Dennis Mills

Dennis Joseph Mills (born July 19, 1946) is a Canadian businessman and former politician. He was a Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) from 1988 to 2004, representing Toronto—Danforth (formerly Broadview-Greenwood) in Toronto's east end. Mills has long conducted business in the Toronto area, including as CEO and vice-chairman of MI Developments from 2004 to 2011, and as the current president and CEO of Toronto Partners Inc. and Racing Future Inc.

Early life and politics Born in Toronto, then attended the University of St. Thomas in Houston. He served on the personal staff of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau from 1980 until 1984, when Trudeau was succeeded as Liberal leader and prime minister by John Turner. He then joined Magna International as a vice-president, serving until 1987.

Mills ran as the Liberal candidate in Broadview-Greenwood in the 1988 election, in protest of the government's failure to abolish the Goods and Service Tax as it had promised in the 1993 campaign. He was re-elected in 1997 by defeating the NDP's Jack Layton, and served as chair of the House of Commons Sub-Committee on the study of sport in Canada, and vice-chair of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage in the 36th Parliament. He kept his seat in that election, and continued in his committee and sub-committee roles in the 37th Parliament.

He had helped to organize large events in Toronto, including World Youth Day in 2002 which brought Pope John Paul II to the city, and the post-SARS Rolling Stones concert in 2003. In 1989, Mills organized the Summit on the Environment in Toronto, which attracted approximately 50,000 people and performers such as John Denver and Gordon Lightfoot. Starting in 1999, he initiated events for the Family Farm Tribute to recognize the contributions of Canadian family farms. In 2001, with the Assembly of First Nations, he organized and co-chaired the Bala Summit on Water (See http://dennismills.com/water-manifesto/), attended by leading experts from Canada and the United States.

In 2001, he was criticized for spending $330,884 on travel and office expenses, more than any other Liberal MP. In 2004, he was voted Best Constituency MP by the Ottawa Hill Times.

In the 2004 election, Mills faced a re-match against Jack Layton, who had been the leader of the NDP since 2003. Mills placed ahead of Green Party leader Jim Harris and Conservative candidate Loftus Cuddy, but lost to Layton by nearly 2,400 votes. In 2010 he founded Racing Future Inc., a portal for the global community dedicated to re-building and growing the sport of horse racing. and as president of the Bala branch of the Royal Canadian Legion. This is smaller than the $325 million promised in the 1997 election and the $300 million promised in the 2000 election, of which of less than $10 million was ever actually delivered.

He was considered by many to be an opponent of Toronto mayor David Miller. He was at first a supporter of John Nunziata in the 2003 mayoral election, but then switched his support to John Tory, who had become one of the leading candidates.

In 2003, he promised in writing to resign in thirty days if an abandoned property known as the Gatekeeper Squat was not turned into community housing. That said, he did favour civil unions, and stated he would respect any decision derived from a free vote on the issue in the House of Commons. He is personally opposed to abortion rights, but does not and has never opposed or raised debate regarding the issue or abortion laws. These social views are commonly associated with his Roman Catholic faith.

Mills is noted for having advocated what opponents call a flat tax, which he calls a "single tax", about which he wrote two books, A Life Less Taxing and The Single Tax. His other published book is Developing an Agenda for the 21st Century.