Subscribe

City News

Balance-sheet junkie alert!

Nerd cage match: The Toronto Sun ’s Sue-Ann Levy proposes an alternative city budget which she claims could save the city $440...

Why the Long Pen?

You couldn’t make it up. Monday evening, in a dingy warehouse-like book store in downtown Toronto, Conrad Black, under virtual...

Architecture junkie alert!

This week’s edition of The New Yorker —arguably the world’s best magazine, especially for cultural criticism—features an...

The incredible disappearing budget cuts

First police. Then TTC. Then community centres and ice rinks. Now the Sunday closures of libraries have become phantom budget cuts...

One for the Books

Among all the queer happenings dotting the ongoing Barnum & Bailey tour that is the trial of Conrad Black, tonight’s event at...

Inside the Latest Issue

The July issue of Toronto Life features the monster cottages of Muskoka versus the resistance. Plus, our obsessive coverage of everything that matters now in the city.

Black Watch: Today’s Top Stories

Bloomberg reported yesterday that Peter Atkinson got a pass from Judge Amy St. Eve allowing him to accompany his wife, a...

Up Your MMP

Today’s newspaper punditry is insisting that the issue of electoral reform is dead. Fine. I’ll shut up about it too, after...

How Rude

On TVO last night Steve Paikin asked me for my take on the election results, but before I could answer I was pre-empted by Dalton...

Black Watch: Today’s Top Stories

On a day when it is reported authoritatively that Tom Bower and Andrew Lloyd Webber are working hand in glove on a musical based...

Black Watch: Today’s Top Stories

Besides a few blithe comments to the Canadian Press confirming that, in his mind at least, the endless summer...

Risky Business

NDP Leader Howard Hampton began today’s final day of campaigning in Toronto with two stops at two subway stations along the...

Last day campaign tidbits

A few final thoughts as election day approaches: • Howard Hampton made consecutive campaign stops this morning at two TTC...

Black Watch: Today’s Top Stories

Elements of the American press lit into Conrad Black this morning, reflecting the worst aspects of that nation’s dull-normal...

Hampton’s tirade

NDP leader Howard Hampton lashed out at the media yesterday for paying too much attention to faith-based schooling at the expense...

Call Him Connie

Conrad Black’s appearance on CBC last night, while not exactly a match for the Pythons, was a respectable, sporting effort at...

Voodoo news to me

Last night on TVO’s The Agenda , Stephen Maynard, the NDP candidate in London-Fanshawe, told Steve Paikin that the NDP would...

Political wars on the Web

A curious bit of breaking news: the excellent political blog DemocraticSpace, a favourite of political junkies that also serves as...

Celebrity Tips

While we await the comedy styling of Crossharbour this evening on CBC’s Rick Mercer Report , here are a few more reflections on...

The five stages of tax grief

It was the psychologist Elizabeth Kübler-Ross who first mapped out the five stages of grief, which we experience with the death...

What’s up John Tory’s sleeve now?

Shortly after I wrote Friday afternoon’s post, the dam broke. Within an hour I was handed the results of a poll that showed the...

What’s up John Tory’s sleeve?

The latest polls and projections show the Liberals moving into majority territory, making gains at the expense of the...

The Mercy Report

It’s almost too good to be true. This coming Tuesday, Conrad Black will appear in a three-and-a-half-minute skit—taped at his...

Councillor Stintz wants you to apologize

Karen Stintz is among the most effective performers in the political theatre of city council. She is smart and quick witted. She...

Dartboard Miller

On Wednesday, Mayor David Miller rose in council chambers and introduced a motion to reverse the Monday closings of community...

Cost of Living

These North York points enthusiasts earn $370,000 a year. How do they spend it?

These North York points enthusiasts earn $370,000 a year. How do they spend it?

“We try to maximize our rewards by using various credit cards plus PC Optimum”

This 22-year-old venture capitalist is on track to make $180,000 this year. How does he spend it?

This 22-year-old venture capitalist is on track to make $180,000 this year. How does he spend it?

“I love a good bargain, so I shop at No Frills”

This globetrotting couple earns a combined $287,000 a year. How do they spend it?

This globetrotting couple earns a combined $287,000 a year. How do they spend it?

“Groceries are our biggest monthly expense after rent”

This Doctors Without Borders marketer earns $100,000 a year. How does she spend it?

This Doctors Without Borders marketer earns $100,000 a year. How does she spend it?

Manpreet Badyal moved from Delhi to Vancouver to Toronto in search of success

How a Gen Z finance enthusiast in Forest Hill spends her money

How a Gen Z finance enthusiast in Forest Hill spends her money

Business analyst and budding TikTok investment guru Chaeeun Lee hopes to visit 50 countries before she turns 30

This policy analyst and stand-up comedian makes $83,000 a year. How does she spend it?

This policy analyst and stand-up comedian makes $83,000 a year. How does she spend it?

“Investing in mental health is important. I have an unlimited membership at Othership in Yorkville”

This entrepreneur is on track to make $23,000 this year. How does she spend it?

This entrepreneur is on track to make $23,000 this year. How does she spend it?

“It was hard to accept financial aid from my parents, but it actually brought us closer together”

Urban Diplomat

Dear Urban Diplomat: My family takes Mother’s Day more seriously than Father’s Day

Dear Urban Diplomat: My family takes Mother’s Day more seriously than Father’s Day

She gets flowers, gifts and breakfast in bed; I get a lousy grill brush. Am I wrong to feel slighted?

Dear Urban Diplomat: What’s the etiquette for EV charging?

Dear Urban Diplomat: What’s the etiquette for EV charging?

Dear Urban Diplomat , What’s the etiquette for EV charging? A few weeks ago, I finally found a spot in my neighbourhood to juice...

Dear Urban Diplomat: My husband thinks I'm a hoarder, but I'm a collector

Dear Urban Diplomat: My husband thinks I’m a hoarder, but I’m a collector

He’s started quoting Marie Kondo and insisting that I get rid of my “emotional support tchotchkes.” How can I get him to back off?

Dear Urban Diplomat: My condo building has zero tolerance for the slightest noise

Dear Urban Diplomat: My condo building has zero tolerance for the slightest noise

They’ve asked us not to shower after 11 p.m. because of “pipe whistling.” Is this normal?

Dear Urban Diplomat: My husband bought us a pass to skip the line at the ski hill. Why do I feel guilty for using it?

Dear Urban Diplomat: My husband bought us a pass to skip the line at the ski hill. Why do I feel guilty for using it?

I can’t help being embarrassed every time I sheepishly walk past the eye rollers in the regular queue

Dear Urban Diplomat: My brother is lying online about Dry January

Dear Urban Diplomat: My brother is lying online about Dry January

He’s preaching the virtues of sobriety on TikTok but still crushing six-packs every weekend, and the hypocrisy is getting on my nerves. Should I call him out?

Dear Urban Diplomat: My co-workers have forgotten how to behave in an office

Dear Urban Diplomat: My co-workers have forgotten how to behave in an office

I actually don’t mind the return-to-office mandate, but it seems like so much working from home has caused my fellow employees’ self-awareness to atrophy