Guest speedmonk42 Posted June 27, 2009 Share Posted June 27, 2009 Having lived in all three major cities... I think Toronto gets the most unfair reviews. The cities are quite different. I can talk about how good and bad all of them are and that is NOT me trying to be diplomatic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TFC07 Posted June 27, 2009 Share Posted June 27, 2009 quote:Originally posted by Grizzly Brian Burke and the Leafs reception at the draft tonight really warmed my heart! Did Montreal fans booed Boston as well in draft? If so, did they boo them louder than booing the Leafs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TFC07 Posted June 27, 2009 Share Posted June 27, 2009 Since everybody here speaking about Canadian cities, I might as well add my thoughts: Montreal - I hate that city and people living there. It is funny how Montrealers make fun of Toronto (I guess rest of Canada) by calling us wannabe Americans, but the reality is the only wannabe here is Montreal who try so hard to act French/European. Funny part is that a lot Europeans I met realize this and simply laugh at those wannabes. To sum up Montreal: Montreal is Detroit but run by French due to how Montreal has become a ****hole. Toronto - It is a great city and I love how multicultural it is. The only thing I hate about Toronto is Maple Leafs and how Canadian media is so obsessed with hockey there while downplaying soccer and basketball despite the fact that hockey is dying in Toronto while basketball and soccer is growing in Toronto/GTA. Vancouver - beautiful city, but people there need to deal with their inferior complexity. Calgary - This city just sucks and filled with a lot racist people. They're worse than Montreal in terms of tolerance. The only good thing I can say about Calgary is it growing fast and there are a lot of jobs there. Calgary will probably become top city or at least same level as Toronto when comes to being an economy powerhouse in Canada. Edmonton, Winnipeg, Ottawa and Halifax – I can’t comment on those cities since I never been there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TFCRegina Posted June 27, 2009 Share Posted June 27, 2009 I'm sorry, I disagree entirely with the Calgary statement and I think that is just another typical eastern canadian misportrayl of what Calgary is actually like. Having been there dozens of times, I can safely say they are some of the least racist people in Canada. I would go so far as to argue that people in Ontario are far more racist in sheer ignorance (especially of Aboriginal life in their own province) than Western Canadians are. Toronto can claim to be really multicultural because it is, but the fact is, the majority of Ontarioans couldn't give a damn what happens on reserves in their own province as long as it doesn't affect them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ed Posted June 27, 2009 Share Posted June 27, 2009 Don't dis Montreal on my watch. Great city, great culture, great people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveBeau Posted June 27, 2009 Share Posted June 27, 2009 quote:Originally posted by TFC07 Since everybody here speaking about Canadian cities, I might as well add my thoughts: Montreal - I hate that city and people living there. It is funny how Montrealers make fun of Toronto (I guess rest of Canada) by calling us wannabe Americans, but the reality is the only wannabe here is Montreal who try so hard to act French/European. Funny part is that a lot Europeans I met realize this and simply laugh at those wannabes. To sum up Montreal: Montreal is Detroit but run by French due to how Montreal has become a ****hole. Toronto - It is a great city and I love how multicultural it is. The only thing I hate about Toronto is Maple Leafs and how Canadian media is so obsessed with hockey there while downplaying soccer and basketball despite the fact that hockey is dying in Toronto while basketball and soccer is growing in Toronto/GTA. Vancouver - beautiful city, but people there need to deal with their inferior complexity. Calgary - This city just sucks and filled with a lot racist people. They're worse than Montreal in terms of tolerance. The only good thing I can say about Calgary is it growing fast and there are a lot of jobs there. Calgary will probably become top city or at least same level as Toronto when comes to being an economy powerhouse in Canada. Edmonton, Winnipeg, Ottawa and Halifax – I can’t comment on those cities since I never been there. Its really great to get such an unbiased opinion.... (rolls eyes) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RS Posted June 27, 2009 Share Posted June 27, 2009 quote:Originally posted by TFCRegina Toronto can claim to be really multicultural because it is Water claims to be wet because it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kyam Posted June 27, 2009 Share Posted June 27, 2009 quote:Originally posted by TFC07 This city just sucks and filled with a lot racist people. They're worse than Montreal in terms of tolerance... I agree that an inferiority complex definitely exists in Canada towards Toronto, not just in Vancouver, but anywhere. Theirs no reason for it, but that is the primary reason for the hate. Of course, nobody