September 23, 2003

Members of Council.

I haven't worn this Chain of Office in Council since our first meeting, back in December 2000.

It was an honour to wear it then - and after all we've been through together, it is even more of an honour to be wearing it today.

Together, we've tackled the critical issues that previous governments failed to address.

We made current value assessment work. We purchased Union Station from the Toronto Terminal Railways Company. We approved a bridge to the Island Airport. We settled lawsuits with the CBC and with the Toronto Port Authority. We cleaned up our taxi industry. We built dozens of waterparks. We developed an Official Plan for the City of Toronto to guide growth for the next 20 years, we made our 4,000 restaurants smoke-free and clean.

Think about it for a moment. The debates we had over the creation of an office for the Auditor General. The work that went into saving the School Board's swimming pools and making regular restaurant inspections a reality and I could go on and on.

We didn't always agree. Not everybody got their way - but we were steadfast in our attempts to put Toronto on the path to greatness.

I think we succeeded - and we did it with the odds stacked against us.

Remember what it was like that first council meeting in 1998? Remember learning that the transition team had only hired a total of five bureaucrats? Remember when you first found out that we had 56 collective agreements that had to be rolled into one?

I remember - just as I remember how I felt when I learned that downloading was short-changing Toronto to the tune of $276 million a year.

It was kind of like how I felt when I learned that the province - in co-operation with the federal government - was going to download responsibility for 95,000 units of subsidized social housing onto our taxpayers.

How I felt in 1999 when the snowstorm hit - and I realized that the old City of Toronto didn't have any snowplows.

When I learned about SARS this spring - or blackouts this summer.

We rose to all challenges. We created the Toronto Community Housing Corporation, which will save taxpayers $25 million in its first three years and $25 million every year after.

We found hundreds of millions of dollars in our budget to help offset the impact of downloading.

We worked to keep our citizens safe through storms and outbreaks and blackouts.

And we fought like cats and dogs to get the provincial and the federal governments to re-invest in our City.

Is Toronto a better place for our efforts?

You bet it is.

In the last six years, we secured commitments for $1.1 billion in provincial funding and $76 million in federal funding for the TTC.

Our counterparts in Queen's Park and Ottawa also pledged $1 billion for our waterfront.

We secured $235 million in cultural grants to help build new landmarks like the Opera House - and renovate old ones like the ROM and the AGO.

And in the middle of all this - the post-amalgamation chaos and the downloading and the outbreaks - we actually improved our city's credit rating, bringing it up to Aa1 from Aa2.

We did these things. You and me. Together - and for being bold in the face of adversity - for fighting for what you believe in - you have both my respect, and my thanks.

You also have my best wishes as you go forward - because I don't think it's going to get any easier.

I've learned a few things these past six years.

One of them is that the path we are on is not sustainable.

We cannot afford to pay for all the programs that have been forced down on us.

Particularly when two thirds of our tax base has been frozen and we only have direct control over 25 per cent of our total budget; Queen's Park dictates how we spend the rest.

We're not going to make it without adequate, on-going funding delivered directly to us - without strings attached.

I've also learned that when you schedule a budget meeting, you've got to be at least two weeks away from a holiday break.

I've learned that if council doesn't finish its agenda in three days, it should have at least up to two more days the following week to complete the agenda.

We've got to stop allowing our own unions to lobby Members of Council - and I've learned that labour negotiations should last no longer than four months and start two months before contracts expire.

Negotiations can not stretch into the summer months; they should start in October and end in February.

I've learned that we should stay away from issues that we aren't responsible for and that we have no control over.

And I've learned that cities should resist getting pushed into funding or running programs that the provincial and the federal governments are responsible for.

Sure, the funding looks attractive at first - but after a few years, they walk away and we are left holding the bag.

As far as I am concerned, filibustering is tantamount to theft of taxpayer money - and if I were to stay on as mayor, all contracts and RFP's would go to P&F from Standing Committees before they go to council.

Of course, I am not staying on - and I've always believed that retired Mayors should stay that way.

I've also always believed in giving credit where credit is due - and on that count, there are several people here today who deserve special recognition.

Deputy Mayor Case Ootes has done an outstanding job. I know I speak for everyone when I say that he has earned both our respect and our trust.

He's been more than a friend to me and to everyone on this council: he's been my right hand man.

On behalf of Toronto City Council and the 2.5 million people we represent, thank you.

We wouldn't have made it this far without you - or without our CAO, Shirley Hoy, our Commissioners Joe Halstead, Barry Gutteridge, Eric Gam, Joan Anderton, Paula Dill, and our Treasurer and CFO, Joe Pennechetti.

This council has been blessed with a good, conscientious staff - and we should be grateful for the effort that they put into their work.

I am grateful - just as I am grateful to you, the members of Toronto City Council, past and present.

We've taken on more politically difficult and controversial items in the past three years, I should also say in the last 6 years, than any council in the history of this city or any city I know of.

There have been some bitter fights - but at the end of the day, every item that was important to the future of this City - was approved.

Thank you - for putting partisanship aside and doing what's right for Toronto.

As a token of appreciation, I've delivered a gift to each of your offices this morning - and I hope you will accept it in the spirit that it is offered.

I should take a moment to thank my own staff, led by Alan Slobodsky.

Alan and the rest of the men and women who work for me have remained dedicated and loyal.

I couldn't ask for a better team of people. Thank you.

I'd like to take a moment to acknowledge those councillors who are leaving or have already left the municipal arena.

Joanne Flint, Brad Duguid, Paul Sutherland, Lorenzo Berardinetti, Irene Jones, Mario Silva, Chris Korwin-Kuczynski, Jack Layton, Betty Disero, Laura Jones, Fred Domenilli - and me.

Good luck in your future endeavours - and please, for those of you who go on to provincial or federal politics, don't forget your friends at Toronto City Hall - or the needs of the city that you represent.

Last but not least, I'd like to acknowledge some friends I've made along the way.

I'm talking about friends like Father Tom Rosica, George Cohon, the people at Molson, David and Ed Mirvish and Lenny and Johnny Lombardi, who have made extraordinary contributions to make our City work.

I would like to thank the great people of Toronto for whom we all serve. I will always be grateful in more ways than you will ever know.

And I hope Toronto never ever forgets the friend it has in the province of Prince Edward Island - that little island that came to our aid not once, but twice in the past two terms, and they came without us even asking - and at great expense to themselves.

Members of Council, we've survived another three years.

The struggle to save Toronto continues: it will be up to future councils to build upon the foundation we've started here.

For those of you who are staying, keep fighting for what you believe in. Keep fighting for your constituents, your ward, and your city.

And please don't be afraid to keep repeating yourselves - you have to get your message across.

If you do all of these things, you - and our City - will prevail.

Members of Council, good luck in your future endeavours, whether they be municipal, provincial, federal, private sector or personal.

Thank you.

Speech by Deputy Mayor Case Ootes