Quote:
Originally Posted by isaidso
It's all relative. Canadian provinces are very similar from one to the next compared to a US state or another country; you know you're in Canada instantly. That said, there's bound to be variation from region to region in a nation wider than the Atlantic Ocean.
Even within a province one finds variation when it comes to brands people are loyal to.
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It's the classic Canadian debate - is Quebec really *more* different? My sense after living more than half my life in the ROC (almost like an anglo) and close to the other half in Quebec is that it is quite a bit *more* different.
There are even little things that are apparent when living in a two-province metro. If you go for breakfast in Ottawa all of the baskets with jam, etc. will have marmelade. Like they will in Red Deer and Glace Bay. In Gatineau they don't. But in Gatineau they all have Grenache Caramel, just like they do in Montreal, Baie-Comeau and Gaspé. But in Ottawa they don't.
OK, in Shawville, Quebec they probably have marmelade, and in St-Quentin, New Brunswick I betcha they have Grenache Caramel. But these are only minor exceptions that confirm the rule.
Another example, some time ago on a day that was a holiday in Quebec (all grocery stores closed) but not in Ontario my wife went grocery shopping in Ottawa. Among other things she was looking for was stuff for a Swiss-style raclette. Well, she couldn't find the requisite cheese anywhere in Ottawa grocery stores. In Quebec, you can even get it at Costco and Wal-Mart. Same goes for merguez North African sausages - nope. She had to go to specialized international cheese and butcher shops to find them. Whereas in Quebec even most small-town grocery stores have this stuff. (Of course, there is stuff in Ottawa grocery stores you can't find in Gatineau as well - like Campbell's Cream of Mushroom soup for some reason...)
Other interesting examples:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1547758/posts
http://www.radio-canada.ca/actualite/v2/lepicerie/niveau2_5435.shtml#
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