An ornately set table. A fine bottle of pink sparkling wine. A bouquet of flowers purchased in a hurry on the way home from the office. A filter on the window to simulate a blue moon. Andy Williams crooning "Moon River" or the 101 Strings playing "Light My Fire" in the background. All of the necessary mood-enhancing ingredients for a cozy tête-à-tête on Valentine's Day. There's a good chance many of these evenings from......

Liberals turf scandal-ridden MP. Blair Wilson (West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast) would just like everybody to know that he is very sorry that he impugned the Liberal Party's name with his electoral spending mishaps, although not quite so sorry that he's resigning as a member of Parliament. City capital budget for next year unveiled. A large increase in necessary infrastructure spending is the highlight of the budget, which we still can't pay for and which most voters......

Ontario Grits promise a new statutory holiday in February if they're re-elected. This is all well and good, but WHERE IS MY GODDAMNED PONY ALREADY? Come on, Dalton! How is anybody supposed to vote for you if there's no giving away of ponies? Toronto City Council to unveil a new fiscal strategy to promote the local film industry. Advance preview of tomorrow's hot news story: "Denzil Minnan-Wong's head explodes." Scientist puts his own entire genetic......

Dalton McGuinty will pledge to plant fifty million trees to help fight climate change. Now, some might say that this is a somewhat lackluster pledge, what with the small print of promising to print all the trees over thirteen years. But what they didn't mention is that the trees are actually sentient and will come to your home to politely discuss with you the merits of public transit, and help you compost and reduce your......

From mid-September through year-end, all City Community Centres will be closed on Mondays. Skating rinks won't open until January. Fewer potholes will be repaired. Snow won't be cleared unless there is at least 15 cm of it (the current minimum is 8 cm). New materials from Public Health will only be available in English. Welcome to the new Toronto, where you get what you (and the provincial and federal governments) pay for—or won't get what......

Nelly Furtado wins five Junos. Clearly, we will respect her if we get it. In other news, Jim Cuddy won the Juno for best adult alternative album, which means he did the best job of taking actual alternative music, dropping it to quarter-speed and setting it to acoustic guitar. Toronto is number fifteen! In the annual Mercer Human Resource Consulting review of best cities in Canada the world to live in, that is. Every Canadian......

These seats are empty now, but they won't be after today, as Mayor Miller and the 44 other city councillors take office. We found out recently that councillors are seated randomly, which explains why during the last council term loyal lefty Adam Giambrone sat right next to dogged mayoral critic Denzil Minnan-Wong. We're curious where Adam Vaughan will be sitting; we hope it's right next to tree advocate and Front Street Extension booster Joe......

Have you looked at City Council lately? Rob Ford? Denzil Minnan-Wong?! Frances Nunziata?!! Surely there must be better people out there, people that won't make us roll our eyes everytime we watch council by debating the merits of peanuts in city vending machines, or name calling fellow councillors. Think you can do better? Well, here's your chance. Dave Meslin, founder of the TPSC, has started up City Idol (CTV please don't sue them). Over the......

The nuts down at City Hall are at it again. But not the nuts you might think - both Denzil Minnan-Wong and Rob Ford have nutting to do with this one. It's Councilor David Shiner, Ward 24 - Willowdale, who is the nut in this case. He wants to ban the sale of peanuts at city-owned facilities like hockey rinks and community centres. The councilor says the threat of allergies is a good enough reason......

A dire situation dictates dire actions, not overblown reactions. Toronto City Hall, sadly, seems prone to the latter this month. Councilor Michael Thompson, Ward 37 Scarborough Centre, told reporters on Monday that he would encourage the city to adopt a program in which police could randomly stop and search black men on the streets. Sort of like a War Measures Act - based on skin colour instead of suspicion of criminal behaviour. Quickly following the......

It's Denzil Minnan-Wong's worst nightmare: Posters everywhere! Not just posters on the street corners or on bulletin boards, but in his workplace. Minnan-Wong, who is scared of posters that are not in his election campaigns, now must face them on a daily basis (because there are none in his riding...). Everyday until April 10, the Porsche-driving city councilor with the receding hairline will be tip-toeing by City Hall's Artcity Festivals Poster Exhibit, with posters staring......

All these Mixtapes and you barely even know me! So here I've cut-and-paste my Blogger Profile for you. Name: Torontoist Josh Location: Canada Mood: Dumb Now Playing: NaS, "You Know My Style" Fave Movies: Withnail and I, Do the Right Thing, Who Framed Roger Rabbit? Fave Books: Straight From the Heart, the Autobiography of Jean Chretien Fave Music: Townes Van Zandt, Moldy Peaches, Cold Crush, that one Culture Club song Likes: Pizza, sleepovers, dissing people......

Imagine the life of a Toronto City Councilor - the jet setting, the screaming fans, the intense media scrutiny. Toronto City Councilor Paula Fletcher works under this pressure everyday. And, like all Toronto City Councilors, she must dress accordingly. To know more about Council fashion, follow roving Torontoist affiliate Terry Woo as he gets elbow-to-elbow with Royson James, Dave Miller, and Denzil Minnan-Wong last Thursday at City Hall. Torontoist is proud to present Terry's quick......

The prospect of seeing giant-sized pictures of this guy flashing on a screen at Dundas Square just got a lot better. Cell phone behemoth Nokia is planning a North American first in Dundas Square with their "Say Hello Toronto" big screen ads. Using the Nokia 3220 and the Nokia 6225 mobile phones with built in digital cameras, Denzil Minnan-Wong and other downtown passersbys will have the opportunity to be photographed and see their photo displayed......

Yesterday, our PM with the same initials admits he needs to focus more on specific issues for the upcoming year. In contrast, Ontario Health Minister George Smitherman admits nothing. It seems Smitherman and the Ontario Liberals could use the same help with focus, as they plan to toughen up their tough anti-smoking laws in the midst of greater health crisis. Within the next 18 months, the Ontario government is planning to ban all smoking in......