"People in Toronto are soulless, one-eyed corporate zombies," Joey Keithley, of the Vancouver punk band D.O.A., says in the film, "Let's All Hate Toronto."
The 73-minute film, which premieres at Toronto's Hot Docs documentary festival next week, follows a character called Mister Toronto, who embarks on a cross-Canada trip brandishing a sign that reads "Toronto Appreciation Day" and steels himself for the onslaught.
His tour leads from Newfoundland on the Atlantic Coast to the Pacific city of Vancouver, where feelings against Toronto -- usually acknowledged as the country's financial center and the cultural capital of English Canada -- run deepest of all.
"There is something different (about hating Toronto). People are more passionate about it," filmmaker and co-director Albert Nerenberg said in an interview.
Well, let's not sugar coat it--hating Toronto is apparently quite common in Canada . I had no idea. Perhaps this goes a long way to explaining why those homegrown Canadian jihadis wanted to wreak havoc in Canada . Maybe it wasn't Islamism that motivated them but simple Toronto hatred. Never can tell.
I ran across this article and did a quick search, and found a comment on some site that explained that Toronto is hated because it is a socialist haven or something like that. No disrespect intended, but doesn't that pretty much describe all of Canada ? And why would Canadians object on that basis? I suspect an American left that comment. Or a Newfie at best.
Let me just say that this knowledge will come in handy the next time I'm in a Toronto bar and some Torontonian gives me any attitude about me being an American.
I can explain that we are all Torontonians, now.
