Toronto mayor won't run again

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David Miller will not seek re-election in 2010, blowing wide open the race for mayor of Canada's largest city.

Mr. Miller, who still has 14 months remaining in his term before the next municipal election, confirmed he will not seek a third term in a bombshell announcement at city hall Friday.

Citing the pressures on his young family, Mr. Miller said he had privately decided to bow out of the next election some time ago.

"While it's been a difficult decision, I feel secure in my priorities, proud of my record and confident in my vision for the city I love," he said as his wife, Jill Arthur, son Simon and daughter Julia looked on.

"I have accomplished what I set out to do. So if I ran again, it would be about me and my electoral success and not about the Toronto I love."

Video of Miller's announcement

The mayor had said as recently as a few weeks ago that he was looking forward to running on his record of legacy investments in public transit, the environment and low crime rates. But privately, he said he had decided not to run following the last election, noting his children were both born after he was first elected to city hall in 1994.

"After my election as mayor, the pressures on me as a father and a husband became immense. And I realized then that were I to be re-elected in 2010 and serve until 2014, my daughter would be in university and my son would be about to graduate from high school. This would not allow me ever to have been there for them in the way they deserve," he said.

Mr. Miller's standing had plummeted in the polls since this summer's unpopular city worker's strike as speculation mounted over potential contenders like former Progressive Conservative leader John Tory and current Deputy Premier George Smitherman.

Questions had also been raised about the backroom players from his 2006 campaign who had recently withdrawn or hedged their support, including Ralph Lean, the lawyer who co-chaired the mayor's fundraising team last election but said he wouldn't work for him again.

But Mr. Miller said the only two things driving his decision were family and the fact he had accomplished every major policy promise he had made in 2006, including the recent launch Thursday of the city's 311 customer service strategy.

He rhymed off highlights of his mayoral record: 120 kilometres of light rail transit and a major expansion of the TTC, the plan to divert 70 per cent of waste from landfill and lower greenhouse gases, community policing and homeless initiatives, lower business taxes and the freeze on development charges, and the changing faces of Toronto's agencies, boards and commissions to better reflect the city's ethnic diversity.

He became emotional when describing city investments in young people from priority neighbourhoods. "This has been particularly important to me as the only child of a single mother," he said, his voice cracking.

Mr. Miller said there would be plenty of time to thank his staff and the people of Toronto over his remaining months in office.

"Today, however, I do want to thank my family," he said, choking up, with his son Simon crying nearby. "They've shown incredible patience, love and understanding throughout my political career."

Earlier discussion: Marcus Gee on David Miller's announcement

Miller supporter Councillor Adam Vaughan said he sympathized with the mayor's struggle over balancing a demanding job with the demands of family.

"My kid lost his tooth this week and I didn't know about it for three days," he said. "That takes a toll on you. And if you come out of David's background as a single-parent-raised child you can't help but have those things weigh on you." Mr. Vaughan's children are 11 and 5.

Mr. Tory said he may have disagreed with Mr. Miller on some issues, but said the mayor's heart is in the right place.

"Today is a day to say thank you for serving the public for 15 years, and good luck with what you're going to do going forward," Mr. Tory said.

Mr. Miller came to office on a wave of hope for Canada's largest city, wielding a symbolic broom and pledging to sweep away the inertia and dubious dealings that seemed to mark its government.

"I was elected in 2003 to clean up a city government marked by scandal and to make it open to the people of Toronto," he said, pointing to the lobbyist registry, integrity commissioner and the ombudsman as key accomplishments.

He was re-elected in 2006, beating rival Jane Pitfield.

He has secured billions of new financing for a sweeping expansion of public transit, boosted city revenues by introducing two new taxes, pushed ahead with long-stalled waterfront renewal and worked to make Toronto a "green" city with new plans for bike paths and green roofs.

But the 39-day strike dealt a grave blow to the labour-friendly mayor. Many Torontonians supported his attempt to wrest a generous sick-leave plan from city unions, so were disappointed when he came out of the struggle with only a partial win, ending the old sick-leave plan for new hires but letting existing workers keep it if they wished.

Polls showed that a large majority of city residents thought someone else could do a better job as mayor.

Until today, Mr. Miller had shown no sign that he would drop out of the mayoral contest. He kept up a busy round of appointments and talked up the successes of his administration when asked about possible challengers.

Mr. Tory, who just took on a new gig as the "Live Drive" talk show host at Newstalk 1010, where political watchers expect him to tap the pulse of the city in preparation for a mayoral run, said Mr. Miller's announcement changes little for him.

"In my own case, nothing has changed from the fact that I have hundreds of people, up to and including this morning, who are saying they want me to consider running because they're concerned about the low level of competence in their city, the high level of taxes, and deteriorating services," he said.

"That doesn't change. What's changed now is that there's one name that won't be on the ballot. But all those issues are the same."

Councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong said Toronto needs a new direction and he might be the one to lead it.

"The mayor's position today hasn't changed the fact that I'm still considering running as a candidate," he said.

Mr. Miller said the election to replace him will be "hard fought" and he urged residents with progressive values to rally behind a like-minded "champion."

"There will be candidates who say that you can have a great city for free, that you can have a great city while freezing taxes and cutting services, but Torontonians have seen through those falsehoods before and they will see through them again," he said.

John Cartwright, president of the Toronto and York Region Labour Council, said he was "shocked" to hear of the mayor's decision. Despite the strike, which alienated much of Mr. Miller's union base, Mr. Cartwright said he doesn't think the fallout from the labour stoppage was a "decisive factor" in his decision not to run next year.

"We certainly respect his right to say he wants to actually see his family. But I'm sure there's a wide variety of factors that are involved in this," he said.

Premier Dalton McGuinty said Mr. Miller's dedication to public service has been "unwavering" as he made progress on public transit and the "new deal" for cities, whose most significant outcome was that Toronto and other cities won a now permanent share of the federal and provincial gas taxes.

"I wish David and his family all the best in the next chapter of their lives, and look forward to our continued work together through the end of this term," Mr. McGuinty said in a statement.

Jane Pepino, a development lawyer and former partner of Mr. Miller's at Aird & Berlis, said that she had no inkling he wasn't going to run again next year. She said he left a strong legacy, including dealing with the impact of amalgamation and provincial downloading.

"It wasn't sexy stuff and I think that people will only understand how important his work has been in that area particularly in the next few years," she said.