Quote:
Originally Posted by Acajack
Toronto is not devoid of Canadian cultural traits but by far the most striking one is related to what I might call "societal ethos". In that respect, it is most definitely Canadian. Other more traditional ("put-your-finger-on-it") types of cultural cues that tell you the city is part of a bigger thing called Canada are more discreet and in some cases even marginal.
I am pretty familiar with most of the world's megacities and Toronto is much further down this path that even London, New York City, Paris, etc. In all of these cases there is much more of a reciprocal cultural relationship between the metropolis and the heartland/hinterland. New Yorkers may not eat grits or have luaus but they sure as hell have heard of them and probably have some idea of what they are.
In a sense Toronto may be the closest thing there is to a "globalist capital city". Yes, American culture in Toronto takes up a lot of the space that would normally be occupied by domestic culture, but American culture is also a large part of the diet of globalists around the world regardless of nationality.
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I'm very familiar with New York. It's knowledge and relationship with the US hinterlands is no more or less than Toronto with Canada. I also adore how you put it that Toronto is preoccupied with American culture instead of simply recognizing the significant overlap between Canadian culture (including Quebec) and American. We aren't being American simply by doing things Americans also do. It the subtleties that separate the two cultures and Toronto tends to be quite proud of those things unique to Canadian culture.