And the city has spoken.

Over the month of March and into April, Cult MTL readers and other Montrealers of all stripes voted for their favourite local things in the fifth annual edition of the Best of MTL. Our survey follows in the decades-old tradition established by the city’s defunct but fondly remembered alt-weekly newspaper the Mirror. Respect.

Between the scourge of strip-mall living and the permanent construction-site state of our city streets — not to mention the online-living and general bubble-dwelling that keeps us apart — it’s imperative to salute the artists, promoters, organizers, reporters, restaurateurs and retailers who keep Montreal’s heart beating.

The poll is open and democratic, with no editorial influence or interference. We are always glad to see so many people make an event of voting via social media campaigns, and while we can’t resist sharing the occasional third-party get-out-the-vote tweet, we otherwise remain neutral during the polling period.

Ballot-stuffing is automatically weeded out by our survey software, but we must admit that we appreciate joke votes — it’s nice to get a few lolz in during the painstaking tabulation process. This year, Noah Bick, Adam Susser and “that tree that used to be in Westmount Park” were voted for in dozens (and sometimes dozens upon dozens) of categories. And we can’t help but admire the dedication of the person who took the time to fill out every single category in the poll (you only need 25 answers for your ballot to count) with “Fuck you.” Fuck you too, buddy. Fuck you too.

Unsurprisingly, the political correctness army also used the poll to sound off about our perceived allegiance to the patriarchy and insensitivity to a variety of marginalized groups — complaints that arguably would have been better served with votes and voting campaigns for non-mainstream people and things. (And after a glance at the content of this poll and, moreover, of our paper and website overall, it should be evident that this kind of outrage is misdirected.)

Along with the expanded Top 10 lists in every category (coming to cultmontreal.com in the coming days), our website will feature a number of Best of MTL articles through the month of May and beyond, expanding on most of the quotes you’ll see in the pages to come.

We thank everyone who voted and promoted the poĺl. Participation continues to grow every year, making the 2017 results more representative of the city than ever.

(Anglos, start your Googling — if you’re wondering why you don’t recognize some names in these lists, it’s because the other 70 per cent of the population is now voting in a bilingual poll. Francos, désolé, les résultats sont unilingue.)

To all the winners in the following 150+ categories: congratulations.

We’re proud to bring you the Best of MTL.

* PEOPLE & PLACES

* MEDIA

* NIGHTLIFE

* MUSIC

* FILM & ARTS

* GOODS & SERVICES

* FOOD & DRINK

(To see the results from the 2016 poll, click here.)