May 16, 2005

Good evening.

It is a tremendous pleasure to be here tonight with you all. In this room are some of the people who have the greatest influence over how our city grows and changes.

It is terrific to see the Architecture and Urban Design Awards starting to get the profile and recognition they deserve. These awards motivate us to celebrate what's best about our city, and inspire us to accomplish even greater things in the future. I have no doubt that these awards will grow as our city grows, and become more exciting over time.

I want to talk to you today about our Clean and Beautiful City initiative. I want to try to get at what this initiative is really and truly all about.

If you've heard me talk about Clean and Beautiful before, you've heard me talk about litter, about horticultural displays, about street furniture, about parks and green spaces, about buildings and public squares. You have also probably heard me speak about why these things are so important to our city - Clean and Beautiful is about more than cosmetic change, it's about fostering civic pride and public engagement.

As you know, these themes mean a great deal to me, and a great deal to our city. Tonight, though, I want to talk about another aspect of Clean and Beautiful.

As I look around this room I see people who wield great vision, and who have great influence on our city. I see dreamers and innovators. I see the kind of people who know how to make things happen, and who have made it their business to reshape our urban landscape.

And as I stand here in the presence of such great creative minds, it makes me wonder something. It makes me wonder why we have so many bland buildings in this city. It makes me wonder how we ever grew satisfied with mundane streetscapes. It makes me wonder how we came to accept "nice enough" as a measure of architectural merit.

As you might know, I have just returned from a trip that took me to Kyiv and Berlin. Both of these cities have become a source of tremendous inspiration for me.

I have great hope that we can find our own vision here for Toronto. And I believe this hope is well-founded.

There is a mood in this city right now - you might call it optimism, you might call it a desire for change. People want Toronto to cast off the fetters that have held it back in the past, and to move into the future free from the limitations of chronic underfunding and lack of vision. I share that optimism and that desire for change. I am working to free Toronto from its traditional limitations.

My office is working with city council to remove impediments to widespread, intelligent growth in our city. Along our waterfront, at some of our major cultural institutions, and in neighbourhoods across the city, I am pushing for better, bolder development.

On another front, I am working with the provincial and federal governments to find new money and new powers for Toronto, which will give us even greater freedom to fashion a new vision for this city.

But there is one obstacle to the transformation of our city that the mayor and city council can only do so much about. And that is the mentality of those who have the power to effect change. I am speaking of the people in this room. I am also speaking about every Torontonian. It's going to take all of us to make this vision a reality.

As a city, we must learn to despise mediocrity. We can't accept what we've accepted in the past. "Good enough" is no longer good enough.

I don't think I'm telling you something you don't already know. By the very nature of what you do, you are clearly passionate about striving for excellence, and knowledgeable about how to achieve it.

I am also aware of the many obstacles you have faced, the tiring battles you have fought, to realize a grand vision for our city. Today I am asking you not to relent. I ask you to give no quarter to the petty obstacles and small minds that have so often stood in the way of making this city spectacular. I am asking you to be leaders, to show this city what it can be.

Let me be clear: I am not asking this only of you. City Council must set its own bar higher. And I am calling on every resident to do the same - in their front yards, in their place business or study, and in our public spaces. I want all of us to have a higher threshold for the level of beauty we find satisfactory.

But I call upon this group in particular, precisely because you have the power to lead the way.

You might be aware that the City is working to create an urban design review group. They will use a peer-review process to make recommendations about the beauty and function of new developments in Toronto. You might also be aware that, because of our current legal relationship with the provincial government, the panel will only have the power to make suggestions about architecture and urban design - we don't have the power to make the rules. This will not always be the case. As we work with the provincial government to create a new City of Toronto Act - that is, a new constitution for our city - Toronto's government will finally have the power to shape streetscapes and public spaces without having to compromise or limit their vision.

But I ask you this question: Why wait? Why wait until the City has the power to force new buildings to be beautiful? Let's start today. I know that what I want for our city, you want also. We're not going to get a better chance to make change than we have right now.

And so I ask you to look at our city with fresh eyes. I ask you to forget about historic limitations and current compromises, and to think only about what you want this city to be.

I know that change doesn't happen easily, and that the obstacles I am asking you to dismiss don't go away just because we say so. But let us agree tonight to work together to bring a new spirit to our city. Let us agree to combine our efforts to bring architectural and design excellence to Toronto. Let us be united, not just in a shared vision for our city, but in a commitment not to let that vision become diluted.

And that is what this evening's celebration is all about. Toronto is already filled with architectural and artistic works of genius. We should be proud to celebrate them, both because they so richly deserve it, and because they instill in us an idea of what our city can be. They give us something to aspire to.

And so, as we share this evening together celebrating the best our city has to offer, let these projects we honour be your inspiration. Let these extraordinary works become the norm. Let them fire your minds and hearts and souls, and propel you toward even greater projects within our city limits.

Thank you and enjoy this evening.