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You'd have to be shallow to judge a city by its most famous people. This flaw becomes immediately obvious when you cconsider that Rob Ford actually elevates Toronto by that criterium.
Rob Ford has had more media coverage than anybody from Toronto that I ever remember in the U.S. I certainly wouldn't doubt he is the #1 person associated with Toronto currently.
But isn't it always the problem when, even if a Canadian is famous internationally, people would assume that they are Americans? On top of that how many people associate a famous person with a city anyway? Plently of influential people have spent time in these two cities I am sure. Only in these forums where people like to claim things or people to a certain city. The only ones I can think of, that I would associate with Philly and Toronto immediately are probably Edgar Allen Poe and Glenn Gould.
And not Benjamin Franklin?Or Rocky?(fictional but the association is there)
Rob Ford has had more media coverage than anybody from Toronto that I ever remember in the U.S. I certainly wouldn't doubt he is the #1 person associated with Toronto currently.
I think a case could be made to the contrary when judging who the people of that city voluntarily choose to lead them.
Do you think people voted Rob Ford because of his recent issues? No, they elected him as a right-wing mayor who would cut down on excessive spending. Recent approval rating are questionable; they don't match what I have seen anecdotally; the sample size might have been too small, etc.
Judging a place by its politicians (even when democratically elected) is one of the most ignorant things anyone can do, because as I'm sure we all know, most politicians are professional liars. The fact that Rob Ford hasn't resigned yet is proof that he's in this for his own personal gains, and not because he cares about the city or its residents. He recently got his own TV show, and a YouTube show out of all the publicity; go figure
Jane Jacobs was from Greenwich Village in NY and lived there until she was arrested in '68. Afterward, she moved to Toronto and continued contributing works there until she died.
The only reason Rob Ford won was because there were 3 well known candidates running for mayor; two of them were left of centre and Rob Ford was right of centre, therefore the left wing vote was split, which allowed Rob Ford to win the election with 47% of the popular vote.
There are loads of famous people from Toronto (such as Mike Myers, Jim Carrey, Neil Young, etc.) but in my previous list I chose to list some who are part of the cultural fabric of the city as opposed to those who started their careers in Toronto and moved on to Hollywood after they became successful.
David Cronenberg films and sets almost all of his films in Toronto.
Degrassi is another example of a well known cultural icon that remains firmly Torontonian.
Jane Jacobs may have moved here from New York, but she certainly became a celebrated and proud Torontonian right up to her death.
While I have no doubt this list may resonate with Torontonians, of the items, I've bolded those I've heard of. Rob Ford, along with the CN tower are the only things I associate with the city of Toronto, however.
If you like Feist, I recommend you check out Broken Social Scene. She performed with them for a little while and they're pretty good.
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