One of the many classic Looney Tunes cartoons features Spike, a cranky full-of-himself bulldog and Chester, a jumpy, high-tempo terrier who longs for nothing more than a nod of approval from Spike.
"You and me is pals, right, Spike?" Chester bounces around in wide-eyed admiration.
Every suggestion by Chester to do something together is met with disdain and a dismissive backhand from Spike.
Such is Prince George's relationship with Vancouver. Prince George residents in general and members of the area business community in particular are desperate - bordering on teenage girl obsessed with the captain of the football team - to be recognized by the denizens of Greater Vancouver.
No matter how many shots Vancouver gives Prince George, this city just keeps going back for more, hopeful this will be the time things will change, just like poor Chester.
There are two lessons for Prince George to take away from the Canada Winter Games.
First, Vancouver and its residents will always see Prince George as the armpit of the province and its residents as "those poor, stupid people," regardless of how many positive Facebook pages and expensive high-profile billboard campaigns on busy Vancouver streets there are.
Need proof? Prince George played host to members of the Vancouver news media this week and this is what we got:
In describing Prince George residents and their Chester-like optimism, the Vancouver Sun's Gary Kingston wrote :" ...this often derided city of 80,000 - crappy old mill town, high crime rate - who believe this month's Canada Winter Games can be a catalyst for a more positive profile and greater prosperity."
No "some people say" qualifier, no dissenting voice. Those sentiments are apparently unquestionable fact.
The TV coverage from Global has been no different with its patronizing "the people are nice but what a stinky dump" profile of Prince George. On an almost night basis, once Jay Janower finishes his Games report in Prince George and throws back to his colleagues at the Global Vancouver desk, Chris Gailus and Squire Barnes start with the Prince George jokes before turning it over to Mark Madryga for a weather update.
The second lesson for Prince George from the Games should be that the Prince George story resonates everywhere but Vancouver. Vancouver and its residents should be literally seen as the ones who are "beyond Hope," not the other way around. The thousands of visitors to Prince George over the past two weeks, young and old, from everywhere else in Canada are raving about this city, its people, its downtown, its facilities, its geography and even its weather.
Prince George is hardly alone as a small city scorned by the kids from the metropolis down the road. The residents of cities like Grande Prairie, Prince Albert, Moose Jaw, Brandon, Sudbury, Kingston and Sherbrooke, to name a few, know exactly how that feels. Yet Prince George residents are guilty of the same snobbery themselves, in their raised noses towards Quesnel, McBride, Mackenzie and Burns Lake.
The Prince George Cougars are doing it right, spending a day each in Quesnel, Williams Lake and 100 Mile House this , making themselves available to residents at free practises and community events, before heading down to Washington for weekend games in Seattle and Everett. It's good for the team and for Prince George if the Cariboo sees more of the Cougars bus than just the side of it as it passes through.
Prince George has a lot to offer, both to the smaller communities in central and northern B.C., but also to the rest of Canada. Everyone except Vancouver knows it, so maybe it's time for Prince George to just ignore Vancouver and see that city as nothing more than an airport stop on the way to the rest of Canada and the world. Stop inviting Vancouver to the Prince George party, stop trying to impress Vancouver, stop bouncing around like Chester.
Spike does get his comeuppance in the end of the Looney Tunes cartoon, where the roles are reversed and he ends up worshipping Chester, but Prince George doesn't need such a turn of events.
In fact, Prince George doesn't need a damn thing from Vancouver.
The sooner this city realizes it and acts accordingly, the better off it'll be.
