Add Faux Pas To Toronto's Coat Of Arms

John Oakley: Toronto's Mayor has lost touch with the common man

So what’s the difference between a senator in Ottawa and Mayor David Miller? One is sleepwalking through their political tenure, secure in the knowledge that they’ve got a cushy posting for life, and the other is a senator in Ottawa.

It’s not just sad, but seriously misguided that our beloved Mayor thought it kinda cool to show solidarity with Ottawa’s desperate aspirations to see the Cup in Canada with this whole “rah-rah Ottawa” suck-up — and folks thought Anaheim was a Mickey Mouse town! But this is about more than small-town cheese.

For one, the cyber-petition for the Sens that Miller so readily endorsed is a shameless marketing ploy launched by the same Godless bank that happens to be the hometeam’s landlord. More significantly, and it is significant, Miller’s faux pas speaks volumes about how out of touch he is with the common folk, those people for whom the appellation “Leaf Nation” actually means something, implying a kind of communal bond through the blue and white that one doesn’t casually abandon or betray.

Miller could just as easily have taken a pass on this boneheaded cyber-boosterism, claiming his loyalty to Toronto can’t be compromised, or whatever, but like the politician who foregoes corn-roasts and kissing babies, he’s once again shown how badly he lacks that folksy, common touch.