will ever admit they have an inferiority complex. But you seem to imply that Montreal is racist. This would be False. Montreal is a beautiful city, and is NOT racist at all. Its a very diverse city, maybe not to the extent of Toronto, but how can you compare any city to Toronto's diversity? The whole "racist" stereotype against Montreal is because of a small town called Hérouxville. Thats like saying, "Thunder Bay is racist. Thunder bay AND Toronto is in Ontario. Therefore Toronto is racist"... Its flawed logic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kyam Posted June 27, 2009 Share Posted June 27, 2009 quote:Originally posted by TFCRegina I'm sorry, I disagree entirely with the Calgary statement and I think that is just another typical eastern canadian misportrayl of what Calgary is actually like. Having been there dozens of times, I can safely say they are some of the least racist people in Canada. I would go so far as to argue that people in Ontario are far more racist in sheer ignorance (especially of Aboriginal life in their own province) than Western Canadians are. Toronto can claim to be really multicultural because it is, but the fact is, the majority of Ontarioans couldn't give a damn what happens on reserves in their own province as long as it doesn't affect them. Thats so true. I was in Toronto and brought up the Aboriginal rights issue at a Lecture, one guy from Toronto (a minority none the less) responded "But their ain't that many Natives in this country, so why is they an issue?" I've visited Calgary, but as I said before, Calgary is the only big 6 city I have not lived\worked\studied in, so unlike some on this forum, I don't comment on cities I've never lived in. Having said that, I live in Ottawa, it is fairly diverse. Not as much as Toronto\Montreal, but still very cosmopolitan. Yet, Calgary AND Edmonton is considered MORE diverse than Ottawa. I know a former colleague whose from Haiti. He felt more "at home" in Calgary than he ever has in Ottawa or Montreal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loyola Posted June 27, 2009 Share Posted June 27, 2009 Well, I don't think Montrealers are racist but we, in Quebec, sometimes have some border line racist reflexes. 2 weeks ago, when it was announced that 2 anglophones group from Montreal (quebekers) would be performing at the St_Jean-Batiste (June 24), Quebec national day, some people complained about it. Add to that all the things that went on with the "Accomodement raisonnable" crisis and people have a legitimate right to question the xenophobic and racist stance people sometimes adopt in Quebec. To be fair, similar stuff happened elsewhere in Canada before so it's no exclusively a problem related to Quebec. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
REDSequalCANADA Posted June 27, 2009 Author Share Posted June 27, 2009 quote:Originally posted by loyola Well, I don't think Montrealers are racist but we, in Quebec, sometimes have some border line racist reflexes. 2 weeks ago, when it was announced that 2 anglophones group from Montreal (quebekers) would be performing at the St_Jean-Batiste (June 24), Quebec national day, some people complained about it. Add to that all the things that went on with the "Accomodement raisonnable" crisis and people have a legitimate right to question the xenophobic and racist stance people sometimes adopt in Quebec. To be fair, similar stuff happened elsewhere in Canada before so it's no exclusively a problem related to Quebec. Good Post man! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverSamurai Posted June 27, 2009 Share Posted June 27, 2009 quote:Originally posted by loyola Well, I don't think Montrealers are racist but we, in Quebec, sometimes have some border line racist reflexes. 2 weeks ago, when it was announced that 2 anglophones group from Montreal (quebekers) would be performing at the St_Jean-Batiste (June 24), Quebec national day, some people complained about it. Add to that all the things that went on with the "Accomodement raisonnable" crisis and people have a legitimate right to question the xenophobic and racist stance people sometimes adopt in Quebec. To be fair, similar stuff happened elsewhere in Canada before so it's no exclusively a problem related to Quebec. I'd have to agree with this statement. But you have to be willing to give a little to get a little, within reason of course... From many of the exchange students I've met and travelling I'm often asked the question about what the deal is with Quebec. I try to explain the historical portion (British beat the French, lost the French colonies, how English Canada screwed over the French after by trying to wipe out the French language, kicking out the Acadians as well and how the rest of the country sometimes sees it, while trying to take an impartial/unbiased view of all this. What they often say is that they don't get how they can still be upset over a war that was lost 300 or so years ago. Anyways this is not the place to debate history. I obviously have a different perspective since I'm from neither a French nor English background. Anyways here's my take on different Canadian cities: Toronto: very multicultural, has everything you could want in a big city, w/o many