All Entries Tagged With: "George Smitherman"
A Campaign That Quickly Lost Its Way
The Toronto Star examines the candidacy of George Smitherman and how he went from the frontrunner to defeated candidate over the course of the 9 month campaign: “In the opening weeks of the campaign, Smitherman used a conventional front runner’s strategy: He coasted along, saying little on policy, meeting few voters, in a bid to [...]
Toronto Mayoral Campaign Ends On A Hateful Note
The Globe and Mail reports that the final weekend of campaigning featured heavy schedules, but also some aggressive attack ads from unknown parties: The final weekend of Toronto’s too-close-to-call mayoral race veered into dirty territory with an advertisement on Tamil radio and derogatory signs that denigrated Mr. Smitherman for his sexual orientation. Mr. Ford said [...]
Blizzard: Smitherman Is George Of The Bungle
The Sun’s provincial affairs columnist Christina Blizzard reminds her readers of George Smitherman’s long history at Queen’s Park: “Smitherman proudly calls himself the father of the Green Energy Act. You will remember that piece of legislation, of course. It’s another boondoggle in the making. It is partly responsible for pushing up our hydro bills and [...]
Star Editorial: Pros And Cons Of Strategic Voting
With many voters still weighing their options on who to vote for, the Toronto Star editorial board offers a strong defence of voting strategically – in this case, or George Smitherman: “First of all, they allege that Smitherman is no better or actually worse than Ford. Miller has stated that Smitherman, like Ford, wants to [...]
Levy: Furious George Can’t Change His Spots
Sue-Ann Levy believes that George Smitherman has not changed his ways, despite his pledges of fiscal conservatism: “[H]ow is the Smitherman engaged in pre-election pandering any different from the Smitherman, who during his watch as health minister from 2003-2008 allowed millions of dollars of cushy contracts to go to Liberal-friendly consultants and companies allegedly working [...]
Ashton: Why Rob Ford Doesn’t Get My Vote
Former colleague Brian Ashton gives his reasons why he won’t be supporting mayoral candidate Rob Ford: “I observed Rob Ford over 10 years and found him to be a solitary councillor largely absent from the day-to-day political dynamics at City Hall. When picking away at some perceived political sore, his social skills were coarse if [...]
Corcoran: Smitherman Is A Left-Wing Trojan Horse
The National Post’s Terence Corcoran offers a very blunt assessment of what Toronto residents can expect from George Smtherman if elected: “Looking at Mr. Smitherman’s record and his policy agenda, it’s hard to find ideas that reflect anything that promise conservative change or any change at all. On the contrary, the man’s record betrays him [...]
Nickle: A Strategic Endorsement For Anybody-But-Ford For Mayor
Toronto Community News columnist David Nickle makes the case for George Smitherman – if only because he is not Rob Ford: “At its most benign, Ford’s vision is both destructive and unrealistic. Smitherman’s is flawed too, and ifhe were to fully implement the plan as presented, it too could be destructive to Toronto’s future. But [...]
Diebel: Ford Or Smitherman? Neither
Star columnist Linda Diebel gives a complete listing of the strengths and weaknesses of frontrunners Rob Ford and George Smitherman: ROB FORD Best campaign assets: Friends report being “amazed” at his energy. “He has tremendous physical stamina,” says Case Ootes, in his last days on council. His has been the campaign to beat, agree political [...]
Torontoist: With Reservations, George Smitherman For Mayor
The cautious endorsements continue for mayoral candidate George Smitherman as online magazine Torontoist offers their (qualified) support: “The major complaints against Smitherman: he wasted millions of taxpayer dollars by mismanaging eHealth, he negotiated an enormous sole-source deal with Samsung while energy minister, he leads by bullying rather than consensus. These are all very real black [...]
Ford Slams Smitherman Over Donor List
Mayoral candidate Rob Ford was quick to jump on opponent George Smitherman over Smitherman’s decision not to release his list of contributors before Monday’s vote: Ford and Joe Pantalone have both released their donor lists but under the election rules can still raise cash right up to the end of the year. Ford called on [...]
Former Mayor David Crombie Endorses Smitherman
Toronto’s former “tiny perfect mayor”, David Crombie, has taken the unusual step of endorsing a candidate for mayor y choosing George Smitherman: “Crombie, mayor from 1972 to 1978 and later a federal Conservative cabinet minister, said he decided to make his first civic endorsement since leaving public office 22 years ago. Smitherman said that, if [...]
Globe And Mail Endorses George Smitherman
The Globe and Mail Editorial Board has “cautiously” thrown its support behind mayoral candidate George Smitherman over opponent Rob Ford: “Mr. Ford and Mr. Smitherman have similarly unpersuasive and unsatisfactory platforms. In the end, Mr. Smitherman’s ability to get things done makes him the better candidate; Torontonians may have to live in hope that he [...]
Hotel Workers’ Union Endorses Smitherman
George Smitherman welcomed the support of another labour organization – the city’s hotel workers say Smitherman would be the best to help the city’s immigrant workers: “Unite Here Local 75 became the latest labour union to endorse the former deputy premier, after the Central Ontario Building Trades, which represents 60,000 Torontonian construction workers, announced earlier [...]
Smitherman Vows To Establish Green Tech District
Mayoral candidate George Smitherman announced his plans to create incentives for green businesses in Toronto, in addition to offering more support to local outfits: “Using measures such as tax increment financing, Mr. Smitherman pledged to establish a green business district in an as yet unspecified area of the city where there’s an abundance of fallow [...]
Smitherman Holds Off Releasing Donor List
With Joe Pantalone and Rob Ford releasing their list of donors this week, George Smitherman is the remaining mainstream candidate who has not done so before Election Day: “Smitherman’s campaign says it won’t release his list early, as has been the tradition in the past two elections, but will do so “in compliance with the [...]
Levy: Smitherman Shows His True Colours At Debate
The Sun’s Sue-Ann Levy offers that George Smitherman’s response to a heckler was very telling: “The heckling from someone imploring him to “answer the question” came after opponent Joe Pantalone asked Smitherman how he planned to improve services by cutting $808-million from the budget — part of True George’s fiscal platform. Smitherman stopped his explanation [...]
