I think I have a love affair with MEC. I am still using the same $10 backpack that I had in Uni! A no trip to Toronto (or Ottawa) is ever complete without a stop. I remember as a kid/teen eagerly awaiting the next MEC catalogue so we could plan what we were going to get next time we were in the big city.
I brought a friend who was visiting from Europe on an excursion the other day as i needed a new flash light. Her reaction really put the amazingness (and uniqueness) of this place into perspective and motivate me to write this short blurb.
Aside from all the fantastic stuff you can get, and the hours you can spend convincing yourself that you are in need of this or that, and the excellent prices - perhaps one of my favorite thing about MEC is the Canadianness of it. When you are travelling and you see someone with MEC gear with that distinctive little mountain logo - you know there's a 99.9% chance that they are Canadian! You have to admit that it's pretty cool.