SMITHERMAN IS SUPPOSED TO BE A HERO FOR REVEALING HE ONCE HAD A THING WITH DRUGS? GIVE ME A BREAK

So now we're supposed to feel how about Health Minister George
Smitherman's revelations that for 10 years he was hooked on "party"
drugs and he had a bit of a problem with booze?

We're supposed to pat him on the back and tell him he's "courageous."

Who does he think he's kidding?

Cry me a river. A courageous person doesn't do drugs in the first
place. A courageous politician tells voters BEFORE he runs for
election that he's had a substance abuse problem. Then you let voters
decide. You don't land yourself a plum job as health minister
lecturing everyone about lifestyle -- and then tell us to do as I say
and not as I do.

We needed to know this before he ran because it speaks to character.
A young person who is focused and hard-working doesn't become so
involved in the party scene that they become addicted to drugs.

Smitherman, 42, said the "terrifying" struggle with drugs happened
10-15 years ago. His father suffered a massive stroke at 60 years of
age and languished for months in a hospital bed, able only to move his eyes.

Like most people, I feel sorry for anyone in that situation. Many of
us have agonized as we have watched loved ones fighting personal
battles with cancer or heart disease. Most of us coped without using
recreational drugs as a crutch. Okay, the odd bottle of vino, maybe.
But then you move on.

Quiet heroes

There are legions of quiet heroes out there in the community who cope
with the most tragic personal circumstances with strength and
dignity, not with public crying jags. Those are the people we should honour.

Now Smitherman's boss, Premier Dalton McGuinty, is gushing over how
courageous it was for the health minister to spill the beans. And
what a good example it is to others. Huh? Will the real Liberal Party
of Ontario stand up please.

This is the same squeaky clean Dalton McGuinty who appealed to
"working families" in the last vote. Right now, those working
families are baffled as to why they have a health minister who makes
a high profile admission that he had a serious addiction problem -
and he's still in cabinet. If a Tory health minister had made a
similar admission, the Liberals would be screaming for the OPP to investigate.

Hypocrisy

And what about the hypocrisy of the message this sends to young
people. On the one hand, the province is poised to enforce some of
the most restrictive measures in the world for people who smoke a
legal substance -- nicotine. You've got Health Promotions Minister
Jim Watson trying to persuade young people to quit the weed --
nicotine that is -- to slim down, eat right, stay healthy and save
the government hard-pressed health-care dollars. On the other hand,
you've got a health minister who admits he had a substance-abuse
problem. And we're all supposed to pat Furious George on the head and
tell him he's a good boy?

Sorry, but I just don't buy this. I taught my kids that there are
consequences to their actions. That means good behaviour is rewarded
and bad behaviour is punished. Any mom knows that if you do the
reverse in a family, you end up with anarchy.

I don't know what it is about Smitherman that makes him keep wanting
to make these emotional outbursts. Do we really care whether he's gay
or straight? Fat or thin? Drug addict or not? I don't know if it is
an immaturity or a weakness in his character that makes him seek
public approval for his odd behaviour. I'm not impressed. And I'm not
about to worship and glorify him just because he thinks we should. I
think he needs to pull himself together and grow up.

Still, it does answer some questions I've had about Liberal policies.
You know - the health tax, closing coal-fired generating plants and
so on. I've often wondered just what it is they're smoking. Now I
have a pretty good idea.