Frank Miller (politician)

For other people with the same name, see Frank Miller (disambiguation).

Frank Miller
The Hon. Frank Stuart Miller
19th Premier of Ontario
In office February 8, 1985 –June 26, 1985

In 1967, Miller was elected as a member of the Bracebridge town council, serving until 1970. In the 1971 Ontario provincial election, he ran for election to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in Muskoka as a Progressive Conservative, and was elected. ^[2] He was re-elected in the 1975, ^[3] 1977, ^[4] 1981, ^[5] and 1985 elections. ^[6]

He joined the cabinet of Premier William Davis on February 26, 1974 as Minister of Health. ^[7] He planned to close a number of small hospitals and consolidate urban services after the 1975 election, but withdrew in the face of cabinet opposition. He suffered a heart attack during this period.^{[ citation needed ]}

Miller became Minister of Natural Resources following a cabinet shuffle on February 3, 1977. ^[8] On August 16, 1978, he was promoted to Treasurer and Minister of Economics. ^[9] As Treasurer, he opposed the Davis government's Suncor purchase in 1981 and considered resigning over the issue. After another shuffle on July 6, 1983, he was named Minister of Industry and Trade. ^[10] In 1983, he gained notoriety for wearing a loud tartan jacket to the 1983 budget ceremony. He was caricatured by some reporters as a symbol of Ontario's rural past, and seemed out of step with generational and demographic changes in the province. Senior party organizer Hugh Segal later acknowledged that the jacket probably alienated many new voters.

Party leadership and Premier

See also: 1985 Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario leadership elections

When Davis retired, Miller defeated Larry Grossman, Roy McMurtry and Dennis Timbrell for the leadership of the Progressive Conservative party in its January 1985 leadership convention.

Davis and his predecessor John Robarts were considered Red Tories and ran relatively progressive administrations that increased public investment and expanded the public sector.

Under their watch, the Ontario Tories were often seen to be running left of the Liberals. Miller, on the other hand, was more typical of the party's base of social conservatives from Ontario's rural areas. When Davis officially stepped down on February 8, 1985, Miller became Premier. Miller's victory created some divisions in the Progressive Conservative Party, and he had difficulty keeping order among senior party staff.

In February, 1985, Miller announced his first cabinet with a record 33 members including 7 Ministers without portfolio. The size of the cabinet belied Miller's rhetoric of a lean, efficient government. David Peterson called it the "fattest, most bloated Cabinet in the history of this province". ^[11]

1985 election

Main article: 1985 Ontario general election

Miller's Progressive Conservatives had a significant lead in the polls of around 55% (compared to the two opposition parties, in the low to mid 20s) when he called an election for May 1985, but his campaign was considered disastrous. He elicited controversy when he refused to agree to a television debate with Liberal leader David Peterson and New Democratic Party leader Bob Rae. This decision is thought to have hurt Miller's standing with the public. His situation was also made more difficult by Davis's decision to extend public funding for Catholic Separate Schools to grade 13, a decision that had been left to Miller to implement. Although the policy was supported by all parties in the legislature, it was unpopular with some in the Tories' traditional rural Protestant base. Many PC voters were so upset that they simply stayed home on election day because of this issue.

In the election, the Liberals won a narrow plurality of the popular vote. However, at the time rural areas were still overrepresented in the Legislative Assembly, enabling Miller to win reelection. However, the Tories were cut down to a minority government, in which the Tories had only four more seats than the Liberals and were 11 seats short of a majority. The NDP, with 25 seats, held the balance of power.

Minority government and defeat

After several weeks of negotiations with both parties, the NDP signed an agreement with Peterson to support a Liberal minority government. As per this agreement, Rae introduced a Motion of No Confidence in the Miller government, which carried. As a result of the Liberal-NDP accord, Lieutenant-Governor John Black Aird asked Peterson to form a government. Miller formally resigned as Premier on June 26, 1985; ending 42 years of Progressive Conservative rule over Ontario.

Miller resigned as Progressive Conservative leader soon afterward. He was replaced by Larry Grossman in a November 1985 leadership convention. Miller formally resigned as party leader and Leader of the Opposition in early 1986. He played only a minor role in the legislature after this time, and did not seek re-election in 1987.

Cabinet positions

Ontario provincial government of Bill Davis
Cabinet posts (4)
Predecessor	Office	Successor
Gordon Walker	Minister of Industry and Trade 1983–1985	Andy Brandt
Darcy McKeough	Treasurer and Minister of Economics 1978–1983	Larry Grossman
Leo Bernier	Minister of Natural Resources 1977–1978	James Auld
Richard Potter	Minister of Health 1974–1977	Dennis Timbrell

Later life

After leaving the legislature, Miller later became chairman of the District of Muskoka.

The Tories did not return to power in Ontario until the 1995 election, when Mike Harris, who Miller had brought to his cabinet as Minister of Natural Resources, became premier.

Miller returned to private life, dying in 2000. His son, Norm Miller, entered provincial politics in 2001, winning a by-election in the riding of Parry Sound—Muskoka after Ernie Eves resigned the seat.

References

Notes

1. Riding renamed to Muskoka–Georgian Bay.

Citations

1. Paikin, Steve (2016). Paikin on Ontario's Premiers. Dundurn. ISBN   9781459738331.
2. "Riding-by-riding returns in provincial election". The Globe and Mail. October 23, 1971. p. 10.
3. "Table of vote results for all Ontario ridings". The Globe and Mail. September 19, 1975. p. C12.
4. "Ontario provincial election results riding by riding". The Globe and Mail. June 10, 1977. p. D9.
5. Canadian Press (1981-03-20). "Winds of change, sea of security". The Windsor Star. Windsor, Ontario. p. 22. Retrieved 2014-04-01.
6. "Results of vote in Ontario election". The Globe and Mail. May 3, 1985. p. 13.
7. Dunlop, Marilyn (February 27, 1974). "The new cabinet lines up like this". The Toronto Star. p. A3.
8. Allen, David (February 3, 1977). "Davis names Timbrell new health minister". The Toronto Star. p. 1.
9. Oziewicz, Stan; Yaffe, Barbara (August 19, 1978). "McCague, Baetz are demoted in cabinet shuffle". The Globe and Mail. pp. 1, 2.
10. Speirs, Rosemary; Stead, Sylvia; Cruikshank, John (July 6, 1983). "Shuffle gives Treasury job to Grossman". The Globe and Mail. pp. 1, 2.
11. Graham White (1988). R.B. Byers (ed.). Canadian Annual Review of Politics and Public Affairs (1985). Toronto: University of Toronto Press. p. 263.

External links

• Ontario Legislative Assembly parliamentary history
• Frank S. Miller fonds, Archives of Ontario