Torontoist is ending the year by naming our Heroes and Villains of 2007––the people, places, and things that we've either fallen head over heels in love with or developed uncontrollable rage towards over the past twelve months. Get your dose, starting Boxing Day and running into the new year, three times a day––sunrise, noon, and sunset. When Mississauga Mayor Hazel McCallion decided to sound off about the federal government's lack of funding for municipalities this......

A massive fire at a townhouse complex on Jarvis Street near Mutual resulted in the death of an unidentified victim on Saturday night. Construction on the townhouses had been abandoned for ten months and the building was being inhabited by squatters, says a resident at the adjacent Radio City condo tower. Novelist Norman Mailer died this weekend. Kim Ruehl at Seattlest has a nice eulogy: "He was, as most great novelists are, a complete......

Have you checked out the officially unveiled ROM Crystal yet? Some cool dudes like David Foster, Deborah Cox, Jann Arden, K'naan, Natalie McMaster, David Suzuki and Governor General Michaëlle Jean [AND CLAY AIKEN!!!—Ed.] were on scene for the dedication. A 18-month-old boy is dead after falling off of a 28th-floor balcony of an apartment building near Victoria Park and Danforth Avenue yesterday. Stephane Dion to One Cent Now: No. The Buffalo News on Toronto:......

Conservative finance monkey Jim Flaherty on the budget: "We chose to support hard-working families." The budget has won favour with the Conservatives and the Bloc Québécois, saving Stephen Harper from a dangerous early election. Flaherty recommended that Toronto "be prudent in their budgeting", dismissing David Miller's One Cent Now and transit plans. Ontario schools will be getting a boost in cash flow after Education Ministrer Kathleen Wynne announced a $781 million hike yesterday. Music, art......

Every week (or so), two Torontoist staffers square off to debate an issue that's important to our city. We invite our readers to join the debate in the comments section following the post. At Toronto Summit 2007, Mayor David Miller launched a campaign to get the Federal government to share one cent of the GST with Canada's cities. Toronto's share of one cent of the GST would amount to an estimated $400 million, but so......

Each weekday for the next two weeks, Torontoist is facing off local memes and blog drama in a tournament-style ladder and you, the reader, decide the outcome. March Madness begins today! View the current ladder here. Suggestions for next year will be recorded! Today's matches, Region I, 1st Round: The Giambroney vs. One Cent Now St. Clair ROW vs. York Subway The Gardiner vs. CN Tower Ice Starbucks vs. Parkdale The Beach vs. The......

Because there are only a handful of Canadians in the NCAA, (and who really cares about college basketball, anyway?) we thought we'd cook up a little March Madness of our own - Toronto style. We have created a tournament ladder of recent memes, blog drama and local news and for the next two weeks, you will decide the winner of each match. Sure beats betting on Kansas State. You can view the ladder full......

Following a major sell-off in the Shanghai stock market yesterday, other markets around the world fell dramatically, including the Toronto Stock Exchange. It looks like today is more of the same, as the index is already down 61.85 points, or 0.49%. However, given today's partial recovery of the Dow after its 400+ point fall yesterday, it is possible the S&P/TSX could bounce back by closing time. Yesterday the TSX fell 370 points, or 2.72%,......