of the big city problems ala NYC or LA. Decent subway system and public transportation which is in need of more funding to modernize it. People often say that people are rude here and that no 1 talks. Ya its true that people keep to themselves and are more reserved. Don't quite understand why people say that it's "too big" or that people are in a rush all the time. You only become part of the rat race if you let yourself IMO. Montreal: only visited for a few days. Nice place. Cold as hell though. Old Montreal was nice and would def. like to return at some point. Notre Dame is a nice place. Tried to communicate in French but my French was limited at the time. The underground city is really nice. One a side note though and I don't mean this as an insult or criticism though, after having travelled to Europe, I don't understand how people can say Montreal is European, besides some of the architecture in Vieux Montreal. I guess some of the social programs which are put in place by govt. are similar to some of those in Europe, but it's obviously different when you only read about it and not have lived there. You guys close the shops up too early! My only beef. lol Also people are horrible drivers here. I think I remember reading that Montreal had the worst drivers in the country. From my experience, it's true it seems. Not that drivers in TO are much better... Moncton: this place was very boring. I was here for 5 weeks when I went to the Explore program at UdeM. Seems like a commuter city to me, but hey at least the lobster is inexpensive and good. No Sunday shopping! But when you want to cross the road, people actually stop for you. This was a huuge shock! Halifax: Only spent 2 days here, so I can't really say much. Nightlife looked good, but I wasn't dressed for it (was actually wearing my TFC kit that night lol) so I couldn't get in anywhere. Not very multicultural, but still a nice place I'd like to return to. Charlottetown: seems like city for old people. Sell the famous PEI dirt shirt. But can't say much besides the traffic was virtually non-existant. Anyways, no city in the country is perfect but Montreal, Vancouver and Toronto usually rank among the best cities to live in around the world so they can't be all that bad. lol As for why the rest of the country hates Toronto. this movie offers some insight. Worth checking out. Actually I think many reasons why people dislike 1 region in the country is because we don't travel enough in our country. Let's be honest, it's cheaper for most of us in the east to go to Europe then to go west. Up until the Explore program, I hadn't really met other people from other parts of the country. Need more lines of communication b/w the east, west and north, etc. But this program allowed me to learn from some of the views and way different people live.\ Just my 2 cents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kyam Posted June 27, 2009 Share Posted June 27, 2009 quote:Originally posted by SilverSamurai I'd have to agree with this statement. But you have to be willing to give a little to get a little, within reason of course... From many of the exchange students I've met and travelling I'm often asked the question about what the deal is with Quebec. I try to explain the historical portion (British beat the French, lost the French colonies, how English Canada screwed over the French after by trying to wipe out the French language, kicking out the Acadians as well and how the rest of the country sometimes sees it, while trying to take an impartial/unbiased view of all this. What they often say is that they don't get how they can still be upset over a war that was lost 300 or so years ago. Anyways this is not the place to debate history. I obviously have a different perspective since I'm from neither a French nor English background. Anyways here's my take on different Canadian cities: Toronto: very multicultural, has everything you could want in a big city, w/o many of the big city problems ala NYC or LA. Decent subway system and public transportation which is in need of more funding to modernize it. People often say that people are rude here and that no 1 talks. Ya its true that people keep to themselves and are more reserved. Don't quite understand why people say that it's "too big" or that people are in a rush all the time. You only become part of the rat race if you let yourself IMO. Montreal: only visited for a few days. Nice place. Cold as hell though. Old Montreal was nice and would def. like to return at some point. Notre Dame is a nice place. Tried to communicate in French but my French was limited at the time. The underground city is really nice. One a side note though and I don't mean this as an insult or criticism though, after having travelled to Europe, I don't understand how people can say Montreal is European, besides some of the architecture in Vieux Montreal. I guess some of the social programs which are put in place by govt. are similar to some of those in Europe, but it's obviously different when you only read about it and not have lived there. You guys close the shops up too early! My only beef. lol Also people are horrible drivers here. I think I remember reading that Montreal had the worst drivers in the country. From my