2009-11-01

Montreal: Canada's Rome

In honor of the civic elections in Quebec, I present a quote from one of Montreal's great Mayors, Jean Drapeau. In response to the rise of Toronto becoming the business capital of Canada he said,

"Let Toronto become Milan. Montréal will always be Rome."

It's an interesting comment.
Posted by T.C.

6 comments:

  1. Man of Roma11/02/2009

    That’s interesting and such a statement can have many meanings (won’t get into that.)

    In many countries there is a ‘Rome’ and a ‘Milan’, a city of the soul and a city of the dough. Not in France though. Paris is Rome and Milan at the same time.

    Of course these are broad generalizations. Milan, Toronto (or Barcelona) are not without a soul, and Rome, Madrid and Montreal are not without an economy.

    ReplyDelete
  2. T.C.11/02/2009

    Indeed, the implications of the Milan/Rome axis are deep my friend!

    I don't know if many countries have a Rome/Milan. Many countries are too small to have two great cities - like Northern Europe. Only Germany has other cities than Berlin. Although I don't know if Munich is the second city.

    England has just London. But the UK has a couple.

    The United States has many. And Canada is lucky. We have three world class cities if we consider Vancouver too! Calgary is up and coming, though I don't know if it can ever match the Big Three.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Man of Roma11/03/2009

    And Winnipeg? Maybe too small and parochial. I knew a lady from there.

    ReplyDelete
  4. T.C.11/03/2009

    Don't know what you mean by parochial. Quebec society as a whole is parochial. Montreal is merely an enclave within the province.

    While Winnipeg has contributed its fair share of great Canadians, no, it's not generally described as a great metropolis. Calgary would probably be #4.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Realtor from Toronto11/04/2009

    Yep, in many countries there is a "Rome" and a "Milan". I never thought of Toronto as "Milan", though. And why are we naming our cities by Italian cities? Why exactly Italy?

    Julie

    ReplyDelete
  6. T.C.11/04/2009

    Hi Julie, Drapeau chose those two cities. Perhaps because they best exemplify our situation. He wanted to make clear of Montreal's eminence and what better way than to use Rome as an example? That's my guess anyway.

    Toronto as Milan makes sense to me.

    ReplyDelete

Mysterious and anonymous comments as well as those laced with cyanide and ad hominen attacks will be deleted. Thank you for your attention, chumps.

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)