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Dennis Mills (b. July 19, 1946 in Toronto) is a Canadian Liberal Member of Parliament. He represents the riding of Toronto-Danforth in the east-end of downtown Toronto.
Mills has long conducted business in Toronto. He set up the large Chairman Mills company which runs events. He also was an executive with auto-parts maker Magna International, a company whose CEO, Belinda Stronach, announced her campaign in 2004 for the right-wing Conservative Party. He was first elected to parliament in the 1988 general election. He has consistently won re-election by wide margins in the diverse Danforth area of Toronto. He has served on a number of parliamentary committees, but has never been in cabinet.
Political pundits are frequently baffled by Mills' appeal to the electorate, despite the marked disparity between his views and theirs. Mills is considered one of the most right-wing members of the Liberal government. He supports a flat tax and is well known for being strongly against same-sex marriage and other equality issues. He is also one of only a handful of Pro-Life Liberal MPs. In 1996 he briefly left the Liberal caucus to sit as a "Independent-Liberal", protesting the government's failure to abolish the GST. He was at first a supporter of John Nunziata in the 2003 mayoral election, but then switched his support to the other right wing candidate: John Tory. Many believe that with his recent media grandstanding, constituents will finally realize he does not well represent their political attitudes.
He is an opponent of current Toronto mayor David Miller and is the creator of the Toronto Port Authority and was also one of the most noted advocates of its Island Airport Bridge.
He is best known for helping organize large events in Toronto. These include World Youth Day in 2002 that brought the Pope to Toronto and the post-SARS Rolling Stones concert. He has a flair for the dramatic that has been compared to former Toronto mayor Mel Lastman in this regard. The media branded him "pompous" with his proposal to relocate the United Nations to Toronto.
In 2003 he promised to resign in thirty days if an abandoned property was not turned into community housing. Shortly before the month's expiry, a compromise deal to convert the property into interim housing was reached. Many felt betrayed by this act, since it provided Mills with publicty, but only temporary housing for the homeless.
In the 2004 election Mills will have a difficult fight against NDP party leader, and popular former city councilor, Jack Layton, whose views many believe more accurately reflect those of voters in the riding of Toronto-Danforth.
