If you live in Thunder Bay, Toronto, Vancouver or even Tuktoyaktuk, your community has just been served. In fact, if you live anywhere in Canada, other than Calgary, you are a citizen of a second-rate city.
Last week when Stephen Harper declared that Calgary was the best city in the country he may have been temporarily swept away in the emotion of the Stampede.
Maybe he just blurted out those words in a sugar high after eating too much cotton candy. In that case we can give him the benefit of the doubt.
They say it’s natural to stick up for your hometown and perfectly healthy, too. We all do it so what’s the big deal, right? It’s not as if the prime minister is playing ¬fav¬our¬ites. Still, it seems like a poor choice of words for a national leader.
In the first place, Mr. Harper was born and raised in Ontario before moving out west. He now lives in Ottawa. Even If Calgary is close to his heart he might be stretching things a bit by calling that city his hometown. I’m sure he had his reasons for snubbing the rest of Canada.
The PM’s riding is in Calgary and in the last election 70 per cent of Calgarians voted for him. There’s no doubt he is looking forward to a repeat performance next time around.
What else was he supposed to say to the city that adores him? It would be nice, however, if he had an occasional good word for the rest of us.
Bob Rae readily admits that his home town is Toronto but he quickly adds that as a national leader he considers all of Canada to be his home. Tom Mulcair was less passionate when he said he works hard for all Canadian cities, but both opposition leaders were more statesmanlike with their words than the prime minister.
We’ve seen enough of Stephen Harper to know that he chooses his words very carefully and he calculates every move. We have also seen how mean-spirited he can be so it is not surprising that his comments upset some people.
But what if he is right and Calgary really is the best city in Canada? I checked some recent polls.
On a list of best cities in Canada published last month, Ottawa topped the list. Calgary was listed as 14th and for information purposes only, Thunder Bay was a solid 64th out of 190 municipalities. The best place to raise kids is Strathcona County (also in Alberta) with Calgary at No. 3 and our hometown at No. 34.
The best place to find work is, once again, Strathcona County. Calgary is close at No. 4 and Thunder Bay lags behind at No. 64. If you’re planning to retire then Kingston is No. 1, Calgary is No. 72 and here in the northwest we are a disappointing No. 78.
Calgary tops the list in none of these categories. What was the PM thinking?
As it turned out I was in the perfect spot to do some field research. Just when Steve was at his pancake-flippin’, cowboy hat-wearin’, Calgary-boostin’ best, I was also in Calgary hanging out with family and other average Canadians during Stampede week.
While I was there I read in the paper that I was in the best city in Canada.
Well, let me see. The weather in Calgary was sunny and hot. When I checked the weather it was also sunny and hot in most other Canadian cities.
No advantage there.
Local people we met were friendly and helpful just like the people in Dryden, Brandon and Swift Current.
I find most Canadians to be quite pleasant and that includes right here in Thunder Bay. Regardless of what the prime minister might think or say, individual Canadians from all cities enjoy a global reputation as good, honest citizens of the world.
Maybe I’m being too sensitive about this.
It’s just that Stephen Harper is a national leader on the world stage and I expect his vision to extend farther than his own backyard.
And it would be nice if he stopped treating the rest of the country like his embarrassing nerd cousin.
I enjoyed my visit to Calgary even before I was told what a great city it was. I also liked all the other cities and towns we passed along the way. Now that I’m back home I honestly can’t think of a better place to be.
Most Canadians feel the same way.
