Beyond The Commons

 Beyond The Commons

Aaron Wherry covers all the goings-on in and around Parliament Hill. Follow Aaron on Twitter: @aaronwherry

Categories: Beyond The Commons, Capital Read

Cliche busting

by Aaron Wherry on Monday, November 15, 2010 12:25pm - 59 Comments

Eric Grenier tabulates the Starbucks vote.

With an average of 5.4 locations per riding, the New Democrats have the highest Starbucks density of the four major parties. The Conservatives have the next highest density, with an average of 3.9 locations in each of their ridings. That’s only fractionally more than the Liberals, with an average density of 3.8 Starbucks coffee shops per riding…

Among the four party leaders, and with five locations in his riding of Calgary Southwest, it is Stephen Harper who can boast of having the most ready access to a double caramel macchiato.

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  • YYZ

    Starbucks serves the Lattes of the People.

  • Emily

    This linking of a beverage with social classes is one of the silliest things I've seen a political party do.

    Probably Tim Horton's management isn't happy about it either.

    • Claudia Lemire

      I am with you, and then we wonder why politics are so silly!!

  • tobyornotoby

    I don't think coffee has much to do with the political problems we have, but I'm pretty sure density does play a role somewhere.

    • brooster2

      Are you referring to distribution of the populace or intellectual capacity of the politicians?

      • tobyornotoby

        Yes

  • CBP

    But how close is 24 Sussex to the nearest SB?

    • LeftWing Media

      pretty far, but the HQs and research bureaus of each party each have about 3 starbucks within 1 block.

  • Kelvin

    The claim always seemed weird to this former Vancouverite: Starbucks is EVERYWHERE, and you actually have to go out of your way to find a Tim's. A lot of suburban malls, for example, probably have Starbucks before Tim's. Probably easier to find a Tim's in Vancouver Centre (Hedy Fry) than Delta-Richmond East (John Cummins).

    • Emily

      I'm an hour away from a Starbucks, half an hour away from a Timmies, and minutes away from a Mac's which offers Cappuchino. Go figure.

    • Keith in Brampton

      Sounds like a "proximity to Seattle" thing. The farther east you come, the thinner the Starbucks and the thicker the ranks of Timmies. Or it might be an urban snootiness thing…

      • Kelvin

        Exactly why we resent Toronto as centre of the universe, when the media based there swallows that crap hook, line and sinker.

        • MostlyCivil

          You know, the only people who ever call Toronto the "centre of the universe" are people who don't live here.

          We don't really think we're all superior and stuff, it's just that there's a whole hell of a lot of us in one spot. And thus lots of cash. I mean, I know full well the Leafs suck. But more viewers are willing to watch the Leafs suck than watch Ottawa or Montreal win. Which is why all the poor schmucks end up watching those crappy games.
          We're not elite, we're just, you know, numerous.

          • Kelvin

            I actually don't mind Toronto (the never-ending barrel of laughs that are the Leafs aside). That was a joke went wrong.

            But my point is that the idea that Tim's is suburban (and rural) and Starbucks is urban really does apply much more in the east. One basically does have to go out of one's way to find a Tim's in Metro Vancouver (at least before the 2000s). I recall my first visit to Toronto and my near-American-esque sense of seeing a stereotype confirmed when I realized there is nowhere without a Tim's outside walking distance. It was like "it's true you Canadians DO love your Timbits."

            Of course, leave it to the guy that lives in Calgary to perpetuate said stereotype.

  • tedbetts

    And where is Canadian owned Second Cup in all this faux debate?

    • Be_rad

      I've always thought of 2nd Cup as Tim's for people who can actually distinguish a cup of coffee from brown dishwater.

      • Keith in Brampton

        Whereas I've always thought of it as a Starbucks for people concerned more about taste than image…

        • Be_rad

          On the spectrum scale, it's the center of the road. The Liberals should pick up on that…

          • brooster2

            I suspect the Liberals would want to avoid anything that has "second" in its name.

