My morning newspaper informs me that Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty will appoint Toronto Rosedale MPP and health minister George Smitherman as deputy premier. The unofficial post has been vacant since the McGuinty Liberals took office. It is not news that Smitherman has been an aggressive partisan in the health portfolio, as we was when he was an assistant to former Toronto mayor Barbara Hall. The premier will be able to use his talents in the year leading up to the next election as the need for the premier to be absent from Queen’s Park accelerates.
Significantly, factors such as Smitherman’s admitted “party drugs” abuse and his homosexuality didn’t preclude his selection for the post. But will the opposition Conservatives be able to keep their supporters calm and quiet?
Significantly, factors such as Smitherman’s admitted “party drugs” abuse and his homosexuality didn’t preclude his selection for the post. But will the opposition Conservatives be able to keep their supporters calm and quiet?
