Heroes and Villains 2009: Heroes Voting, Round Two

By Torontoist

Torontoist is ending the year by naming our Heroes and Villains—the very best and the very worst people, places, and things in and of Toronto over the past twelve months. We’ve unmasked our picks for Heroes and Villains; now, until the end of the year, your votes will whittle our lists down in a single elimination tournament to determine 2009’s Superhero and Supervillain.

Composite of remaining Heroes by Sasha Plotnikova/Torontoist.

More than seven thousand votes were cast in our first round of public voting for Heroes, and they were bound to add up to some surprises. Some Heroes we expected might make it all the way to the big show (like Pages Books & Magazines and Fucked Up) all fell to heavyweight and less niche-y opponents (the Toronto Public Library and the CBC); other Heroes who popular opinion would seem to dictate an early exit for (like David Miller) won in landslides over opponents who no-one’s ever been able to say anything bad about (Mats Sundin). The biggest victory?

Keep reading to view the full results from the first round, and to vote in the second. The six winners of this round of Heroes voting, which ends at midnight on Sunday, December 27, advance to the semi-finals—after which the six Heroes still standing are narrowed down by you to only two. Over on the Villains side of things, the first round of voting there ends tonight, Wednesday, at midnight.

Round One Results

Scramble Intersections (83%) advances over Gary Wright (17%); The Toronto Public Library (77%) over Pages Books & Magazines (23%); David Miller (71%) over Mats Sundin (29%); Wildlife (71%) over Roy Halladay (29%); The Citizen Lab (69%) over Jesse Brown (31%); Waterfront Development (70%) over The Power Plant Gallery (30%); The CBC (69%) over Fucked Up (31%); The New Billboard Bylaw and Tax (68%) over the Lee’s Palace Mural (32%); Derek Forgie and Heterosexuals for Same-Sex Equality (67%) over Brian Burke (33%); The Polaris Music Prize (65%) over Aux TV (35%); Jian Ghomeshi (58%) over Martin Streek (42%); and The Five-Cent Plastic Bag Fee (57%) over Mark the Litter Guy (43%).

Your turn again. Who’s the bigger Hero of 2009?

The Five-Cent Plastic Bag Fee or The New Billboard Bylaw and Tax?		The Polaris Music Prize or the Toronto Public Library?
The CBC or Jian Ghomeshi?		David Miller or Wildlife?
Waterfront Development or Scramble Intersections?		Derek Forgie and Heterosexuals for Same-Sex Equality or The Citizen Lab?