I would say canon.. I have an old AL-1 which is my fathers, i picked up a elph sd750 and a year later i picked up a 20d. I have friends that only use canon, so i get to enjoy their investments into L-Glass for now. I guess what im trying to say is i love canon.
See what your local shop carries and ask them what they sell the most of. Think about it this way, if they sell more canon they are going to have a greater knowledge of canon equipment and have a greater expertise towards canon. This also would be advantageous because if you keep popping your head in you might be able to get some great lenses at a lower price as long as you don't care that they are "used".
The con would be what if you move, or you can get better prices for things on the internet. Those are great points to counter what i've said, but personally i like being able to walk back and return something the same day.
I say roll with a canon, everyone i know loves it and several people have switched from Nikon. Canon also has L-glass which is superior from what i understand to almost everything on the market.
If your local store only sells Nikon i would tell you move :D | 