          • Be_rad

            You wouldn't know it from the last 4 years…

          • Jenn_

            Never mind the Liberals. How about Second Cup?

            For those who can distinguish coffee from dishwater, and for those more concerned about taste than image . . . everyone is welcome at Second Cup.

            You don't have to mention politics at all, but we'll all get it. How come they haven't done this yet?

    • john g

      Green party hangout?

      Bridgehead is another one with a lot of Ottawa locations. Would be interesting to know which politicos frequent that one when they are in town.

      • Kelvin

        Saw Libby Davies once at the Bridgehead at Metcalfe & Sparks. Incidentally, that place used to be a Tim's.

        Only thing stopping Bridgehead from being insufferably hippie is their downtown locations mean that there's still steady through traffic from the office workers. Nonetheless, even KNOWING ABOUT Bridgehead means you're part of the Snooty Urban Elite.

        • john g

          I'm a libertarian. I make my own cappuccinos and lattes at home with my automatic espresso maker.

          • Claudia Lemire

            Ha, well said!!

          • LdKitchenersOwn

            Yeah, 'cause no liberal elite would ever have their own personal espresso maker, lol.

            I think that perhaps owning an espresso maker makes you even more elitist than someone who buys their fancy coffees from a corner coffee shop.

          • MostlyCivil

            I think simply having enough spare coin to buy an expresso maker, and choosing to do so kinda pops you up there in the higher elite-income bracket…I, on the other hand, have a Nascar coffee maker. Honest. It has a checkered flag stencil.

            Yeah, I bought it. It was for a good cause.

  • MostlyCivil

    Damn those Calgary Latte Elites!

    • Claudia Lemire

      Ha, I live in PM Harper riding and I do not drink coffee, just tea ,and it has to be herbal : )

      • MostlyCivil

        That means you save money, and are probably healthier than the rest of us.

        I drank too many hockey rink coffees as a young man to ever really enjoy coffee…

        • Claudia Lemire

          I have always said that coffee is the biggest con, smells delicious, so inviting but once you taste it, it's bitter and strong, unless you put tons of sugar and cream, then, what is the point!!

          • YYZ

            I beg to differ – I used to be like you once. All healthy and non-coffee drinking.

            Now I'm a coffee drinker (never have had cream or sugar) and I can say this with certainty: coffee is the brew of angels.

            The taste can be acquired, and it's worth it!

          • auntie-em-m

            Coffee is proof that God loves us and wants us to pay attention. ;0)

          • Claudia Lemire

            I know, I always loose this debate, one day I will give it a try!!

  • Orson Bean

    Calgary Southwest is a fairly wealthy riding. The other thing about Calgary generally is it's damn easy for Starbuck's to open up a zillion locations there because, compared to the likes of Vancouver, Toronto or Montreal, there is so damn much land available for development and there are so bloody many strip malls, all of which can easily accommodate a new Starbuck's.

    • CAPS

      For the purpose of this post should you rename yourself Orson "Coffee" Bean?

  • Patchouli

    Drink coffee at home.

    • Claudia Lemire

      I am a tea drinker!

      • Patchouli

        And a bit of a tea partier too?

        • Claudia Lemire

          Oh, no my dear Patchouli, I am a Harper fan but I loathe the tea party, I have just discovered that I am a Libertarian and I am shocked about that one!!!

  • s_c_f

    What about Timothy's and the Second Cup, which are essentially the same as Starbucks? In fact, there must be a million different types of upscale coffee shops in downtown Montreal and Toronto, the bastions of Liberal ridings. I'd also assume Starbucks is more concentrated closer to Seattle, and both the Conservatives and NDP own the western ridings.

    This survey is far too simplistic to be useful.

    • MostlyCivil

      "This survey is far too simplistic to be useful."

