How often would a newspaper have to use it for you to consider it common?
Dunno… I’m just unaware of that particular terminology being in use, so I guess it doesn’t crop up often!
Out west, Ontario/Quebec are considered eastern, but Ontario and Quebec consider themselves Central. I guess it says something about point of views.
Maybe Ontario but I am pretty sure I have never heard anyone in Quebec talk about Quebec being “Central”.
I have heard Saskatchewaners (Saskatchawinigans? Sakatchwatches?) and Manitobans talk about being Central though.
Maybe Ontario! You’re just not bending on this issue, eh? And now I’ve got Charles implying that it’s not used in the west when it’s actually most used in the west, usually with a sneer.
Rather than continuing to rely on the very strong anecdotal counter-evidence of your ears and co-workers who also don’t read the news, I say you check Canada’s internet. Conveniently that’s also the regular internet we’re on right now. I’m not even talking about Wikipedia (though it’s there too). I mean you can search any news source, national or regional, and find references to Central Canada.
Yes that’s the official definition, but aside from high school studies I’ve never, never, heard Quebec described as central. Ontario goes either way depending on where they’re talking about but it too is almost always eastern Canada. Saskatchewan and Manitoba is what if anything I hear people or the news describing as central.
And this is why there is only one thread on Canadian politics.
Purely anecdotal but Quebec and Ontario are interchangeably called “eastern” or “central” Canada. The Maritime provinces are just usually the Maritimes.
At least in my region.
Coming from the Maritimes originally, it really irks me when I hear Albertans refer to Ontario as “the East”. Atlantic Canada and Quebec are the East, Ontario is Central Canada, and Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and BC are the West.
So you agree that it’s the official definition, but you think people in the news eschew this for a different definition? Journalists!
Can you entertain the possibility that all this time when you heard “Central Canada”, the journalists weren’t talking about Manitoba, and you just incorrectly assumed that part? Because here’s the thing: no one ever talks about Manitoba in the news.
Easy there Fussbet, no one is disputing that you are technically correct, just that I have never heard the term used in that way. Certainly not in local news in Quebec. What can I tell you? I’ll ask folks at the office where they think Central Canada is, we shall see what they think ;)
As someone who grew up in Alberta, let me tell you, no one considers Manitoba west.
(I nominate this for worst internet argument of the decade)
I grew up in Ontario (London and Ottawa) and now live in Vancouver. I consider BC and Alberta “West”, Saskatchewan and Manitoba as “Central” and the other provinces as “East” (and the Atlantic provinces specifically as “Maritime” or “Atlantic”).
Charles, you can go back to talking about how upstanding and misunderstood the Bloc Quebecois is anytime, man. But if you want to enjoy this argument more, frame it as a revelation, as I have, that many of your fellow Canadians misunderstand the news. They might hear “manufacturing jobs lost in Central Canada” and think “that’s too bad for all those auto workers in Saskatchewan”. It’s pretty inconsequential in the end, but the naming has a reason for persisting, and the fact that all Canadians are not on same page about that says something, I think.
But mostly this argument is good because I’m so effing right. The only defense is to try to point out that since you’ve not heard it personally, it must not be used by the common folk. Who knew that stating a fact would be so controversial? I was lucky.
Any questions?
And note that most Ontarians live in the “Eastern” part of Ontario.
I am an anglophone who has been living in the Saguenay region of Quebec for 6 months (a very french region).
My experience is limited although I have been with my girlfriend who was born here for 4 years.
I have noticed two things:
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It seems to me that the younger generation doesn’t care that much about separatism.
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I need to learn french.
That looks about right to me. Including Saskatchewan not knowing if it is a part of western or central canada (I spent most of my life in Regina).
Maybe there should be a fourth “Pacific” region. I have lived on Vancouver Island… and there is not much in common between Victoria and Calgary.
Well it looks like the joke GIF from jimala.com has settled it. Someone let the CBC know.
As opposed to all the similarities between Ottawa and St. John’s? Or between Regina and Sault Ste. Marie? Or Whitehorse and Saskatoon? But yeah, add a Pacific region, and then it’s perfect.
As someone who grew up in Alberta, let me tell you, no one considers Manitoba west.
According to my wife from Saskatoon, Manitoba is most certainly considered part of the West.
Even then it’s still not perfect. Nobody considers Yukon to be part of “the West” or Nunavut to be in “Central”.
I don’t think you can do it with fewer than six distinct regions:
Atlantic: Newfoundland, PEI, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick
Eastern: Quebec, maybe parts of Ontario
Central: Ontario
Prairies: Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta
Pacific: BC
North: Nunavut, Northwest Territories, Yukon