Frank Miller (politician)

Frank Stuart Miller (May 14, 1927 – July 21, 2000) was a Canadian politician who served as the 19th premier of Ontario for four months in 1985.

In 1967, Miller was elected as a member of the Bracebridge town council, serving until 1970.

He was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in 1971 as a Progressive Conservative member of the central Ontario riding of Muskoka.

He served in the cabinet of Premier Bill Davis in several portfolios including Minister of Health and Minister of Natural Resources.

He also served five years as the Treasurer of Ontario.

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.

He joined the cabinet of Premier William Davis on February 26, 1974 as Minister of Health.

He was re-elected in the 1975, 1977, 1981, and 1985 elections.

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.

Miller became Minister of Natural Resources following a cabinet shuffle on February 3, 1977.

On August 16, 1978, he was promoted to Treasurer and Minister of Economics.

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.

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.

When Davis announced his pending resignation in 1985, Miller vied for the leadership of the party and won over a slate of three other candidates.

In February, 1985, he formed a cabinet of 33 ministers which was the largest cabinet in Ontario's history.

Miller quickly called an election which was held on May 2.

His party lost 18 seats but still held the most seats with 52.

He formed a minority government, which lasted less than two months, when the Liberals under David Peterson and the New Democrats led by Bob Rae formed an unofficial coalition and defeated the government on a confidence motion on June 26.

Initially Miller stayed on as leader of the opposition, but resigned shortly after.

Upon retirement from provincial politics, Miller moved back to Muskoka where he became chairman of the District of Muskoka.

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".

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.

He died in 2000 in Bracebridge, Ontario.

Miller was born in Toronto, the son of Margaret Stuart McKean and Percy Frank Miller.

He attended Oakwood Collegiate Institute in Toronto, and then McGill University in Montreal where he received a degree in engineering.

He had a successful career as a professional engineer, car dealer and resort operator.