I am honoured to have the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of my esteemed colleague and fellow poet Mr. Dennis Lee, it will be with pride and passion that I carry forward the mandate of the Poet Laureate position for the City of Toronto and its residents.

A city's art must give the impression that art is as indispensable a thing as water, or food.

A city's greatness is manifest in a people confident in their ability to take risks, to encounter

A strategist is one who helps people relax into their creative skills. People won't rally unless an idea is beautiful... Everyone is hanging on every word... Amazing.

The most adorable thing about Toronto is that she remains fiercely aloof and indifferent to the fads and entrepreneurial fevers of her lovers. She is intractably herself, admissive to the most vagrant, sober in a way that gets misinterpreted as stodginess. Her generosity extends to the meek as well as the gold diggers. Mercifully, she doesn't give a hoot about our portraits of her, but just waits, patiently, for our affection and citizenship.

When civic leaders are in love with their cities they are listened to; they are credible.

Toronto is a city that has yet to fall in love with itself.