My wife and I are overseas at the moment and a bit limited in terms of what Canadian media we have access to.
When it comes to the G&M, for us it's pretty much the only option. Generally it has a good mix of Toronto and National news (even if we do always default to the Toronto section first). Also, it's always OK to be on the G&M website for work as it has good business coverage.
The Toronto Sun and Toronto Star are quite a bit too populist/simple for us, whereas the G&M seems to mix high- and low-brow. I've found the political coverage in the Star to be jarring for the past 2 years.
I've tried to warm to the National Post, but just can't, and Conrad Black's behaviour means I'll continue to leave it on the electronic shelf. Though I adore the CBC, its news website does not cut the mustard. Toronto Life is neat for some longer articles, but there's more editorial and lifestyle content than actual news.
So, given the G&M is the "newspaper of record", I can't see any way forward that does not involve giving them $20 a month. I guess it'll fund their new sweet HQ at Front & Spadina!