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Mayor David Miller live and unplugged

The outgoing chief magistrate waxes eloquent – and throws a few barbs his opponents’ way – in a one-hour sit-down with NOW’s editorial board. We parse the prose.

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On his run-ins with the media

There’s a disconnect between a city that has progressive, social-democratic values and the columnists for the four major daily newspapers. It’s a disservice to the collective sense of who we are when stories about the progressive values we share aren’t being told.

On the city workers strike

I thought it was foolhardy for the unions to go on strike. We had this unfortunate perfect storm: a new union president for one local, and another local that had fallen into this ideological trap even though [financial] circumstances had changed dramatically.

On the importance of Transit City

People see it as an environmental and transportation issue, but it’s also a social justice issue. For lower-income neighbourhoods, where people are working two or three part-time jobs to survive, the ability to access rapid transit matters enormously.

On authenticity in politics

I’ve made an effort not to get caught up in the trappings of the office of mayor. I take public transit. I go to the local coffee shop. I go to the local pub. I’m out there with people. I’ve really tried to keep my feet on the ground.

What he’s worried about most

The people who have the least. Because you have to move heaven and earth as a government to find the resources to reach out to people who have the least.

On the Island Airport

It’s a really a good thing we stopped the bridge [to the Island Airport], because you can see the forces circulating [around a pedestrian tunnel]. It’s a collective failure of the imagination that we’re allowing Porter to infringe on this massive opportunity down there.

On the decision to raise taxes

I’m from the other philosophy that taxes are the price for civilization. People are not fools. They do understand that you don’t get services for free.

On a new champion for the left

People are talking. I’m reasonably optimistic that they’ll come behind somebody.

On his decision to call it quits

One of the reasons I am mayor is because I worked harder than anybody else. I was able to bring passion to things I believed in. I just can’t bring that to the table this time. My kids are entitled to have a father in their lives.

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