Mayor David Miller

100 Queen Street West, 2nd floor
Toronto M5H 2N2
416.397.2489 phone
416.338.7115 fax

David Miller's Voting Record

David Miller was reelected mayor by an overwhelming number of votes in 2006. He won a majority in almost every ward of the city and swept the suburbs as well as the old City of Toronto. Miller can now legitimately call himself the mayor that represents all citizens, but the question remains: does he have the political influence and will to achieve his agenda?

Miller’s 2007 to 2010 agenda is found in a document called "What Makes a City Great". In this document he discusses what he sees as the major issues facing the city under a number of headings like crime, the economy, the environment, transit, a creative city, equality and open government.

The mayor understands that the city is a work in progress. Advances will be made in a number of incremental steps. His responsibility is to set the direction of the change and maintain the focus of both council and the bureaucracy so that progress is made towards the broad goal of the “Livable City.” The question is does he have the support to achieve his agenda?

The new council that has been elected strengthens Miller’s hand, and the strong mayor system that was legislated by the provincial government has also given him increased powers. The thirteen members of the Executive Committee, that is expected to operate like a cabinet, are loaded with his people. Eight are Miller supporters (Miller, Pantalone, Mihevc, Rae, Moscoe, Fletcher, McConnell and Carroll), three are sympathizers (Lindsay Luby, Ashton and De Baeremaeker) and only two are from the right wing of council (Kelly and Mammoliti).

This no doubt will strengthen Miller’s political power but will he use it? The biggest criticism of his leadership in the 2003-2006 term was that he was too cautious. On issues like the Toronto Port Authority, the Waterfront and the Toronto Island Airport he allowed his opponents to move ahead without being challenged. The Union Station renovation has collapsed and there seems to be little effort to get it started again. If he is to achieve his ambitious agenda, Miller has to use the added power that has been given to him and provide the strong leadership that the city so badly needs. It will not be easy.

We cannot quibble with long range plans of the mayor. They are all laudable and most are achievable with adequate resources. The difficulty will be in getting the funding that the city needs to solve problems and that means gaining the political allies in senior levels of government to make it all happen. The present political configuration suggests that this will be difficult.

The federal government has the funds to solve Toronto’s fiscal problems, but at the moment they have little interest in cities. Most of the support for the Stephen Harper Conservatives comes from farms, small towns and suburbs. Not one Conservative was elected in the City of Toronto in the last federal election. Many Conservative supporters do not like cities and have a particular dislike of Toronto. Harper also intends to slash taxes in the next federal budget. There will be no surplus money left after he finishes. He recognizes that there is a need for a fiscal reordering in the country but he is going to deal with the provinces, not cities.

Miller may have better luck with the provincial government but that seems doubtful. The Ontario McGuinty Liberal government is financially strapped. They still have not been able to balance their budget and it seems unlikely that they will find the funds to solve Toronto’s financial problems.

Miller’s best bet to solve the serious financial problems facing the City of Toronto is to make an alliance with the federal Liberal Party led by Stephane Dion. All signs indicate there will be another election in 2007. If the Liberals come to power they will have to have strong support from all cities and particularly the City of Toronto. One of the ways that they can do this is by promising Mayor Miller that they will solve the financial crisis of cities. But there is one major stumbling block to this strategy: Miller is a New Democrat. That could make the Miller/Liberal alliance impossible.

In the meantime the mayor has much work to do. The priorities are clear: transit, the Waterfront, closing the Island Airport, reducing air pollution, the TTC, reforming the planning process, cleaning up the city, crime, hand guns, community policing. It is a long agenda.