Miller's moment cut short

Toronto Mayor David Miller went toe-to-toe live via satellite with CNN host Ali Velshi, but had those toes sliced off while defending Toronto as a premiere tourist destination, despite the city being ridiculed as "Stench In the City."

Miller's defence of the city was cut off in mid-sentence and CNN insists it was a technical glitch.

Velshi, who grew up in Toronto and whose parents reside here, began the interview with Miller by showing video of a few of Toronto's temporary dump sites overflowing with garbage bags.

"It's actually much better than people would think from that clip. Torontonians have responded tremendously," Miller said in defence.

He said that although more than 24,000 workers are on strike, "the city is coping very, very well."

"The city's buzzing ... Despite all these challenges, it's actually a great time to visit Toronto," Miller said, adding Toronto's attractions, including Pride Day, the Honda Indy, Royal Ontario Museum's Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit, the renovated Art Gallery of Ontario and Toronto's Opera House, have boosted tourism.

Velshi said his parents have seen raccoons at garbage sites and asked Miller if rodents are becoming a health problem.

Miller responded by saying the dump sites are being overseen by the city's medical officer of health.

When Velshi asked when Toronto would see an end to the strike, Miller said he had instructed the city's employee labour relations committee negotiators to hammer out a deal.

"We're like every city in North America. The recession has hurt us," Miller said.

"In our case, our welfare costs are up significantly, but we're not proposing to lay off people. We're just asking people to accept that this year, in the current economic climate, it's not a year for significant pay increases," he said.

"We want to be fair to the workers. These people deliver terrific services, but it has to be affordable to the city ... There's a deal to be reached, and we can go on being the terrific city of Toronto that people admire from inside Toronto and outside," Miller said.

Velshi then asked about garbage piling up in parks and the impact on tourism, but before Miller could respond, the feed cut out.

"I don't think tourists would actually notice the temporary sites," Miller began, before being cut off.

Velshi joked that clearly somebody who didn't agree with Miller's position on the strike got to CNN's lines.

"No, that was just a technical difficulty," he said, before going on to another topic during the afternoon show.

CNN's report followed a World Travel Watch blurb published in Sunday's San Francisco Chronicle that trashed Toronto's clean-city image.

"CNN has taken our clean-Toronto image and besmirched it. People are doing their best to keep it clean. There's not that much of a mess considering there's a strike," said Michael Comstock, vice-president of the Toronto Association of Business Improvement Areas.

Tony Elenis, president and CEO of the Ontario Restaurant Hotel & Motel Association, says Miller did "a good thing" by appearing on CNN.

"All Torontonians need to speak out loud about how great Toronto is," Elenis said.