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I found the 3rd gen Prius's handling to be quite confident. I'd say it's overall a quiet, comfortable, numb vehicle, but you can still carve some corners in one.
My vote will likely always be a 1st gen Insight, if you can find one. There isn't a better car to eat up highway miles, and the engine is practically bulletproof - you can find examples with 7-800,000 original miles. They're also easy to work on and more fun to drive than a car that slow should be. Budget in a battery replacement though.
Between a 2nd gen Insight and a Prius, I'd probably take the Prius, personally, especially a 3rd gen. I know the Insight has better driving dynamics and arguably the better engine, but Toyota's overall package is better.
As for Civics, a 92-95 CX or VX have the same tall, tall gearing, and neither has economy-robbing power steering. They're probably the highest fuel economy Civic. They're also extremely highly regarded for their handling characteristics, and they're cheap and easy to work on. The downsides, in my mind, are that they're likely to fall a little shy of modern hybrids even on the highway, and at nearly 30 years old, expect to replace every piece of rubber in the car if they haven't been already.
There's also the option of a 1st gen Civic hybrid with a manual transmission. If your province doesn't have vehicle inspections, you could just remove the hybrid battery and drive it with a CEL. So many of these around here end up in junkyards with failed batteries. They run fine but can't pass state inspection. They're good for 55-60mpg driven conservatively.
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