A bleak mood prevailed, driven by lingering recession and uncertainty over the future. Ripples of optimism are spreading through the province and its largest city. That success inspired the construction of two major film studios, one now complete and another expected to be Canada's largest. The beloved old Forum hockey arena is undergoing expensive conversion to a dining and entertainment center, and an immense multimedia center for high-tech companies is rising near the St. Lawrence River. To be sure, not every project has enjoyed smooth sailing.
Streets are clean and safe.
And the government gives visitors back most of the taxes it collects from them. With that homogeneity and its status as the putative capital of a future independent nation, citizens seem to suffer less angst over what might happen down the road. They are also aware that a critical part of their economy is based on tourism, and they are far less likely to vent the open hostility toward visitors that Americans can experience in English Canada.