A province-wide campaign to catch the attention of international pop star Taylor Swift has taken over Saskatchewan, especially the southwest.
#BackToSaskatch caught the attention of some Swift Current dignitaries, leading to a proposal to change the city's name to an eponym of the singer, should she visit the province.
Swift Current MLA Everett Hindley is one of the local leaders standing behind the playful proposition.
"Here in the City of Swift Current we, of course, have Swift in our name," he said, describing the idea he and Deputy Mayor Ryan Switzer shared. "We thought ... maybe there's an opportunity to help grab some attention by saying we could temporarily rename our city's name to Taylor Swift Current, or shorten it down to Taylor Swift, or something like that. Just trying to build momentum for this online campaign to see if maybe, just maybe, we could convince her to make a return stop to Saskatchewan."
The viral hashtag is a nod to a Tweet Taylor Swift made 14 years ago about the province:
@ladyantebellum Saskatoon rules! I went antique shopping there. I like to shorten Saskatchewan.. Like "I got this lamp in Saskatch."
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) September 23, 2009
"You don't know if you don't ask," said Hindley. "There just might be an opportunity where this catches on, that she sees it or her media team sees it and brings it to her attention, and she might think back to her previous visit to Saskatchewan and you never know, she might decide to come back.
"And who knows, if that were the case, we would obviously try to get her to come out to Swift Current to see her partial namesake, if you will, and show her our great community."
Local residents can share their opinions on what the city should change its name to -- if at all -- by filling out our poll here.