opinion

Montreal and its suburbs hold just over 4.6 million people.

Pop quiz: What is Canada’s second largest city?

Montreal, of course. According to Statistics Canada, the city and its suburbs hold just over 4.6 million people. That’s as big as 1½ Greater Vancouvers, or 2½ Calgarys.

The numbers don’t lie, but their context comes with an asterisk. Within the province, Montreal is imagined as Quebec’s metropolis, not Canada’s second city. In the rest of Canada, a similar outlook holds; news coverage tends to present the place and its people as a “them” rather than an “us.” It’s only a half-hour drive from Ontario to the outskirts of Montreal, but Calgary and Vancouver are psychologically closer.

Thirty years ago last week, a bare majority of Quebeckers voted No, and the federalist fo

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