      I know. What they need is a way to weight the data properly, some national count-the -people-survey that could give us a dependable baseline on information….if only…

      • s_c_f

        So you are proposing that in the census they should ask people what coffee they prefer? And fined for non-compliance? Your vision of Canada is rather 1984ish.

    • Orson Bean

      Certainly regarding the behaviour of true coffee snobs, scf is on to something. Starbuck's is so 10 years ago. In Vancouver, if you're an elitist coffee snob you don't go to Starbuck's, you go to Artigiano, 49th parallel, or one of a ton of little boutique Italian joints. All of which have way better coffee than Starbuck's.

      • MostlyCivil

        Same here…the hardcore hipsters flock to "indy" coffee shops, where they are free to buy a coffee, lounge for hours on Goodwill furniture and soak up free wi-fi, then complain bitterly in 6 months when the place goes under.

        The coffee is usually great, if you get get past the attitude…

        • Kelvin

          My previous two experiences with "indy" coffee have been middling at best. I guess buying coffee for status purposes is not restricted to multinationals.

        • YYZ

          Hipsters are necessarily elitist but elitists are not necessarily hipsters. For the non-hipster-elite, Starbucks is the brew of choice.

      • BCer in Mtl

        Right!

        Here in Montreal – Cafe Olympico (Open Da Night); Caffe Italia; Adelia, Gran Sasso & "Expresso Bar" on Marcel Laurin.

        Good espresso, Soccer . Hockey on the screens, no posers with their laptops, and they know the singular form for 'biscotti'

    • LdKitchenersOwn

      This survey is far too simplistic to be useful.

      I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest that perhaps this wasn't meant to be a highly utilitarian survey. That said, what did you want to use this survey for that you can't?

      • Mike T.

        Why do you hate the troops, LKO?

      • s_c_f

        You've lost me. The survey would be useful if they could use it to make the conclusion they made. This is not rocket science.

        Among the four party leaders, and with five locations in his riding of Calgary Southwest, it is Stephen Harper who can boast of having the most ready access to a double caramel macchiato.

        If you could use the survey to say that, then it would be useful. Obviously, the survey does not convey that information at all.

    • YYZ

      Timothy's and Second Cup are to Starbucks what a $50,000 Hyndai is to a BMW.

      • s_c_f

        LOL. I disagree. I happen to like Timothy's the most.

  • gottabesaid

    I think we're belabouring the clichéd 'Tim Hortons crowd vs. Starbucks crowd' debate. We're beating a dead horse.

  • MostlyCivil

    Oddly, coffee shops tend to congregate around large office buildings.

    I stand across from a Timmies at my bus stop on my way to work. When I get downtown, I pass 2 Starbucks, a Second Cup, three indy coffee shops and 2 more Timmies.

    I like to think that the gentleman who put together this data was essentially saying much what you said, eg: "See how pointless it is for politicos to use this as a definition?"

  • Dot

    Stephen Harper Constituency Office
    1600 – 90th Avenue SW, Suite A-203
    Calgary, Alberta
    T2V 5A8
    Telephone: (403) 253-7990
    Fax: (403) 253-8203

    Starbucks
    Glenmore Landing
    1600 90th Avenue S.W.
    D171
    Calgary, Alberta T2V 5A8
    (403) 252-6512

    This store accepts the Starbucks Card.
    This store has wireless internet access available.
    This store serves lunch.

  • SamDavies

    One has to wonder if Starbucks and Timmie's have been lobbying both the politicos and the media for this publicity. Time to dish out some free coffee Second Cup and Timothy's!!!

  • Kelvin

    Well that's what all those downtown Tim's are for. Who else is going to serve beverages to riding-boundary-crossing commuting-to-work (AKA suburban AKA REAL) Canadians? But anyone that lives in the Italian-roasted zone is going to face some serious elitist wrath if they dare trespass out there into the land of the Timbits.

  • tobyornotoby

    Whereas everyone is welcome in Self-Roasting Hippie Latte Land as long as you ride a bike or walk or wear dreads.

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