Aiming to preserve their positions on a prospective Smitherman executive, the "Left" of the Toronto City Council, are begining to put on a fine display of the unprincipled self-interest that is largely responsible for driving Fordmania in the City of Toronto. First Joe Mehvic could be found praising Smitherman's budget proposals as a "good start" in the Toronto Star, and now Pam McConnell has openly endorsed Smitherman's effort to become Minister of Toronto for the provincial government of the politically dead Dalton McGuinty.
Notable among supporters at George Smitherman's Regent Park BBQ on the weekend: Toronto Centre-Rosedale councillor and noted lefty Pam McConnell, who's endorsing Smitherman over council colleague Joe Pantalone.Whose next? I am betting on the ever pliable political shoe-shine boy Adam Vaughan.
McConnell has had a very tenuous relationship with the NDP since 1999. That's the year when the redrawing of wards in the amalgamation election pitted sitting councillors against each other in doubled up wards. This gane of musical chairs resulted in incumbent NDP councillors Jack Layton, Peter Tabuns and Pam MeConnell going after two seats in their ward. An NDP nomination meeting saw Layton and Tabuns being endorsed but McConnell, feeling shafted, ran anyway and edged out Tabus for the number two spot.
Since then she's informally supported Smitherman during provincial elections and Barbara Hall over Miller in 2003 so McConnell supporting Smitherman cannot be seen as indicative of a broader NDP trend.