Let's all hate Toronto or something

There is a new documentary getting some attention lately. “Let’s all Hate Toronto” features a slick guy dubbed “Mr Toronto” (actually it’s the co-director, Rob Spence) travelling around the country trying to figure out why the rest of Canada hates Toronto so much. They organized bogus “Toronto Appreciation” days and then filmed public reaction. Reasons for Toronto-trashing varied from the unfriendly people to old-fashioned sports rivalries to the fact that many decisions affecting the rest of the country are made in Toronto. One Vancouverite interviewed for the documentary described Torontonians as “soul-less, one-eyed corporate zombies.” I hate to think someone would ever make that assumption about me because I’m none of those things. Although I wouldn’t mind working for a corporation and making a great corporate salary.

I escape some of the indignation other folks from Toronto feel about this documentary because I really don’t consider myself a Torontonian. If you ask me how I define myself, I still feel I am a Cape Bretoner living and working in Toronto. So when other people talk about how much they hate Toronto, I do feel a tad outside their sphere of disgust.

Growing up out east, I never really focused any intense feelings toward Toronto. When I lived in Dominion I resented Sydney a bit, because Sydney is, well, a city. Sydney had malls and Dominion didn’t. When I lived in Antigonish, I resented Halifax a bit, because Halifax was bigger than Antigonish and had several universities containing students who felt they were better than us at St. FX because they lived in Halifax and we lived in, well, Antigonish. When I lived in Windsor, Ontario, I resented Windsor because there was no point in resenting Detroit. Apparently people in Boston resent New York. I think we always resent places that are a little bigger and shinier than our own hometown, especially if folks from that other town also believe they are bigger and shinier.

One account I read about Toronto-hating refers to the concept of “shy/jerk confusion.” (Actually, the person who coined it, Larry David, used a different word for jerk.) This confusion occurs when people mistake someone for a jerk when really they’re just shy. Or in the case of many people living in Toronto, scared. There are a lot of crazy people in Toronto and after living here for a few years, you start to avert eye contact lest you meet the gaze of someone looking to follow you home. I count myself among the scared. However, like many folks living here I warm up once I realize this stranger isn’t a pick-axe wielding murderer.

But Toronto has to take some of the blame. After all, if Hogtown didn’t purport to be the “centre of the universe,” I don’t think anyone would resent us at all.