Quote:
Originally Posted by Acajack
In spite of what's been said by others, I don't think it's entirely true that the whole story is that of freewheeling Toronto being held back by the teetotalling rest of Ontario. Only very small parts of Ontario would have very prohibitionist views on alcohol and Toronto has by far the largest population and the most seats in the legislature, and even moreso when you count the GTA and Golden Horseshoe. Attitudes towards alcohol aren't significantly different in Ottawa (certainly not, being right next to Quebec), London or Windsor, or even Kingston, than they are in Toronto.
Plus the City of Toronto has some authority itself when it comes to regulating alcohol use, and hasn't really loosened things up that much itself.
Generally speaking, Toronto can best be described as a "sensible" city. For a lot of people, that's actually a good thing.
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Exactly. Toronto’s strict zoning (that is, essential ban outside the entertainment district) of clubs, it’s municipally enforces 2am bar closure time, and its strict noise by-laws are a locally controlled part of that conservatism that doesn’t seem to have any sort of pressure to change. Provincial alcohol regulations are just a cherry on top that realistically if Toronto pushed to change it could probably change.
The only reason things are finally loosening up a bit is we have an ex-hash dealer as a premier now who views alcohol regs as stupid and overly burdensome, and even then he can only enact small incremental changes to them. The government is facing big pushback just to sell booze in corner stores and the “legalization” of tailgating (still not the same as American tailgating) was roundly mocked in the Toronto media.
Saying Toronto’s conservatism is long gone is just sticking your fingers in your ears and going “lalalala”. It’s there, even if a lot of Toronto’s “scene” manages to flourish despite it.