This week, Porter Airlines announced a $45 million expansion of the 70-year-old airport, which once symbolized the choice between planes and people, the clash between commercial development and a green waterfront.
Today it's an example of shrewd entrepreneurship.
The "sleepy commuter airport" Miller vowed to preserve in 2003 has become a busy regional hub, serving 1,500 passengers a day with flights to seven (soon eight) cities. Its traffic will double next spring when Porter completes its expansion. A few protesters voiced their disapproval. The mayor was conspicuously absent. The city has moved on.
But if saving the waterfront from noise, traffic and pollution is no longer the centrepiece of Miller's vision, what is?
There's his "New Deal for Cities," which gives Toronto more autonomy and more taxing authority than any municipality in Ontario.
But most citizens don't pay attention to intergovernmental power shifts. They don't relish the prospect of paying new municipal taxes. They don't see a link between Miller's enlarged mandate and their quality of life.
There is his green agenda: an aggressive drive to increase waste diversion, a plan to retrofit heat-leaking highrises, an overdue expansion of public transit, a neighbourhood beautification campaign and incentives for everything from eco-roofs to low-flush toilets – all worthy initiatives, but not bold like the downtown congestion tax introduced by former London mayor Ken Livingstone in 2003 and not groundbreaking like the scheme to air-condition downtown buildings using lake water spearheaded by former Toronto councillor (now national NDP Leader) Jack Layton in the late 1990s.
While supportive of Miller's efforts, most residents don't see him as an environmental trailblazer.
There is his new "new broom." Miller did sweep out the culture of backroom deal-making that had developed at city hall. And he has run a relatively scandal-free administration. But that is competent management, not forward-looking leadership.
There is his community safety plan, designed to turn around 13 struggling neighbourhoods. It is a welcome counterpoint to Ottawa's focus on tougher laws and stricter enforcement.
But the real architect of the strong neighbourhoods strategy is Frances Lankin, president of the United Way. And, so far, it consists of more announcements than results.
There is his commitment to tackle Toronto's affordable housing crisis. The number of people using the city's emergency shelters has fallen. And Regent Park, North America's oldest social housing complex, is undergoing an ambitious makeover.
But very little affordable housing has been built on Miller's watch. There are still 68,000 households on the waiting list for subsidized housing.
There is his vigorous promotion of the arts. Miller has raised public awareness about the breadth and dynamism of the city's cultural sector.
Much as Torontonians like having a vibrant arts scene and a mayor who showcases it, they aren't willing to stake the city's economic future on its "creative class" (despite the teachings of urban guru Richard Florida) and aren't content to watch from the sidelines.
There is his campaign for a Canada-wide ban on handguns. It certainly reflects the values of most Torontonians. But he has made no headway in Ottawa.
Miller is personable, energetic and highly visible. He has chalked up a respectable list of accomplishments.
What is missing is an issue that galvanizes the city and defines the Miller era.
He once seemed to personify a waterfront for the people. Now it's hard to find an image that fits.
Carol Goar's column appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
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