George Smitherman Switches To The Mini-Me Campaign Strategy

In what has to be one of the lamest attempts by a politician to gain credibilty and votes, George Smitherman has now become to Rob Ford what Mini-Me was to Austin Powers. Realizing Rob Ford is making sense to a lot of Toronto voters, Smitherman is shameless in stealing Ford's platform.e

"George Smitherman is promising, if elected mayor, to freeze Torontonians’ property taxes for one year while he puts a clamp on city spending.

Portraying himself as a tough but safe alternative to arch rival Rob Ford, the former deputy premier told reporters Tuesday he would also freeze city hiring, with few exemptions, for one year.

And Toronto would embark on no new spending initiatives while he personally leads a 100-day, line-by-line review of the city’s $11.7 billion in annual operating and capital spending. He would take the results to meetings in all 44 wards for a “full public flogging.”

“It will be back to basics at City Hall . . . The era of waste and abuse is over,” Smitherman declared, adding his various freezes would also extend to city user fees, the mayor’s $167,769 annual salary and councillors’ $99,620 pay packets.

Smitherman’s tax pledge comes only days after he announced a $10 million youth job-creation plan to be supported by a hike in business property taxes, followed hours later by a statement that there was a miscommunication and the plan doesn’t include a tax hike.

Asked how he’s different from Ford, who surged past Smitherman to the top of opinion polls while vowing to slash city spending, Smitherman said: “Mine is a responsible, challenging approach and his is a nearly impossible one … unless he’s got some agenda around massive cuts to services.”

The guy who blew a billion dollar$ in the E-Health scandal is now Captain Fiscal Responsibility. Riiiiiight. Of course this announcement came just days after revealing a major plank of his platform. TO HIKE BUSINESS TAXES!! What a buffoon. You can't make this stuff up. Nobody would believe you.

What next George, a business tax to support a diaper subsidy?