If you referred to "the capital" (which you wouldn't much), most Ontarians would assume you meant Ottawa. If you meant Toronto, you'd say "centre of the universe". ;)

Do I even have to answer the "capital" question for Quebec?

Here, it's... complicated.

The administrative region of the province of Quebec for Quebec City is called "Capitale Nationale". It was named by the PQ but even two successive majority Liberal governments have not changed it.

There is a Commission de la capitale nationale du Québec for Quebec City and there is a National Capital Commission for Ottawa.

In common speech you hear both for both cities. "Capitale nationale" for Ottawa is more common in the Ottawa-Gatineau area, less common outside of this area.

The francophone media generally refer to Ottawa as "capitale fédérale" or "capitale du Canada" or "capitale canadienne" as opposed to "capitale nationale".

Quebec City isn't that frequently referred to as "capitale nationale" in the media either. It's usually referred to as "la vieille capitale", which is its traditional nickname, or "la capitale québécoise".

Am I the only one who finds post #1141 unduly mean? Perhaps Craig Oliver is one of those who struggle to pronounce French names (I don't know), but for other reasons it seems very inappropriate to me.

Craig Oliver is also blind but I am not sure if my friend MolsonEx knew that. (Oliver has not actually discussed it that often.)

That said, Oliver is not known on the Hill for being a big fan of Canada's "distinct society" and the people who inhabit it. Just sayin...

Heard it a fair bit in Edmonton... not sure if it was just a passive-aggressive way of lording something over Calgary, or what :haha:

You do hear it a bit in Winnipeg, but only sparingly.

Great little ONF video on everyday life in 1960s, working-class Saint Henri (À Saint-Henri le cinq septembre 1962). Lots of Joual. The dialect of street French in Quebec has not changed much since. Worth a watch. Title song by Raymond Levesque.

• Video Link

Interesting video.

In the names at the start of the film is a veritable who's who of Quebec's cultural intelligentsia from a certain era.

I believe the narrator is the film-maker, Hubert Aquin. He is talking as though he was a Frenchman taking stock of the working classes in St-Henri, but in actual fact he is a Montrealer born and bred. But he studied in Paris for a number of years, and when he made this had only been back in Canada for about 5 years or less I'd say.

This beautiful lady from the DDC speaks in the same way Cathy Jones does when playing a sweet and shy elderly woman from St. John's. Almost bizarre to hear this... Not accent, but pacing... From a young person:

http://ntv.ca/your-community-santa-claus-parade/

A side note: Edmontonians use "capital city" a lot to refer to Edmonton.

Also, the regional government entity in the Victoria area is the Capital Regional District.

I am pretty sure that aside from Toronto, every provincial capital has stuff like "Capital City Ford" and "Capital City Cleaners", "Capital City Bowling Lanes", and that radio station djs regularly say stuff like "it"s 10 degrees in the capital, here's what's making news this hour..."

Makes sense for TO not to with Ottawa in the same province as well. Also makes a lot of sense for Edmonton to it now that you've all pointed it out. Thanks for the info. :-D

That's part of it... another part is weakness of the Ontarian identity.

Or the strength of Ontarians' Canadian identity. As you prefer. ;)

Yeah, last night I happened to be in Ottawa and drove by a Pizza Pizza place that had a sign that said "Ontario's favourite pizza" or something like that.

It was kinda weird :cool:, this appeal to an Ontario collective spirit for commercial reasons. Not something you see that often.

Oddly enough, many of the people I have met with the strongest attachment to Ontario *the province* are Franco-Ontarians. I guess it's probably a self-defence mechanism that comes with having to constantly answer the question "why don't you guys just live in Quebec?" Not just from Québécois people, but also from their anglophone neighbours, and also from people from other countries.

Rare indeed. Who is "Canada's favourite pizza"?

It's been discussed before, and I think it annoys some people, but really the average Southern Ontarian makes very little distinction between Ontario and Canada. Obviously there is awareness of what Ontario the province is and what the other parts of the country are, but the distinction doesn't seem to resonate somehow.

I dunno. The top seller is likely McCain Pizza Pockets or something like that. Unfortunately.

Absolutely correct.

Wendy's has "St. John's FAVOURITE BURGER!", or so their billboards tell me hahaha.

It makes perfect sense to me that southern TO would feel more generally Canadian than Ontarian. From my perspective, many "Canadian" things are southern Ontarian.