David Miller, Toronto’s current mayor, is widely expected to be re-elected on November 13th. While it originally looked like he would simply be running on his record as mayor, Miller has now made two new funding commitments, one to make a “safe city safer” and another for a “cleaner and more beautiful city”.

For community safety, he is promising to support Toronto’s 13 priority neighbourhoods by investing $13 million for infrastructure improvements, by creating new employment opportunities for youth, and by eliminating recreation user fees for children and youth.

For civic beautification, he is promising, among other things, to invest $17.6 million to create a fund equal to $100,000 per ward, per year, to create a “Partnerships Office” to support residents and businesses in improving public spaces, and to hire graffiti artists to create community-approved murals.

I definitely have some reservations. First of all, I will add my voice to the chorus of people who feel that this is not enough and that Miller is thinking too small. In terms of infrastructure, the entire $13 million could not build more than one community centre.

Second, while the concept of priority neighbourhoods is problematic because there are way more than 13 vulnerable neighbourhoods in Toronto, at least you know the money is going somewhere where it is needed. The pot of beautification money will be handed out at the local councillor’s discretion, with no guarantee that it will go to where it is needed most. In fact, you can almost guarantee that it won’t because the best organized residents associations and citizens are in the most affluent areas.

Although it does not have the same allure, the beautification money would be better spent if it were given to the Toronto Community Housing Corporation for the maintenance of our public housing units, which have fallen into a terrible state of disrepair.

On that note, I sincerely hope that Miller’s next platform plank will be related to housing. In 1998, the mayors of the largest Canadian cities declared homelessness a national disaster, and since then we have done nowhere near enough to stop it.

Jane Pitfield, the main challenger for Miller’s job, has been quick to point out the absurdity of a beautification initiative that overlooks the most disgraceful problem with Toronto’s streets: people are forced to live on them because they do not have homes.

Looks like I have something else to bring up at Monday's debate.

David Miller: Who is this guy?
Translated into French by: Ryan Hayes
David Miller, Toronto’s current mayor, is widely expected to be re-elected on November 13th. While it originally looked like he would simply be running on his record as mayor, Miller has now made two new funding commitments, one to make a “safe city safer” and another for a “cleaner and more beautiful city”.