It’s easy to forget his list of accomplishments in the barrage of big lies coming from some of those running to replace him. But take a look at the record. David Miller’s seven years at the helm have been transformative for Toronto.
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Under Miller, we’ve witnessed more movement on the waterfront than at any other time in recent history: The Don, East Bayfront, new beaches, WaveDecks, parks and connectivity to the water’s edge. It wasn’t an accident. The mayor put himself on the Waterfront Toronto board to make it happen.
This internationally recognized program retrofits aging social housing apartment buildings, converting them into lean, green and healthier living machines.
A brilliant plan leveraged the value of the wide-open spaces created by bad planning and got developers to build a mix of new housing.
How could we forget the crowning glory of the Miller legacy? A 21st-century transit plan, the largest of its kind in North America, to connect priority neighbourhoods isolated from the downtown and propel Toronto into a greener future.
Those first wow gardens and small projects to reclaim orphaned plots of land changed a city’s collective headspace and sparked a public space revolution.
We have labour peace with police and the safest streets in the country, with the lowest crime rate in decades. And, oh yeah, no more guy named Fantino sowing discord.
Critics say the budget’s in a shambles, but when the province and the feds left the city to fend for itself, the mayor sought and won the power to create new revenue streams. We have the lowest residential property taxes in the GTA. And Moody’s has boosted the Miller administration rating for the way it’s stickhandled the budget through thick and thin.
The climate of confidence created by City Hall has given rise to the biggest building boom in recent memory, prompting an architectural renaissance.
Our record’s the envy of the world. The mayor wasn’t chair of the C40 Cities group until recently for nothing. Our beaches are cleaner, roofs greener and parks system bigger and better because of Miller et al. Waste diversion from landfill is at 50 per cent. A bike culture has taken firm root.
Toronto is the first municipality in Canada to create an office of the integrity commissioner.
Miller has levelled the political playing field. Corporate and union donations have been banned. There’s an election code of conduct for councillors. This is the guy who rode in on a broom, remember?
Rob Ford didn’t invent the concept. Miller did. See Toronto 311.
