No Matter How You Cut It - THE FISH ALWAYS STINKS AT THE HEAD

The mayor is supposed to lead and represent ALL the people but Comrade Miller doesn't seem to recognize their are people living north of Bloor Street, unless of course they belong to city unions, and he allows councilors to do what is best for their ridings instead of what is best for the city.

The Rising Right

BY Dale Duncan January 02, 2008 13:01

This summer, David Miller faced his biggest challenge since becoming mayor of Toronto. Those who followed city hall last year know the story well: facing a projected $575 million budget shortfall, Miller tried to bring in two new “revenue tools,” as he called them: a vehicle registration tax and a land transfer tax. Armed with a brand new Executive Committee — a cabinet-like group of councillors he had the power to hand-pick after his November 2006 re-election thanks to the recently approved new City of Toronto Act — Miller thought he had the votes to win approval for the new taxes.

He underestimated his opponents, and that became the defining story of the year at city hall.
In July, 23 of council’s 44 members voted to defer making a decision on the new taxes until October. Though watered-down versions of the two new taxes were ultimately approved, the fight leading up to the big vote Oct. 22 was tooth and nail. For perhaps the first time since he was elected in 2003, Miller’s “unofficial opposition” — led by Karen Stintz and Denzil Minnan-Wong and comprised of a “just say no” crew of Miller opponents including Lastman-era veterans Doug Holyday, Frances Nunziata and Case Ootes, rogues Rob Ford and Michael Walker and others, including Mike Del Grande and David Shiner — proved that it could coalesce around an issue despite its host of colourful, fiercely independent personalities. Is this the beginning of a new, united right wing and, if so, will 2008 be the year that Miller’s fiercest critics start doing more than just saying no to the ideas that the mayor and his allies bring forward?

Not likely, say councillors from across the political spectrum. Of course, the reasoning behind their answers depends on who you talk to. Some say that it’s the way city hall works that prevents councillors who usually oppose the mayor from being effective. Others argue that Miller’s most vocal opponents just don’t know how to work city hall. If a strong opposition is vital for a healthy democracy, neither explanation bodes well for Torontonians. Either we have a dysfunctional government, where avenues for ideas that may not mesh with the mayor’s have been closed off, or a good number of councillors — specifically those who are supposed to be providing alternatives during these financially trying times — simply don’t know how to do their job.

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