Montreal Problem?

It was with a great deal of interest that I read your article (“Montreal’s Appetite for Life,” Aug. 25), especially after seeing the opening sentence: “ Habitants of this, Canada’s second-largest city, like to have a little fun at the expense of the largest, Toronto.”

Having been born and raised in Montreal, I found it rather ironic. In all the years I lived there, Montreal was the largest city in Canada, not Toronto. The writer also goes on to state that its citizens know that Montreal is not the biggest or the richest or the fastest-growing in Canada. And she mentions, parenthetically, that Francophones are unforgiving of Canadians who do not speak French. This is the whole crux of the problem with today’s Montreal.

Yes, Montreal is a beautiful city. It has its visual charm, but the habitants of Montreal have become anything but charming. Especially if you can remember back when the locals all got along with each other. Years ago, as an Anglophone working among Francophones, we often broke bread together at lunch and spoke a sort of broken Franglais with each other and shared a lot of laughs. So why isn’t Montreal Canada’s largest and richest city any more? Simple. The Anglophones are being driven out and many of them are settling in Toronto.

GEORGE BROMBERG

North Hollywood