For a measure of Toronto's lack of clout in Canadian politics, look no further than the recently concluded Liberal leadership contest. Eight worthies ran to lead Canada's so-called natural governing party, six of them from Toronto. All six were rejected. In the end, the leadership went to yet another Quebecer, Stephane Dion, a personable if somewhat nerdy academic who went on to defeat two of the best ever graduates from the University of Toronto: Bob Rae, a former Rhodes scholar, and Michael Ignatieff, an internationally acclaimed human rights specialist, both sons of diplomats. If there was ever a clearer example of the Toronto jinx than this, it would be hard to find. There hasn't been a prime minister from Canada's biggest city for well over 100 years. (The incumbent, Conservative Stephen Harper, was born here but spent most of his life elsewhere.) The Toronto jinx is even more pronounced at the provincial level, where it is almost a rule of thumb in Ontario politics that putative leaders with a shot at power have to be from outside the 'big smoke'. What's more, this is very much a Toronto phenomenon. Montreal has routinely put forward big-time federal and provincial leaders without a second thought. Most political analysts believe this is because Canadian voters are jealous of the big city: they hate Toronto for its perceived hegemony and financial clout. Maybe. But I think Canadians mistrust Toronto politicians because they both fear and admire the city's relentless diversity. According to the UN, Toronto has the second-largest proportion of foreign-born residents - almost half - on the planet (after Miami with all its Cubans). Visible minorities are expected to be in the majority here by 2012, and the scope of change and diversity is nothing short of breathless. For example, look at Toronto Centre, the federal electoral constituency that cuts a big swathe right down the belly of the city. It includes Rosedale, which is one of the country's wealthiest enclaves; the primo hotel and shopping district (where visiting movie stars stay); a thriving gay community who dominate block after block of trendy condos and high-rise apartments; and at least two huge housing projects with (sadly) their own distinct street gangs. An estimated 83 distinct languages are spoken in Toronto Centre, and it is far from the city's only constituency with this range of cultures and special interests. Toronto has developed - over successive decades of new arrivals, from traditional immigrants to Vietnam war dodgers - its own unique political culture and priorities, and a degree of accommodation politics that befuddles and too often scares the country at large. Canada's biggest city is literally off in a world of its own.
