Shadow of Mills haunts Pitfield campaign
Mayoral candidate lacks key backers
Globe and Mail
JAMES RUSK
TORONTO -- When Jane Pitfield formally launched her campaign last week to unseat Mayor David Miller, the microphone at her podium didn't work. But a working sound system wasn't the only thing missing.
The councillor for Don Valley West is running without the support of the key fundraisers and political professionals who have put together winning campaigns for past centre-right mayoral candidates.
They are hanging back, waiting for a stronger candidate with a better chance of beating Mr. Miller.
The name on everyone's lips is former Liberal MP Dennis Mills.
The Globe and Mail interviewed 10 eminent political activists, most of them backers of former mayor Mel Lastman's wins in 1997 and 2000, or John Tory's near-win in 2003. None wished to speak for attribution about Ms. Pitfield's prospects -- and none expressed much enthusiasm for her candidacy.
"I think there is the feeling that she is not able to beat David [Miller] at all," said one political veteran who has been a power in city politics for decades.
The Pitfield team has never been able give potential backers any polling data, public or private, that show she has a chance to beat Mr. Miller and, consequently, "she has not been able to get any of the really big powers in the city to support her," he added.
Rather, the veterans of what could be called the Lastman coalition are waiting on the sidelines, hoping that another -- in their view, more credible -- candidate could emerge.
"There always seems to be the sense that, maybe, maybe, someone else will come along," said one analyst who follows city politics.
"They will only come on board [the Pitfield campaign] when they realize she is the sole candidate."
Some are doing more than waiting. Behind the scenes, a number of the powerful politicos that put Mr. Lastman in the mayor's chair are looking for another candidate.
The current hot prospect is Mr. Mills.
Now the vice-chairman of Magna Entertainment Corp., Mr. Mills was an aide to former prime minister Pierre Trudeau and a four-term Liberal MP for Toronto Danforth who earned a reputation as one of the most effective organizers in the House of Commons.
He provided the political push for the Pope's World Youth Day visit in 2002 and organized the Rolling Stones-headlined benefit concert after the SARS outbreak in 2003.
He almost dropped out of politics before the 2004 election, but stayed on to run unsuccessfully against NDP Leader Jack Layton, after which then-prime minister Paul Martin named him a one-man task force on the redevelopment of the Toronto waterfront -- a file that would land on his desk again if he were to become mayor.
Mr. Mills said last week that his priority is business, but also expressed an interest in getting into city politics at some point.
"Once our team cuts Magna Entertainment free of debt, I would like to challenge David Miller to turn his promises into performance," Mr. Mills said in an interview.
Despite his protestations, Mr. Mills is under heavy pressure to get into the race. One source said that if the money and campaign team needed for a serious challenge are lined up by midsummer, it is still better than even odds the former MP will enter the race by Labour Day.
Mr. Mills is said by some sources to be holding out for a firm commitment that could extend to the following election in 2009 or 2010 (depending on the fate of provincial legislation that would extend terms to four years).
Even a September entry could still produce a winning campaign, a source said, because most voters don't focus on a mayoral race until October, while the critical issues in the race do not usually crystallize until fall.
Even if no other major candidate runs against Mr. Miller, Ms. Pitfield is unlikely to get the kind of support from the centre-right she needs to offer a serious challenge to the mayor, the sources said.
Ms. Pitfield, a 51-year-old who has served on city council since 1998, is seen as a policy lightweight who does not appear to think through the policies she professes.
She is viewed by some potential backers as a rogue councillor who did not vote consistently with any group and was not seen as an active supporter of the traditional centre-right coalition when it was in power, one source said.
Possible candidates
Four other potential candidates have had their names bandied about in recent months as possible centre-right standard-bearers for mayor of Toronto.
They are:
Dennis Mills: The former MP and current vice-chairman of Magna Entertainment is under heavy pressure to run. Loyalty to Magna's Frank Stronach -- and a hefty private-sector paycheque -- hold him back.
Tony Ianno: The former federal cabinet minister is waiting for the next election to try to avenge his defeat by the NDP's Olivia Chow.
Julian Fantino: Every time there is a list of potential candidates, his name is on it. But for starters, he would have to sell his house in Vaughan and move back into the city.
Sergio Marchi: The former cabinet minister has been out of the country, and political circulation, for so long that only the political pros remember his name.
James Rusk
