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One of the cards designed by Christopher Rouleau for the Toronto Etiquette Project (Photo: Toronto Etiquette Project) 

 

How would you feel if you got a note asking you not to play loud music on the subway?

Those notes have been going around the city of Toronto, thanks to the Toronto Etiquette Project, the brainchild of a former southwest Saskatchewan resident.

Christopher Rouleau attended St. Joe's and the Comp High School in Swift Current before going to university in Calgary, and is now a graphic designer working in Toronto.

"I moved here in June of 2009, and as time passed, I started to notice that some of the things that my Saskatchewan friends and relatives have told me were partly true," Rouleau said, "Torontonians can be a little bit gruff, a little bit outspoken, a little bit rushed, and I just wanted to try to find a way to help combat that in a polite way."

Rouleau started the Toronto Etiquette Project last week, which is a set of cards addressing several different etiquette concerns in his city that you can print and hand out. The cards can be distributed to remind someone not to swear around kids, not to cough or sneeze without covering your mouth, or even not to trim your nails or floss your teeth on the bus.

Since then, it's been getting a lot of attention not just in Toronto, but across Canada with national news outlets like CTV and the Globe and Mail picking up the story.

Rouleau says he's happy that the word is getting out... "I've gotten a lot of great support and positive feedback from people saying that 'it's about time that we do something like this', and people from other cities requesting cards, but there have been people who feel that it's a little bit misdirected, or maybe they feel like it's not addressing positive behaviour, and I respect everybody's opinion. I think it's just important that the conversation is going in such a big way."

As for when we can see similar cards handed out to loud cellphone talkers in downtown Swift Current, for example, Rouleau says that it's possible, "I'm not sure exactly what's going to happen, but I did give it the title of 'project' just because I hope it can continue to evolve over time, and I think in the new year, there could be some interesting things."

You can learn more about the project and see the cards on the Toronto Etiquette Project website.
 
Colin Powers talked with Christopher Rouleau about the project: