Toronto Life’s most-read Q&As of 2025

Torontonians are known for having big mouths—and that’s a good thing. The people who make up this city have a lot of interesting things to say: about the potential terrors of AI, about putting an end to gridlock, about unhinged drug store employees, about fighting orange-hued fascists. Most of all, they’re passionate about the place we love and call home.

Here are Toronto Life’s most-read Q&As of 2025.

No. 10 “I wanted to live near a subway station so I could travel with our customers”: Meet the TTC’s new CEO, Mandeep Lali

The incoming leader of the beleaguered transit agency talks gridlock and growing pains. | By Anthony Milton

No. 9 “They’re turning off the heat before some classes finish”: Professor Frances Latchford on York University’s dramatic cuts to liberal arts programs

As York faces a funding crisis, the chair of the department of gender, sexuality and women’s studies talks anti-DEI backlash, Doug Ford’s disdain for “basket-weaving” courses and the enduring value of a liberal arts education. | By Jes Mason

No. 8 “I can’t serve coffee without violating zoning laws”: This Little Italy corner store is caught between NIMBY complaints and archaic bylaws

For months, Yana Miriev has been pushing back against a retail ban that’s stifling her small-scale grocery on a residential street. It’s part of a headache-inducing debate around where small businesses get to set up shop—one that’s far from settled. | By Ali Amad

No. 7 The Shoppers Drug Mart at Bloor and Bedford has the most unhinged social media account in the city

Across the street from the Royal Ontario Museum is a still important yet slightly less esteemed landmark: the Bloor and Bedford Shoppers Drug Mart. Though it’s one of the busiest locations in the city, nothing about the store appears out of the ordinary. But take one look at the outpost’s Instagram, handled by beauty boutique manager Ambrose Doucette, and all that changes. | By Isabel B. Slone

No. 6 “We have over 100 cases of American wine trapped at the LCBO”: Toronto’s Grape Witches on what it’s like to run a bottle shop during a trade war

Grape Witches started as an impromptu operation, an unofficial club for lovers of weird and wonderful wine. Now, they operate two wine bars, event spaces and a booming online business. They also run an importation operation that includes a stable of artisanal American wines—currently locked in LCBO purgatory with all the other boycotted US-made bottles. We caught up with co-owner Nicole Campbell and director of operations Nicole Raufeisen about navigating boycotts, importing American wine and supporting the Canadian economy during a trade war. | By Kate Dingwall

No. 5 “The least we can do is make sure Canadians can still afford ice cream”: The CEO of Chapman’s on why the company is freezing its prices

Like many Canadian companies, Chapman’s—an ice cream brand based out of Markdale, Ontario—felt the burn of the tariffs imposed by Donald Trump. The family-run company, which has previously relied on US suppliers for many key ingredients like nuts and fruit, sourced new contracts with European companies. Chapman’s also announced a plan to freeze the prices of its products until the end of the year despite tariff-induced cost increases on its end. “Life is hard enough these days,” says CEO Ashley Chapman. “The least we can do is make sure Canadians can still afford ice cream.” | By Courtney Shea

No. 4 “It’s like hiring an army of sloths”: Councillor Josh Matlow on the city’s excruciatingly slow snow removal

Over six blizzardy days last winter, Toronto was buried in more than a foot of snow, which quickly transformed from a soft blanket to a slushy, treacherous mess. We caught up with Councillor Josh Matlow—who has long called for the city to step up its snow-removal game—to discuss the logistics of digging out a city, the problems with privatization and what his ideal shovelling system would look like. | By Anthony Milton

No. 3 “The number of applicants from the US is larger than we have ever seen before”: Sean Cleary on why he left the Mayo Clinic to expand robotic surgery in Toronto

The hepatobiliary and pancreatic surgeon talks Canadian versus American health care, U of T’s world-class surgery department and the moment he knew he had to get out of Minnesota. | By Stéphanie Verge

No. 2 Funny Business: A surprisingly serious conversation with Ryan Reynolds on the eve of the world premiere of John Candy: I Like Me

When Ryan Reynolds’s creative agency, Maximum Effort, released a montage of film clips on the 25th anniversary of John Candy’s death, people went wild, and Reynolds knew just what to do next. Signing on as executive producer, he got Colin Hanks—the son of Candy’s Splash co-star Tom—onboard as director, and the movie premiered at TIFF’s 50th-anniversary in September. We spoke to Reynolds about the power of collective joy, the things that make him cry and the importance of disappointing at least one person a day. | By Courtney Shea

No. 1 A Q&A with Prime Minister Mark Carney, Toronto Life’s most influential person of the year

The job of prime minister is hard, and it ought to be. But Mark Carney entered office in an unprecedentedly difficult time. Our decades-long partnership with the US has been unilaterally ruptured by a president who keeps treating our national sovereignty like a cat toy. Alberta is threatening to secede if they don’t get what they want. Critical minerals, especially those in the Ring of Fire, position Canada to be a global leader, except Indigenous leaders are in no hurry to mine them, and for good reason. When it comes to AI, Canada must not be left behind—or so far out in front that we’re vulnerable to its perils. And while Carney is popular, his party is decidedly not, and each jobs report, inflationary indicator and Trump mood swing threatens to undo everything. It’s enough to make a guy run for the hills (or a yacht off San Diego). But Carney isn’t running: he’s down for the fight. Here, a conversation with the prime minister on domestic turmoil, the perils of AI and going toe-to-toe with Trump. | By Malcolm Johnston