experience, it's true it seems. Not that drivers in TO are much better... Moncton: this place was very boring. I was here for 5 weeks when I went to the Explore program at UdeM. Seems like a commuter city to me, but hey at least the lobster is inexpensive and good. No Sunday shopping! But when you want to cross the road, people actually stop for you. This was a huuge shock! Halifax: Only spent 2 days here, so I can't really say much. Nightlife looked good, but I wasn't dressed for it (was actually wearing my TFC kit that night lol) so I couldn't get in anywhere. Not very multicultural, but still a nice place I'd like to return to. Charlottetown: seems like city for old people. Sell the famous PEI dirt shirt. But can't say much besides the traffic was virtually non-existant. Anyways, no city in the country is perfect but Montreal, Vancouver and Toronto usually rank among the best cities to live in around the world so they can't be all that bad. lol As for why the rest of the country hates Toronto. this movie offers some insight. Worth checking out. Actually I think many reasons why people dislike 1 region in the country is because we don't travel enough in our country. Let's be honest, it's cheaper for most of us in the east to go to Europe then to go west. Up until the Explore program, I hadn't really met other people from other parts of the country. Need more lines of communication b/w the east, west and north, etc. But this program allowed me to learn from some of the views and way different people live.\ Just my 2 cents. Good post. Explorer program, I participated in that program myself at UdeM (Montreal, not Moncton). At the time, it was called the Summer Language Bursury Program. My gf was the assistant coordinator for the Province of Ontario, when it became the "Explorer" program. For me, it was a wake up call on how divided we are as a country. Vancouver & Toronto dominated in the program. Believe it or not, some of that same inferiority complex towards Toronto also exists towards Vancouver, in out West. Most folks I know from Red Deer for example would hate Toronto for no particular reason (other than the media), yet, would hate Vancouver because they "give a bad name to the West" whatever that means... Its unfortunate, because sometimes I find Canadian's in their particular reason are more in-tune to their neighbors directly to the South in the US... ie: Seattle\Vancouver, Toronto\NYC or Maritimes\New England, Calgary\Dallas... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saviola7 Posted June 27, 2009 Share Posted June 27, 2009 quote: Montreal:One a side note though and I don't mean this as an insult or criticism though, after having travelled to Europe, I don't understand how people can say Montreal is European, besides some of the architecture in Vieux Montreal. I guess some of the social programs which are put in place by govt. are similar to some of those in Europe, but it's obviously different when you only read about it and not have lived there. You guys close the shops up too early! My only beef. lol ^This is a European trend too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverSamurai Posted June 28, 2009 Share Posted June 28, 2009 quote:Originally posted by kyam Good post. Explorer program, I participated in that program myself at UdeM (Montreal, not Moncton). At the time, it was called the Summer Language Bursury Program. My gf was the assistant coordinator for the Province of Ontario, when it became the "Explorer" program. For me, it was a wake up call on how divided we are as a country. Vancouver & Toronto dominated in the program. Believe it or not, some of that same inferiority complex towards Toronto also exists towards Vancouver, in out West. Most folks I know from Red Deer for example would hate Toronto for no particular reason (other than the media), yet, would hate Vancouver because they "give a bad name to the West" whatever that means... Its unfortunate, because sometimes I find Canadian's in their particular reason are more in-tune to their neighbors directly to the South in the US... ie: Seattle\Vancouver, Toronto\NYC or Maritimes\New England, Calgary\Dallas... Actually we made fun of each other, but there was no this or that place sucks mentality. For the most part people were curious about what other parts of the country were like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverSamurai Posted June 28, 2009 Share Posted June 28, 2009 quote:Originally posted by Saviola7 ^This is a European trend too. Yappers it is. It drove me crazy since their was nothing to do, but whatever, not the end of the world. Maybe I should've said the lifestyle, but it didn't feel like Europe in Montreal. I don't mean that as a put down by any means. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tintin Posted June 28, 2009 Share Posted June 28, 2009 quote:Originally posted by kyam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
