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| Affiliation | New Democratic |
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| Name | David Miller |
| Address |
Toronto, Ontario , Canada |
| Email | None |
| Website | [Link] |
| Born |
December 26, 1958 |
| Died |
Still Living
(65 years) |
| Contributor | Monsieur |
| Last Modifed | Monsieur
Dec 26, 2006 08:53pm |
| Tags |
English -
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| Info | David Raymond Miller is a Canadian politician. He is the current Mayor of Toronto, having been elected to the position in 2003 and re-elected in 2006 for a four-year term. Miller is the 63rd mayor of Toronto, and the second of the merged megacity.
Miller was born in San Francisco, California. His father, Joe Miller, died of cancer in 1960, and his English mother Joan returned with her son to Thriplow. Miller spent his earliest years in England before moving to Canada with his mother in 1967. Although not wealthy, he was able to attend Lakefield College School on a scholarship.
Miller attended Harvard University, graduating magna cum laude in Economics in 1981. He earned a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Toronto in 1984 and became a partner at the Toronto law firm of Aird & Berlis.
He first campaigned for the Metropolitan Toronto council in 1991. He lost to incumbent councillor Derwyn Shea. Miller was subsequently the NDP candidate for Parkdale—High Park in the 1993 Canadian federal election, and finished fourth against Liberal incumbent Jesse Flis.
Miller married fellow lawyer Jill Arthur in 1994, and the pair have two children.
Miller campaigned for Metro Council a second time in 1994, and was elected in the High Park ward over former MP Andrew Witer and future cabinet minister Tony Clement.
He campaigned for the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in 1996, running as the NDP candidate in York South. He was narrowly defeated by Liberal candidate Gerard Kennedy.
Miller was elected to the new City of Toronto council in 1997. He was appointed to the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) after the election. Miller issued a formal apology on behalf of the TTC in June 1999, following complaints about a subway advertisement by the Toronto police union that many believed depicted Hispanics as criminals. Miller received threatening telephone calls after the police union listed his home telephone number in a campaign advertisement.
Following electoral redistribution, Miller was re-elected in 2000. Miller was given an A+ grade by left-leaning Toronto Life in November 2000 for his work on council, and was considered to be the best councillor.
In May 2002, Mayor Lastman criticized Miller for using the word "corruption" during a debate about the city's appointments process. Deputy Mayor Case Ootes censured Miller for his choice of words, but the council voted 27-16 to overturn this decision. At one stage in the debate, Lastman yelled at Miller, "You will never be mayor of this city because you say stupid and dumb things!"
Miller formally declared his candidacy for Mayor in January 2003. He used a broom as a prop in this campaign, symbolizing his commitment to cleaning up Toronto both literally, in terms of litter, and metaphorically, referring to the shady dealings at City Hall. He pledged to appoint a municipal ethics commissioner and promote public transit by fully implementing the TTC's ridership growth plan. He supported a police request to hire thirty-two new officers.
Miller's polling numbers stalled for most of 2003, but increased in October when Barbara Hall's campaign began to collapse. Prominent Hall supporters such as former Premier Bob Rae asked people to vote for Miller to stop right-leaning candidate John Tory. On election day, Miller defeated Tory 43% to 38% (Hall was third with 9%).
His first term as mayor was focused on issues such as waterfront renewal, public transit, and municipal reform. He also shifted toward a focus on community safety issues following an increase in gun violence during 2005. Miller appointed conservative David Soknacki as Toronto's budget chief. Although Miller and Soknacki differed ideologically, they became allies in managing the city's finances. Toronto's budget shortfall when Miller assumed office was $344 million. Miller eventually designed a balanced budget without cutting spending or increasing taxes by a large amount.
Miller commanded very strong levels of popularity throughout 2004, with an 82% approval rating in May. His support had moderated somewhat by late 2005, but was still strong at 69%. Miller was profiled in the April 2006 edition of Vanity Fair magazine. The journal praised his environmental record.
Miller reassembled his first mayoral campaign team for his 2006 re-election bid. He received a qualified endorsement from the Toronto Star newspaper shortly before election day. Miller's primary opponent was councillor Jane Pitfield. Pitfield criticized city spending, and described Miller the "Billion Dollar Man" for overseeing spending increases of $1.3 billion since 2003. In his platform, Miller promised 4,000 units of affordable housing, a mandatory lobbyist registry, and a further expansion of the green bin program into apartments and condominiums. He also said that he would negotiate with the federal and provincial governments for a share of the General Sales Tax and Provincial Sales Tax.
Miller consistently led Pitfield in public opinion polls during the campaign. Miller defeated Pitfield on election day, winning 42 of the city's 44 wards.
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| Date | Firm | Approve | Disapprove | Don't Know |
| 09/26/2006-09/30/2006 |
Strategic Counsel |
66.00% (+0.0) |
31.00% (+0.0) |
0.00% (+0.0) |
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