering of corporate rule (Nimijean 2005, 43). In this case, the incorporation of the CIBC logo creates a positive association between the event and the brand, which could increase receptivity towards corporations and financial institutions as they are aligned with the Canadian identity.
The Ottawa 2017 is interesting to me because of its prominence throughout the city. Interestingly, it can be seen on infrastructure such as the O-Train, on underpasses, and even on pedestrian bridges (such as the Algonquin College bridge over Woodroffe Avenue). Given the presence fused public and private symbolism present in the logo, this personally exemplifies the idea of public-private partnership in the delivery of services. It highlights how prevalent these partnerships are within Canadian society. On an aesthetic level, it is my impression that the design of the Ottawa 2017 logo seems purposely off-balance to give room for any key corporate sponsorships. This artifact is related to the Roots scarf (artifact ten), as both artifacts highlight collaboration between the municipal government and private sector in the delivery of Ottawa 2017 festivities and apparel. It is another example of corporations easily affiliating themselves with the overall process of Canadianization, albeit on a smaller scale due to Ottawa 2017 being a complementary municipal initiative. Ultimately, both hint at a neoliberal dynamic where “money-making becomes the foundation for cultural activity and domestic expression” (Edwardson 2004, 25).