REDSequalCANADA Posted June 28, 2009 Author Share Posted June 28, 2009 I think Torontonians could care less what people say about the city because we know how great it is! But when it comes to Vancouver it just seems like they're the younger brother that's mad all the time because Toronto got a car for his B-Day or got to stay out later on a Friday night while Vancouver got a bike andm had to be in bed by 8pm! you know what I mean? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TFCRegina Posted June 28, 2009 Share Posted June 28, 2009 Ok, let's stop the Toronto bashing. There's more important things going on in the world of football. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverSamurai Posted June 28, 2009 Share Posted June 28, 2009 quote:Originally posted by Tintin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpg75 Posted June 28, 2009 Share Posted June 28, 2009 The thing that's lost on people in other parts of Canada is that 90% of Torontonians don't think we're the be all and end all of Canada. Most Torontonians i know love going to Montreal, they think it's a cool city. Vancouver is laid back and has good bud, the people out east are really friendly etc. The hairbrained "Toronto, centre of the Universe" campaign was the child of former Mayor Mel Lastman, the same person who called in the military to clean up the snow. Most Torontonians will remember him as a well intentioned, passionate mayor who was often equally embarrassing with his snake-oil salesman act and delusional ideas of grandeur. Most people i know would never dare say that Toronto is the centre of the universe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
masster Posted June 30, 2009 Share Posted June 30, 2009 I wouldn't call it hatred, but the reason I dislike Toronto is mainly because of its ignorant and self centred citizens. In essence they are Americans lite. Just a small silly example, but you don't know how may times I get voice messages at work from people in Toronto that call me at 9:30am Eastern time and they are flabergasted that I am not in the office. How inconsiderate of me for not being at my desk at 6:30am to take your call. This doesn't happen with my contacts in Montreal or Atlantic Canada. To use a soccer example, Mr. Duane Rollins, who insinuated that Vancouver winning the Voyageur's Cup would have been a bad thing for CANADIAN soccer. He didn't say Toronto soccer or soccer in Ontario; he said Canadian soccer. As if sitting in front of his keyboard in Mississauga gives him a great read on the pulse of the entire soccer nation. I'm not saying the statement is right or wrong, the fact that he would even choose to make such a statement from his all encompassing position of authority is proof enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loyola Posted June 30, 2009 Share Posted June 30, 2009 Can I have a link to the Duane Rollins article. I can't seem to be able to find it at the moment. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kyam Posted June 30, 2009 Share Posted June 30, 2009 quote:Originally posted by masster I wouldn't call it hatred, but the reason I dislike Toronto is mainly because of its ignorant and self centred citizens. In essence they are Americans lite. Just a small silly example, but you don't know how may times I get voice messages at work from people in Toronto that call me at 9:30am Eastern time and they are flabergasted that I am not in the office. How inconsiderate of me for not being at my desk at 6:30am to take your call. This doesn't happen with my contacts in Montreal or Atlantic Canada. To use a soccer example, Mr. Duane Rollins, who insinuated that Vancouver winning the Voyageur's Cup would have been a bad thing for CANADIAN soccer. He didn't say Toronto soccer or soccer in Ontario; he said Canadian soccer. As if sitting in front of his keyboard in Mississauga gives him a great read on the pulse of the entire soccer nation. I'm not saying the statement is right or wrong, the fact that he would even choose to make such a statement from his all encompassing position of authority is proof enough. The time zone example is funny, because I use to work at IBM (before I moved to Ottawa) in Toronto, and we were pretty attentive of this sort of thing. Being from the West, that's something I always think about, but Management put up signs in every conference room, telling people not to call whatever time zone before certain times. But I've seen people make the same mistake here in Ottawa, trying to call Federal Regional Offices in Alberta at 9AM Eastern. Again, Toronto has a bad rap, so you look out for that sort of thing over when they call. But I don't think its limited to Toronto. With both US\Canadian Capital Cities, and both the New York and Toronto stock exchanges in the North East, its only natural that people in the East operate in Eastern timezones, because business hours are centered around the Eastern Time Zone. What I found annoying was when Telemarketers make this mistake... I've had somebody from Toronto call me in Alberta at 6:30AM... subsequently, I had a Bell telemarketer call me from Moncton to Toronto at 7:30AM... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
masster Posted June 30, 2009 Share Posted June 30, 2009 quote:Originally posted by loyola Can I have a link to the Duane Rollins article. I can't seem to be able to find it at the moment. Thanks. http://www.24thminute.com/2009/06/sober-second-thoughts-cigar-is-just.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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