lil rant:
Moving to Toronto made me learn a lot of things, and it also made me realize the privilege that people living around the biggest city in Canada have and are ultimately unaware of.
I grew up in Chelmsford, located in Northern Ontario. Moving to Toronto was like moving to a completely different province.
People’s values are different because Toronto is so diverse in cultures and occupations, people value different things. In Northern Ontario most people share the same values because they come from the same background, have similar jobs in popular fields like healthcare (more specifically old age care), teaching, mining and forestry.
For me, the biggest difference was lifestyle.
Inter generational trauma is a big thing in Sudbury. One of the contributing factors is the high number of Indigenous people, especially children and victims of the residential school systems that never got proper resources or reconciliation. Another is that Sudbury is built on immigration yet has never had anything to sustain itself. Sudbury was founded in the 1880’s, built up quickly because of the discovery of minerals that brought French Quebecois and Eastern European immigrants to move to the area. Problem with that is, the town or people didn’t receive any tax money from the mining companies until the 1970’s so everyone was poor lol. Sudbury is also an environmental disaster because of the acid rain created by the Smokestack but that’s a whole other story.
In Northern Ontario, there isn’t much job diversity in what you could really do. Everyone is about in the same financial situation. Jobs and values are more traditional. You take care of your family when you get older, you help the community, people are friendly and familiar with eachother, respect is not earned, it’s given automatically (Something I’ve heard a lot of people in the GTA say that respect is earned?!). All this to say, alot of people think the same and literally are the same. Chelmsford is about 20% metis, 30% French Canadian, 40% Canadian and 10% other. There is no diversity. (Source: trust me bro)
I was not aware of racism until I moved to Toronto. I learned racism moving here. Because when I grew up, those stereotypes about other cultures didn’t exist because most people aren’t even aware that people of other skin tones have a different culture than them. There was one black family and one Chinese family in my town where I grew up, and they lived like everyone else so they weren’t really treated differently, and when they were other people in the community would try to help.
A great example of how immigration is seen in Sudbury is the nightlife. The main country of origin for immigrants in Sudbury is India. If a Sudbury guy sees an Indian person at a bar, 8/10 times they will take a picture together and party. You go to the gas station and a Indian dude is scanning your items? You take a picture with the Indian man, share your contact info and then show your other friends and/or your parents your new friend. Usually that’s what happens but if there is another outcome it will be that literal hate crime is being committed, there is no in between.
While this is great, Sudbury can also be very racist and people from different cultures have to face so many other issues that people in the GTA don’t deal with. Sudbury is full of extremes, either you’re educated or you’re not. I as a white girl can’t speak on issues related to racism, but in university I was told by a girl that I should « check my privilege » referring to my race.
My personal opinion is that racism is a privilege, and is so normalized in Toronto that people don’t actually realize how bias to race they actually are.
My main issue with her statement is that she grew up in Ajax, 30ish minutes from Toronto. She grew up with other people of her culture and other people that looked like her. There are and were resources for all types of people in Ajax when she grew up. People of color in Sudbury don’t have that. They are truly at a disadvantage because of their race, ethnicity and/or culture. The GTA is so diverse, there’s a community and also resources for everyone. That isn’t the reality up North and in most of Canada.
Ever since moving I’ve gotten:
Addiction counseling at a student rate
Dbt group therapy counseling
A Psychologist
A Psychiatrist
Education through a women in Trades program funded by the government
These are things I can’t get in Sudbury. The north also lacks ressources for newcomers, the homeless and immigrants in general. Life is hard in Sudbury if you didn’t grow up there or with the culture.
When I moved I was faced with my biggest issue: what type of life did I want to live?
If I moved back to Sudbury, I would live a peaceful life with a middle class job as a firefighter with my then boyfriend. Then get married, buy a house, have kids, maybe get divorced once or twice, have the same job for 40 years, suffer of the Sudbury special (either abuse, alcoholism/drug addiction and/or crime) This is the life most people end up living. Not even kidding. This is the northern Ontario dream.
Or I could stay in Southern Ontario, finish my studies, and then work? Possibly start a career in politics, start my own non-profit or business. Maybe find someone? I’d Live alone and be away from family. But I could become a global terrorist and start my own cult? I can do anything I want really, but mainly try to make a name for myself.
With Southern Ontario there are so many opportunities and paths I can take.
The biggest lesson I learned in Toronto was friends. In Sudbury, you’re around the same people for your entire life. Your friends from elementary school are still your friends when you die. My grandma has known all her close friends for at least 60 years. In Toronto, it was the complete opposite, people don’t stay your entire life, they’re there for certain phases, and falling out is so common. Since highschool, I’ve only lost one friend in Sudbury. Since being in Toronto, I’ve been part of multiple friend groups and people, lost people who I thought were my best friends just to be told that the friendship is over, and that’s okay too. It’s just different, but it took me longer than others to realize.
Conclusion?
I blabbered a lot in this post but all this to say that It’s very interesting to see the differences between cities and how it makes people behave. Thanks for reading!
xoxo, chloé rodrigue
