City Idol was a contest and part of a 2006 initiative called Who Runs This Town, a project to boost citizen interest and participation in municipal politics in Toronto.
Who Runs This Town and City Idol were created by David Meslin, founder of the Toronto Public Space Committee.
The "prize" was a campaign to run for Toronto city council, in the form of volunteer support (not funds).
The format of the finals included short speeches, questions from contestants and the audience and a mock emergency press conference where candidates were told to research a topic prior to the event, and would have to address an emergency issue in a media scrum with reporters from Eye Weekly, NOW and Toronto Life.
A number of other City Idol contestants who did not win the competition also stood as candidates.