Talk:George Smitherman

This article must adhere to the biographies of living persons (BLP) policy, even if it is not a biography, because it contains material about living persons. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentially libellous. If such material is repeatedly inserted, or if you have other concerns, please report the issue to this noticeboard.

If you are a subject of this article, or acting on behalf of one, and you need help, please see this help page.

Biography: Politics and Government

	Biography portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Biography, a collaborative effort to create, develop and organize Wikipedia's articles about people. All interested editors are invited to join the project and contribute to the discussion. For instructions on how to use this banner, please refer to the documentation.BiographyWikipedia:WikiProject BiographyTemplate:WikiProject Biographybiography articles
	This article is supported by the politics and government work group.

LGBTQ+ studies

This article is of interest to WikiProject LGBTQ+ studies, which tries to ensure comprehensive and factual coverage of all LGBTQ-related issues on Wikipedia. For more information, or to get involved, please visit the project page or contribute to the discussion.LGBTQ+ studiesWikipedia:WikiProject LGBTQ+ studiesTemplate:WikiProject LGBTQ+ studiesLGBTQ+ studies articles

Canada: Ontario / Toronto / Politics Low‑importance

	Canada portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Canada, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Canada on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.CanadaWikipedia:WikiProject CanadaTemplate:WikiProject CanadaCanada-related articles
Low	This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.
	Ontario portal This article is supported by WikiProject Ontario.
	This article is supported by WikiProject Toronto (assessed as Mid-importance).
	This article is supported by WikiProject Political parties and politicians in Canada.

Untitled

Article seems a bit too glowing in its description. After all, I don't think I recall any time when a "Furious George" reference was ever meant to be taken in a positive light.

Smitherman as Deputy Premier?

My understanding is that this position has remained vacant since the Liberals formed government in 2003. Smitherman is *not* listed as Deputy Premier on the Ontario legislature page, and I can distinctly remember some rumours that Sandra Pupatello was annoyed at the time that the position was unfilled.

Smitherman may be the "de facto" Deputy Premier in the legislature, but I don't believe he's been given an official title. If anyone has evidence to the contrary, please provide a source. CJCurrie 02:13, 22 May 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, Smitherman has officially been Deputy Premier for years -- it's just that he has also held a regular ministerial portfolio at the same time (health, energy, etc.) -- see http://www.premier.gov.on.ca/team/default.asp?Lang=EN --204.40.1.129 (talk) 14:15, 9 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Sources

Because of the sensitivity of political entries, particularly during elections, and given my own limited experience as a Wiki editor, I didn't want to tage this entry myself - but shouldn't this article have some citations, or else a warning that it lacks citations? It is questionable whether it is fairly NPOV and I think adding sources would help to get rid of some of the problem sections. If anyone supports this view I will tag it appropriately while that process is carried out. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Markdsgraham (talk • contribs) 22:52, 8 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Assessment

I have assessed this article as a Start, although just barely, given its level of detail and attempts at organization. I have assessed this article as low importance, as I do not feel that many people outside of Canada would be familiar with the subject of this article. Cheers, CP 23:37, 10 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]

lead paragraph

Clean-up tag; please remove when lead paragraph iswell sourced. The 1 source/link doesn't seem to work. Definitely needs much more substance and more cited sources, I think, in the lead paragraph. Mr.Grantevans2 (talk) 20:43, 18 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

ehealth scandal omission and other pov problems

Toronto Star: eHealth scandal dents Smitherman's mayoral run EHealth needs a section for sure, and "defeat" drug addiction is a pretty positive and final way of putting it. I'll be back to help with this later. Mr.Grantevans2 (talk) 18:49, 3 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]

The page has been edited several times to reference the eHealth scandal, but these references are deleted very quickly by someone, perhaps the subject's campaign managers? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.36.45.176 (talk) 23:47, 5 May 2010 (UTC)[reply]

"Cocaine" Vandalism

I'm not watching this BLP but some Anon keeps reinserting a reference to "cocaine" which is not part of the RS. Mr.Grantevans2 (talk) 15:30, 18 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]

If it becomes too frequent you (we) can always request protection for the article. For now just keep reverting. Thanks. EncyclopediaUpdaticus (talk) 20:08, 18 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Notable?

