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WATCH: Showcase’s Lost Girl was among the winners at the Canadian Screen Awards. Minna Rhee reports.

TORONTO — The Showcase series Lost Girl is the people’s choice.

The made-in-Toronto series won the Fan Choice Award for Favourite Canadian Show at the Canadian Screen Awards (CSAs) on Sunday night.

Zoie Palmer, who plays Dr. Lauren Lewis on Lost Girl, was chosen as Favourite Canadian Screen Star.

“It means everything because it comes from [the fans],” Palmer said backstage.

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The CSAs honour the best in homegrown film, television and digital media.

Gabrielle won Best Motion Picture and earned Gabrielle Marion-Rivard a CSA for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role.

The Shaw Media Award for Best Dramatic Series went to Orphan Black, which collected a total of 10 CSAs, including Best Performance by an Actress in a Dramatic Role for Regina-born Tatiana Maslany.

“It’s just an incredible moment,” Maslany said later.

Host Martin Short kicked off the gala with at least half a dozen jokes about Toronto Mayor Rob Ford.

“If tonight doesn’t go well, I can simply blame it on one of my drunken stupors,” he quipped.

But Short also took aim at other targets in his native country.

Referring to the walls of CBC personality Jian Ghomeshi’s home, Short asked: “How many self-portraits can one man sit for?”

The host also described Rogers $5.2 billion purchase of NHL rights as equal to “a weekend of roaming fees.”

Short compared the stars inside the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts to Olympic luge athletes. “So many of you have come so far simply by lying on your back,” he cracked.

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The first award of the night, for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role, went to Gabriel Arcand (The Auction). He beat three foreign actors — Jake Gyllenhaal (Enemy), Daniel Radcliffe (The F Word) and Brendan Gleeson (The Grand Seduction) — and fellow Quebecer Marc Labreche (Whitewash).

On the small screen, Tracy Dawson and Jason Priestley were both winners for their work on Call Me Fitz, which won Best Comedy Series.



Hugh Dillon of Flashpoint won Best Performance by an Actor in a Dramatic Role. The series ended in late 2012.

Rick Roberts and Sook-Yin Lee won for CSAs for their portrayals of Jack Layton and Olivia Chow, respectively, in the mini-series Jack. Chow and her son, Toronto councillor Mike Layton, were at the gala.

Toronto director David Cronenberg got a standing ovation upon walking on stage to accept a Lifetime Achievement Award from Viggo Mortensen, who has appeared in several of his films (A History of Violence, Eastern Promises, A Dangerous Method).

Maria Bello, Mortensen’s co-star in A History of Violence, walked the red carpet with Cronenberg.

Denis Villeneuve won a CSA for directing Enemy, which hasn’t yet opened in theatres. It collected five awards in all.

Other winners on Sunday include Dragon’s Den, Lisa LaFlamme, Gordon Pinsent, Sarah Gadon and Michael Bublé — who won for hosting last year’s Juno Awards.

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The majority of CSAs were handed out at industry galas held last week at the Sheraton Centre in Toronto.

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