The best city in Canada

The best city in Canada is Toronto! Well, what else would you expect to hear from us. But don't just take our word for it. The City Battle we've been staging on our Facebook Page for the last month comes to a close at midnight tonight and - surprise, surprise - Toronto is in the lead.

Ok, I'm willing to admit there might be a bit of east coast bias in the selection of the 97 contest categories. The CBC in Vancouver has been covering the contest on their On the Coast program this week (today they talk to our sister site in Vancouver) and I did suggest to host Grant Lawrence that Terminal City might not be bringing up the rear in the contest had we included categories like best hiking trails, skiing and weather. But as CS Lewis once said You play the hand you're dealt.

With just over 12 hours to go in the contest, there's still a chance to impact the voting and score some prizes like an Xbox or Nokia N97 Mini. But here are some highlights of some of the results so far.

CATEGORIES TORONTO SHOULD BE WINNING BUT ISN'T

• Arts Festival - The Contact Photography Festival is badly trailing Just for Laughs in Montreal
• Author - Margaret Atwood is lagging both Douglas Coupland and Mordecai Richler (but the voting in this category is still very close)
• Band - Broken Social Scene looks like it's going to lose to Arcade Fire.
• Carnivore's Delight - The Black Hoof has a few votes less than Au Pied du Cochon in Monteal.
• Greasy Spoon - The Patrician Grill is losing to Le Vieux St-Laurent in this category.
• Mayor - David Miller is trailing Gregor Roberston (ok. maybe I should have seen this one coming)
• Sports Stud - Cito Gaston has about half the votes as Roberto Luongo. Maybe our nominee should have been Jose Bautista.

CATEGORIES TORONTO WILL ALMOST CERTAINLY WIN

Barring a huge comeback in the last day of voting it looks certain that Toronto will win these categories:

• Architecture Monstrosity - The ROM
• Art School - OCAD
• Bakery - Dufflet
• Bar - Sweaty Betty's
• Bookstore - Type Books
• Burger - Craft Burger
• Burrito - Chino Locos
• Cafe - Dark Horse Espresso Bar
• Celebrity Chef - Susur
• Famous Building - CN Tower
• Farmer's Market - St. Lawrence Market
• Fashion Maven - Jeanne Beker
• Film Director - David Cronenberg
• Highway - The DVP
• Hotel Bar - The Drake Hotel
• Karaoke Bar - The Gladstone
• Live Music Venue - The Horseshoe Tavern
• Magazine - Spacing
• Music Store - Soundscapes
• Neighbourhood - Kensington Market
• Photographer - Ed Burtynsky
• Rep Cinema - Bloor Cinema
• Street - Queen Street
• Vegetarian Restaurant - Fresh
• Vintage Clothing - Courage My Love
• Yoga Studio - Downward Dog

For your last chance to vote and/or win prizes, head over to the City Battle tab on the blogTO Facebook Page.