Poll suggests that across Canada, Toronto is not well liked

TORONTO – A new poll has confirmed what many people in Toronto already knew – Canadians across the country generally don’t like Toronto.  

According to the survey of 2,345 people conducted by Leger Marketing on behalf of the National Capital Commission and the Association of Canadian Studies, Toronto is the least-liked city in Toronto.  

What is it about Toronto that people don’t like?   

Global News spoke to Mr. Toronto, Rob Spence, producer of the documentary ‘Let’s all hate Toronto,’ about why people don’t like Toronto, what Torontonians can do to change the negative perception, and if Torontonians should be proud of their city.  

What makes people dislike Toronto?  

Part of it is, if you are in Vancouver and you’re watching Hockey Night in Canada – which your taxes go to – and you got a team who is usually not doing very well being rammed down your throat, because CBC in Toronto decides it’s what should be on. That’s a metaphor for a lot of things, whether it be banking, literature, financing, what’s supposed to be on the news, on all the major news channels, it’s also just – it’s actually the coolest place to live. For what people say about ‘yeah, you know Calgary is great, it’s really up and coming.’ It’s not that great. I’ve actually heard about people brag about 40 year old mini-plaza like its architecture there.  

So Toronto is better than everywhere else in Canada? 

It’s a combination of it being better than everywhere else. But really - Vancouver is a bit of a backwater. So it’s a combination of us actually being a better city than everywhere else but also we have all the control. We’re running all the major television networks, all the magazines, the newspapers, we run the financing, so it’s like ‘what can we do?’  

You think people’s hatred of Toronto comes down to jealousy? 

Yeah, but here is where I think we could make a difference, if you look at New York in the United States, what do they say about New York? I love New York. That’s the most popular expression. They take a certain amount of pride in New York. If you did the same survey in the United States, you wouldn’t get that kind of result. It might be Washington.But in Canada the most popular expression about Toronto is “Toronto Sucks.” There is a direct link in the etymology, I believe, to that and “the Leafs suck.” This is a very hockey driven country – our five dollar bill – is a representation of a movie called ‘The Sweater.’ In the culture of Canada, there is something very tied into the Leafs. Either way, I think if you really get into the nitty-gritty, I think a lot of it has to do with hockey. But if you go back to New York, the Yankees are the champs. And you know what? They kind of deserve it. They have this sports culture there, New York didn’t just manifest itself in a British-y way that Toronto did. We’re a bit – as subjects of the queen – we’re a bit more, follow orders kind of thing, and Toronto just kind of inherited this like a governorship or knighthood. Whereas in the states, New York earned its reputation and the Yankees earned their championship status. Toronto had the most cash in hockey for years but we can’t win. I think if the leafs start winning, that could start changing things. Then they would deserve to be on Hockey night in Canada, instead of having a last place team rammed down some guy in Vancouver’s throat. It’s crystallizes it for a lot of people. First of all, CBC headquarters is constantly ramming Toronto stories down people’s throats but it’s the Leafs -- who are usually in last place – on Hockey Night in Canada. Their team might be in first place, but they have to watch the Leafs and Don Cherry going on and on and on about the leafs and they can’t win. This is a metaphor for the whole Toronto situation. You got banks, publishing houses, whatever area of Canada that you want think about – Toronto controls a lot of it. The question is, did they ever deserve it or did they just inherit it somehow?  

You drove across the country asking people what they don’t like about Toronto, what reasons did they give you?  

You know, that we think we are cooler than them. We think we are New York. That there’s some sort of, the way that Canada built itself, this thin strip across the United States and somehow Toronto became the main railway station where everything is centered, and they feel like it’s not fair. We’re the only real kind of viable, big city worth living in. it’s kind of like being the hot girl at school, people aren’t going to like you.  

But Canada has great things out east and out west. You don’t think it compares to Toronto?  

I think it’s nice for a little quaint holiday. But would you want to live in Halifax? Or Calgary? Let’s be honest. There’s not a lot to do. I mean, one of the reasons they don’t have Halifax in the national news more, because unless you are going to the ‘pumpkin knitting jamboree,’ to cover that, then what are you going to cover? There’s nothing going on there.  

What can people from Toronto do to change this perception? Or should Torontonians not care?  

I think we could start earning it. That would start with the Leafs winning. There is no reason why the Leafs shouldn’t be winning. They should be the New York Yankees of Canada. And you can extend that metaphor to everything else.  

For the time being, can Torontonians be proud of their city?  

Absolutely. They should be proud. And you know, here’s one of the conclusions that we came to in the film ‘Let’s all hate Toronto.’ The big problem, I’d be interested to see what the polls say about Toronto from people from Toronto. It’s like when you are a kid in high school, how do you expect other people to like you, if you don’t like you?  

So we should be proud of our city?  

Yeah, people in Toronto don’t even like their city. They think “oh yeah, you know, it’s kind of pretentious, it’s New York on dial up, its not that great, I’d rather go to New York, or Vancouver is a lot better looking,’ but do you want to move there? ‘No, I have to stay here because of my job.’ The key to Toronto changing itself is to take a little more pride in the city itself, because how can you expect anyone else to like it, if you don’t like it? Just like a kid in high school, its what every parent is telling their teenage kid, have confidence in yourself, just smile, be yourself, be proud of yourself and then other people will follow suit.