Sunday, April 26, 2009

Whither "Regional Identity"?

If there's a region of Canada which might be likened to a geographical satellite dish, it's Southern Ontario. Traditionally both the centre of Canada and one of the most densely populated and media-saturated regions on the continent, Southern Ontario therefore embodies one of those paradoxes that may well define the English-Canadian experience. As a prominent media centre, it tends to set the agenda for national identity, yet as a prominent media receptacle has precious little identity of its own. Case in point: Southern Ontario may be the only part of Canada that never speaks of having a "regional identity." When the regions are thus referred to, it means anywhere but the area roughly contained between Ottawa and Windsor (G).

Geoff Pevere and Greig Dymond, musing about Canadian regional identity (and Jim Carrey) in Mondo Canuck: A Canadian Pop Culture Odyssey (A).

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