Emotion over action

Thomas Walkom explores the less-discussed side of George Smitherman's revelation of past drug use, as Smitherman's personal life seems to have been put in the public eye as a substitute for action on policy issues:

Faithful readers will remember that the last time Smitherman made a personal revelation, back in 2003, was in response to a Star series on the problems of nursing homes.

At the time, a tearful Smitherman said nursing homes would be his top priority. He said his mother faced the prospect of going into a nursing home and that this was what moved him so much...

Indeed, the government did increase regulation in nursing homes. But it didn't give them enough new money to pay for the staff needed to make these reforms work.

As a result, many long-term care residents — particularly those who are bedridden — are now worse off than they were before.

Similarly, in this instance, it might be more useful if Smitherman spent less time on his personal life and more on the current problem of drug addiction in Ontario.

As the Star has reported, the Liberal government is busy closing detox centres in Toronto to save money — even as the minister waxes eloquent about his misspent past.

It's tough to disagree that it would be far more meaningful for Smitherman to ensure proper funding to enable other Ontarians to beat their own addictions, rather than simply to place his own past addiction in the public eye. Unfortunately, it looks like Smitherman's misspent past is merely being matched by a misspent present...only now it's the Ontarians who have seen their services cut, and not Smitherman himself, who are paying the greatest price for his mistakes.