MCGUINTY 'PROUD' OF MINISTER WHO BEAT DRUG ADDICTION

Part Of Party Scene

GUELPH - Premier Dalton McGuinty said yesterday he didn't know
Ontario's Health Minister had a past that included addiction to
illegal drugs, but insisted he is proud of George Smitherman's
ability to beat the problem and to publicly admit to it.

"I've always been proud of George Smitherman, whether in his capacity
as a public representative or in his capacity as a minister of health
and I'm even more proud of him today," Mr. McGuinty told reporters
after participating in the announcement of a major investment by an
auto-parts company.

"He had a heck of a challenge before him and he overcame that
challenge.... I think it took a lot of courage for him to own up to
that and be public about that. I hope that he will serve as an
inspiration to others in Ontario and wherever else who find
themselves in the grip of a drug addiction and understand that, with
perseverance and professional help, this is something that you can
overcome and that you can enjoy tremendous success after that."

Mr. Smitherman, 42, revealed this week that for five years in the
early 1990s he fought an addiction to illegal drugs that were a part
of the "Toronto party scene."

He said the drugs were not injected, but refused to identify the
substances he used. Mr. Smitherman, who is Ontario's first openly gay
Cabinet minister, said he was running a camera shop, doing some
government relations work with then-mayor Barbara Hall and dealing
with the illness and death of his father when his addiction developed.

The MPP for Toronto Centre-Rosedale said he hasn't used illegal drugs
for a decade and now confines any drinking he does to the occasional
glass of wine.

Mr. Smitherman was first elected in 1999 and became health minister
when the Liberals won the 2003 election.

He said the realization that he was wasting his life and his desire
to seek elected office made him acknowledge that he needed to deal
with his addiction so he went first to his family doctor for help and
then to a drug specialist psychiatrist.

Mr. Smitherman first hinted at the addiction in his past when he
delivered greetings this week at the Courage to Come Back Awards put
on by the Centre of Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto.

The awards are given to individuals who have overcome addiction or
mental illness and use their experience to help others.

He subsequently discussed his past in more detail in a media
interview. The minister was unavailable for further comment yesterday.

Last fall, 39-year-old Andre Boisclair became the youngest and the
first openly gay person to take over the helm of the Parti Quebecois.

Instead of limiting his career options, his admission that he
consumed cocaine eight or nine years before, while he was a minister
in the PQ Cabinet, pushed him further up in the polls rather than
hindering his leadership bid. Neither of the two leaders he worked
under, Lucien Bouchard and Bernard Landry, was aware of his cocaine use.