To all those readers from outside the Toronto area, thanks for your patience with my occasional posts about local politics. How can I not comment on the news that Deputy Premier George Smitherman is resigning his post to seek the office of Mayor in the municipal elections here next fall. Smitherman is the first “big name” to declare in a race that will be wide open since Mayor Miller has announced he will not be seeking a third term.

As interesting as it is to see Smithman throw his hat into the ring, it will be equally interesting to see how the Premier McGuinty handles the huge gap created in his government with Smitherman’s resignation. Smitherman is reknowned as the “get things done” guy in the McGuinty camp. These are challenging days for McGuinty on the heels of the ugly e-Health scandal. I’m very interested to see how he handles the departure of Smitherman. So far, not much of the scandal has stuck to Smitherman, who used to be the health minister. Now that he has poked his neck out and made a move to run, know that his opponents will look for every possible way to link him to the tremendous waste of money we now associate with e-Health.

The next question will be around who else is going to run. Candidates have until March to declare, but I think few will wait that long. What about John Tory? He’s positioned himself well as the new “drive home” radio host on Newstalk 1010, where he can lay out his positions every day and give people an opportunity to get to know him over and over again.  I’m not convinced that Tory will run, but we should have a better idea in the coming weeks.  Who else? I’m betting there will be some candidates emerge from Council, but I don’t think any of them have a prayer of winning.