George Smitherman, the former Ontario cabinet minister and Toronto mayoral candidate, is set to re-enter politics, this time as a city council candidate with competition. Smitherman told the Star on Tuesday he will register Wednesday to run in the new Ward 23, which includes Regent Park and Cabbagetown, “with a couple of prominent local supporters and my kids.”Pam McConnell, the veteran councillor who died last year, represented the area before electoral boundaries were changed and the number of wards increased from 44 to 47. “I will fall back on my community lessons learned from (former mayor) Barbara Hall and Pam McConnell, and will be running with the support of Barbara as well as the McConnell family ...,” Smitherman said. “I am a community champion who helped bring (MP) Salma Zahid and (federal Immigration Minister) Ahmed Hussein into politics as well as shepherd diverse appointments. My hiring and support for minority business will continue.”

Source: thestar May 08, 2018 22:07 UTC