Smitherman denies eHealth influenced mayoral run
George Smitherman is brushing aside suggestions that he is running for the Toronto mayoralty in order to sidestep some of the political muck generated by the eHealth scandal.
Smitherman stepped down from his high-profile role as Energy and Infrastructure Minister on Monday to announce he will take a run at becoming mayor of Toronto in next November's municipal election.
Mayor David Miller announced in September that he wouldn't be seeking re-election in fall 2010.
Smitherman, who was the province's health minister before he took up the energy portfolio in June 2008, has come under fire as a result of the eHealth boondoggle, in which nearly $1 billion in taxpayers' money was spent over the past decade in a failed bid to create an electronic health record system.
An October report by the province's auditor general slammed the Ontario government for allowing eHealth to waste millions on unused computer systems and give out millions more in untendered contracts to consultants. Some of those contracts were doled out by its predecessor, Smart Systems for Health (SSHA), when Smitherman was health minister.
The scandal forced David Caplan — who succeeded Smitherman as health minister — to quit his post last month.
In an interview with the CBC's Evan Solomon, Smitherman dismissed suggestions the eHealth scandal affected his decision to run for mayor.
"Firstly, when I left the Ministry of Health, eHealth did not exist," Smitherman said.
"So it is a bit generous of people to suggest that that happened on my watch. While I was the minister of health we had this organization called Smart Systems for Health, which invested substantially of the people's money and building the infrastructure that is necessary for electronic health," he said, without elaborating further on the eHealth issue.
"But at the heart of the matter, that is the daily noise of politics," he said.
"The point of it is that there is an opportunity here in the city of Toronto that I feel I'm well suited to, with a track record of having made transformational change in a variety of things — including in health care, where working with [premier] Dalton McGuinty, we got doctors for 600,000 more Ontarians."
The SSHA was created in 2002 to electronically connect health-care professionals to each other and to patient information across the health-care system. However, it was plagued with trouble almost from the start.
In January 2007, Deloitte Consulting released a scathing report about the SSHA that found — among other things — that the agency had no strategic plan.
Sticking around for time being
Smitherman said he intends to stay on as MPP for his Toronto riding for a while, before stepping down to campaign for the mayor's job.
"Toronto is in desperate need of strong leadership," he said at a news conference at Queen's Park on Monday morning announcing his candidacy.
"I believe that I can deliver the experience and leadership that Toronto needs."
Under the current rules, mayoral candidates cannot register until January. Smitherman said Monday he intends to clear his desk so he can officially enter the race "no later than March 1."
"George has consistently stood up for the underdog, championed the rights and the needs of his constituents, and used his considerable gifts and talents serving the people of his community," said Premier Dalton McGuinty in a news release.
Scarborough MPP Gerry Phillips, who was the energy minster before Smitherman, will take over the portfolio once again.
Three-term MPP
Smitherman, a native of Etobicoke, has been a member of the provincial legislature since 1999, representing Toronto Centre.
Before that, he was a top aide to former Toronto mayor Barbara Hall.
During his three-term career as an MPP, he's best known for his five-year stint as Ontario health minister. McGuinty said Smitherman "helped reduce wait times and hire more doctors and nurses. Hospitals, emergency rooms and long-term care around the province saw tremendous progress under his leadership."
'Toronto is a community of minorities.' —George Smitherman
Smitherman also became the first MPP to declare he's gay, but doesn't believe that will be a major issue for Toronto voters.
Smitherman also said he and his husband, Christopher Peloso, are trying to adopt a child.
"Toronto is a community of minorities," Smitherman said.
"Will it be an issue for some people? Yes, of course, it always is. There are always people that are driven to support me because I am gay, and a certain number of people who might choose not to for the same reason."
Rumoured to also be considering a run for mayor are former Ontario Progressive Conservative leader John Tory — who lost to Miller in the 2003 municipal election — former Winnipeg mayor Glen Murray and several current Toronto city councillors.