It’s rare to see tourist organizations from different cities come together to promote each other’s destination. And when it’s Toronto’s and Montreal’s tourism bureaus coming together, some might be tempted to say it’s downright traitorous.
EXPLAINER GRABS A QUICKIE WITH THE LATEST TOURISM CAMPAIGN.
1 Whoa, what’s going on here? This looks a little too sexy to have anything to do with Toronto. In fact, this scene took place in Montreal recently inside a "mobile confessional booth" that was parked downtown. Tourism Toronto and Tourism Montreal have teamed up to invite residents of each city to enter the booth and confess their love for the other, forbidden town. Their confessions are then uploaded to QuickieWithMontreal.com (for Torontonians) or PtiteViteavecToronto.com (for Montrealers). The goal is to have fun with the idea that Montrealers and Torontonians feel like it’s taboo to admit they enjoy each other’s city – and of course to encourage all of us to travel to the other city. As a result, the tourism agencies are inviting us to "cheat" on Montreal with Toronto, and vice versa. "We’re pleasantly surprised at how many people want to participate because there’s this stereotype around the fact that Montrealers don’t want to visit Toronto – or at least they won’t say it out loud," says Emmanuelle Legault, director of communications for Tourism Montreal. But lots of Torontonians come here to watch hockey games, don’t they? "They definitely come with a different attitude," she says. (Leafs suck.)
2 This Montrealer is all cozied up in a special bathrobe provided inside the booth. (Since when do people confess in bathrobes?) When the mobile booth pulled up on Ste-Catherine, 70 people took time to go in, confess their hidden love for the T-dot and, as a result, get a chance to win a free two-night trip to the forbidden place of their desires. People are invited to go online and vote for the confession they like best. The most popular from each city will win the prize. In Toronto, over 80 people were willing to confess their love for us. So what do the Montrealers say they like about Toronto? "A lot of them talk about the restaurants, the Beaches and the shopping," Legault says. "It’s not what we would expect of the perception of Toronto."
3 comments
Wow, how scandalous? Most Montrealers, myself included revile everything about Toronto (save maybe for the shopping) – the jingoism of their arrogant hockey fans, the city’s exaggerated sense of self-importance and entitlement even the frenzied pace of T.O. which, if you ask me, is almost American. While I won’t dispute that it’s a cheekily fun concept, you wouldn’t catch me dead in one of those mobile confessionals singing Hogtown’s praises! I’m not, however, surprised by the converse – Torontonians would, doubtless, love to indulge their clandestine love-affair with our fair city…after all, who could say no to St Viateur Bagels, Schwarz’s smoked meat, our amazing and eclectic nightlife and, of course, our strip joints!!!
Montrealers who bash Toronto are being totally irrational. I lived in Toronto from 1989 to 1992 and it was like a breath of fresh air. For a summer-loving person, winters there were a lot milder with less snow.. You can grow delicate fruit like peaches around Toronto but not near Montreal. I was surprised at the bilingual Ontario driver’s license and health insurance card which are French only in Quebec which is paranoid about the English language here. I only had to file a single income tax declaration in Ontario and ended up with far more disposable income Toronto is proud of its sleek modern streetcars which Montreal got rid off in 1959. Toronto earns respect as the provincial capital while Montreal has to kowtow to Quebec City which often neglects its needs. Torontonians live longer on average than Montrealers. Toronto boasts larger expanses of green spaces like the Don Valley. Toronto has a nice zoo which Montreal lacks. Torontonians endure less stress in the daily commute because they are not stuck on bridges like many living in the outlying suburbs of Montreal. Toronto still has the Blue Jays as a professional baseball team which won two world series while the Montreal Expos are dead and buried. Montreal may have won more Stanley Cups than Toronto but many francophone hockey players turn their noses at playing for our beloved Canadiens. Danny Briere signed instead with Philadelphia which trounced Montreal in the semi-finals of the Stanley Cup Final this year . Many contests with interesting prizes are off limits to Quebec residents because of onerous regulations. Some Canadian financial institutions do not offer their services in the province of Quebec because of the hassles involved. I have been dismayed at the number of times I have read “Not Available in Quebec” in the fine print. I feel I live in a banana republic. It is not surprising many Quebec residents have escaped to Toronto which has become the financial and cultural hub of Canada.
Well this a pretty gimmicky way to try and elicit a false confession from us died in the wool city-slickers. True Montrealers would never be sucked into the cultural and sporting void that is Toronto – the Raptors – what kind of name is that for a basketball team and don’t even get me started on the Leafs or what they pass off as night life or the arts. Fair-weather city folk though might be tempted by the prospect of a free trip to TO and, if so, that’s fine by me. After all a weekend there will make them appreciate just how unique and world class our city is in contrast to the ghetto wasteland that is metropolitan Toronto.