Personal Life
On January 14, 2003, Lastman announced that he would not run for re-election, citing deteriorating health.
On November 10, 2003, David Miller was elected out of a field of five leading candidates to succeed Lastman as city mayor.
Lastman continues to live in Toronto with his wife and returned to leading the Lastman's Bad Boy Furniture chain in May 2006. Lastman sometimes comments publicly on Toronto affairs, such as in 2007 when the city faced a $575 million shortfall and struggled to make service cuts to immediately save $100 million. Lastman sympathized that provincial downloading had burdened Toronto, but also criticized Miller's service cuts as hurting the quality of life while not going far enough to solve the shortfall. Lastman pointed out that spending had increased by $1.5 billion since he left office, and suggested that councillors had to consider measures such as contracting out services and cutting staff.
Read more about this topic: Mel Lastman
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