Or should that be ‘Great Dames’ – the two women from Denmark who created quite a stir with their reproachful remarks on the quality of our cities.
Andy Prest, a North Shore News columnist, thinks Complaining Dane may just have a point
So Denmark, our Canadian cities aren’t good enough for you, eh? …
Danish tourist Holly Chabowski wrote an open letter to the Ottawa Citizen and several Canadian politicians following a five-week trip that she and her girlfriend took through Eastern Canada. Their complaint was that the Canadian cities they visited weren’t livable places, they were parking lots.
“As humans trying to enjoy Canada’s major cities (Toronto, Montreal, Quebec City, Ottawa and Halifax) we were treated like second-class citizens compared to cars…. We heard that the mayor of Toronto, Rob Ford, is actually tearing up bicycle lanes to make way for more cars!”
First of all, Danish humans: let’s not go judging the entire country based on the actions of Rob Ford. That’s like judging the Louvre based on a huge turd someone left in the gift shop washroom. …
Hoo boy, how unkind.
More comments, with a North Shore perspective, here.
Speaking of Danes….if you have the chance, watch the Danish TV series Borgen, about poliitical intrigue and the media that covers it in Denmark. (Borgen is the Danish parliament.) It’s as good, or better, than House of Cards….but not yet available on Netflix!)
To which you might add The Bridge and The Killing.
It strikes me that these women must not be very well travelled. Or just terminally smug.
I wonder if they tried to bicycle between those cities?
(Toronto, Montreal, Quebec City, Ottawa and Halifax)
… but it looks so close on the map!!
Canadians, you are so insulted because on a deeper level you know it’s true; we are a country obsessed with car culture. (mind you quebekers, you can skip that comment).