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Globe & Mail: Montreal a backwater burg?

Ideally, I'd like to see a direct route through the USA from NB to Ontario that doesn't need to touch Quebec at all. However, you generally need to take the I95 south almost to Boston before you start heading north-west to Cornwall, adding hours to the trip vs. the Quebec route.
 
Admiral Beez said:
If they'd avoid threats of referendums and political upheaval they'd be better able to sell the city as a place to invest, work, live and play. I've read that during the last referendum that many companies had their inventories and offices ready to move west to Ontario for fear of being nationalized by Mr. Parizeau, who then blamed the loss on "money (i.e. Jews) and ethnics (brown/black folks)". I've always wondered what our Governor General, being from Haiti and connected to the sovereignty movement, thought of Mr. Parizeau's comments.
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She was probably disgusted with them as most quebeckers were. In any case, as much as i think what he said was abhorrent and indefensible, it's a huge stretch to imagine that "money" referred to Jews. More likely it referred to... money. Frankly there is absolutely no evidence to indicate that Parizeau was talking specifically about Jews. That's a bit of wishful thinking on the part of certain people who like to portray all French-speakers as bloodthirsty racists.

Admiral Beez said:
Whenever I drive from Fredericton to Toronto through Montreal, I am always struck by how much of a dump Montreal is, and I repeatedly wish that the trans-Canada highway went around the city, instead of through it.
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Right... because most cities are absolutely gorgeous from the highway. I suppose you've never actually been off the Metropolitan to actually explore some of this city's neighbourhoods.
 
Kilgore Trout said:
In any case, as much as i think what he said was abhorrent and indefensible, it's a huge stretch to imagine that "money" referred to Jews. More likely it referred to... money. Frankly there is absolutely no evidence to indicate that Parizeau was talking specifically about Jews. That's a bit of wishful thinking on the part of certain people who like to portray all French-speakers as bloodthirsty racists.
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A "huge" stretch? Not according to the Quebec and Canadian Jewish Councils, both of which immediately understood what was meant (in their opinion's anyway).
 
Kilgore Trout said:
Right... because most cities are absolutely gorgeous from the highway. I suppose you've never actually been off the Metropolitan to actually explore some of this city's neighbourhoods.
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Wrong. I've stayed overnight at downtown Montreal hotels on several occasions, and have walked from one end of the downtown core to the other, and I stand-by my comments that IMO Montreal is a dump, with grafitti, litter and begging vagrants abound, and roads in terrible shape. Toronto's not perfect by any means, but I'd rather live in TO than Montreal anyday.
 
And you can't judge a city purely on its downtown core. There are plenty of fantastic urban neighbourhoods in Montreal that are in better shape than its downtown.
 
ganjavih said:
And you can't judge a city purely on its downtown core. There are plenty of fantastic urban neighbourhoods in Montreal that are in better shape than its downtown.
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Well said, my experience of Montreal is limited to its downtown core and the outskirts along Hwy 20. Perhaps one day I'll get to see more of the scene.
 
Not that Montreal's downtown core is even bad in the first place... Rue Ste-Catherine is more vibrant than any street in Toronto. And of course, Toronto has nothing comparable to Old Montreal. The extensive inner city neighbourhoods surrounding the downtown are also much nicer (and much denser) than Toronto's.
 
In Pep'rJack's judgment, I guess Montreal'd be a dump because it's got too many Daly-type commercial blocks that look like ass;-)
 
It's hard to argue with subjective observations. I frankly don't see how any part of downtown Montreal could be dumpier than downtown Toronto. Is Ste. Catherine dirtier than Yonge Street? I don't think so.

Anyway, this kind of bickering is pointless.
 
doady said:
Not that Montreal's downtown core is even bad in the first place... Rue Ste-Catherine is more vibrant than any street in Toronto. And of course, Toronto has nothing comparable to Old Montreal. The extensive inner city neighbourhoods surrounding the downtown are also much nicer (and much denser) than Toronto's.
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Rue Ste-Catherine is definitely busy, but Toronto more than holds its' own. Have you ever walked down Queen, Yonge or Bloor on a sunny weekend afternoon?
 
Maybe Toronto and Montreal could mass market themselves to tourists as a sort of North American "Tale of Two Cities" destination?
 
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