syn
Senior Member
I agree that the rivalry between Montreal and Toronto which was so evident 15 or 20 years ago seems to have pretty much died down, at least in Toronto. I don't really know enough people in Mtl. to comment from their point of view, but I suspect it's true there also. Some of that rivalry was actually more like nervousness and resentment tracing back to the political situation in Quebec, which obviously has stabilized in recent years.
And I think perhaps some of it had to do with the fact that Toronto was doing so much better economically than Montreal, for several years. I remember how shockingly shabby Ste. Catherine, almost right downtown, looked in the mid 90s. The recession of the early to mid 90s hit Toronto as well, of course, but not to that extent. Now that Montreal is again doing reasonably well economically, would it be fair to say that maybe resentments in Montreal of big bad well-to-do Toronto may have cooled off? In return maybe some in Toronto are more willing to look favourably on Motreal as a great city, as opposed to that uneasiness that I mentioned before. There is perhaps more of a recognition that the cities are "peers" instead of "rivals".
To be honest, I've never known anyone who didn't like Montreal. I did know a lot of people who didn't care for Toronto, but I have noticed recently that a lot of Montrealers are starting to admit that Toronto is becoming quite an interesting place where one can have a good time (even if it is grudgingly).