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| Montreal in 1970, when I was away |
WestVan was a sleepy place in 1970 and soon we were getting our entertainment from the TV, including the news, which showed frequent and exciting images from Montreal: an incredible record-breaking snowstorm, the dramatic and unexpected Canadiens' playoff victory and finally a real humdinger of a news story, the October Crisis.
We found ourselves enthralled by news of our longtime home. My mom missed the city and we moved back to Montreal after a year or two.
The experience demonstrated that Montreal and the province of Quebec is a deep source of fascination for many in the rest of Canada and we never seem short of newsy drama to give them their fix.
An acquaintance living in Vancouver was telling me that in the early 90s Vancouverites were always bugging him for insight about the whole Meech Lake standoff.
Countless others who have lived here have also surely long been deemed experts on the Oka Crisis, ice storm, floods, referendums, language laws and other craziness.
Part of the fun of living in Montreal is that you feel that you're part of important stuff, and therefore important yourself.
It's hard to argue that the drama has been a winner in terms of attracting populations and investment, as interprovincial emigration has long been the trend (except for a couple of years around 2000).
But the relentless stimulation and controversy attracts a certain profile of person to the city, in the form of excitement-seekers from the rest of the country who are sick of boring old Canada. Some of those are bright, creative people and some others are just twisted hellraisers (hello Luka M.).
We should strive to be less interesting.
I'd be quite happy to see some quiet, functional years without natural disasters, political crises, and other natural and man-made nonsense for a while. Let's all concentrate on getting richer instead.