I put this in but CJCurrie and EncyclopediaUpdaticus do not think its notable enough: any other opinions?

"Smitherman missed a mayoral debate on September 30th. after being confronted with protesters who questioned him regarding his performance as Health Minister. Rocco Rossi capitalized on the incident, saying in a statement: "What does it say about Mr. Smitherman’s credibility when he literally runs from his record? ... You don’t earn trust by running from the tough questions."^[1]^[2]^[3]" Mr.Grantevans2 (talk) 19:38, 6 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]

References

Controversy section

Regarding this section I removed. There is negative material in there that is not properly sourced; for example, the first two sentences. The cited articles from the Toronto Sun and the Globe & Mail discuss the eHealth scandal without mentioning Smitherman, which appears to be an argument against inclusion here. The topic is already covered in the section on "Provincial politics" anyway, which is probably enough without running afoul of WP:UNDUE. Any other opinions? Thanks. Paul Erik ^{(talk)(contribs)} 18:21, 22 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Note: I requested review from Wikipedia:Biographies of living persons/Noticeboard. Paul Erik ^{(talk)(contribs)} 19:27, 22 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Spouse v. Husband

In the sentence "On September 26, 2009, the Toronto Star reported that Smitherman and his spouse had been approved as adoptive parents by the Toronto Children's Aid Society.", the word 'spouse' should be replaced with 'husband'. In English we usually refer to one's married partner as either 'husband' or 'wife'. In my opinion, referring to "his spouse" is wrong, as it has a homophobic I-don't-want-to-say-his-husband-type air to it. You wouldn't say "her spouse?" if it was a woman married to man would you? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.196.180.76 (talk) 04:38, 26 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

In this case I suggest you read the Wikipedia page for spouse. You can also refer to the Free Dictionary definition, as good a definition as any. Both sources agree that the word 'spouse' is interchangeable, gender-neutral and implies no bias. Lastly, the source uses the 'spouse' so that's a good reason for keeping it as is. EncyclopediaUpdaticus (talk) 11:59, 26 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Ottawa Canada CFRA talk radio show on Ontario Hydro and wind power production

Lowell Green and Rob Snow -- 3 PM show host Rob Snow indicated that the average wholesale price per megawatt hour during the prior day ranged between 2 cents (at 3 AM) to 50 dollars each (during peak demand times), averaging about 18 dollars per megawatt hour for the day. The rate for surplus wholesale power trading are established on a 5 minute basis and published on a web site where hourly reports are available. The green energy program developed by George Smitherman supposedly pays wind farm owners a guaranteed 135 dollars per megawatt hour, creating a daily loss for Ontario Hydro / Ontario Power Generation of between 1 and 1.7+ million dollars per day. These daily losses are one of the key reasons why Ontario Hydro customers will have their power rates increased a few dollars per month as of November 2013 (or whenever the announced increase is to take effect). http://www.saultstar.com/2013/10/18/ontario-hydro-prices-to-rise-again-on-nov-1

Host Rob Snow illustrated that at 3 AM an Ontario customer would be paying 7 to 13 cents per kilowatt hour, while 1 megawatt hour would be wholesale sold by Ontario Hydro / the Power Authority for 2 cents to markets outside Ontario--usually one or all of Michigan, New York, Wisconsin, or Minnesota.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/economy/ontario-drives-manufacturers-away-with-overpriced-electricity/article14854752/ Oldspammer (talk) 20:05, 21 October 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Three children - but where's the source?

Article claims (in infobox) he has three children. In a quick search, I found https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2011/10/25/george_smithermans_growing_family.html which looks like a reliable source, but still leaves child no. 3 unaccounted for. If nobody else can substantiate the number, I will remove it from the infobox as a WP:BLP issue. Samsara 05:42, 16 October 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Removed. Samsara 06:58, 17 October 2015 (UTC)[reply]

I found a source and updated the article. EncyclopediaUpdaticus (talk) 12:55, 17 October 2015 (UTC)[reply]

The source doesn't say that Smitherman adopted Peloso's daughter, so as far as we know she's not his child. I therefore count two (adoptive) children and don't see how we can say otherwise. Samsara 13:13, 17 October 2015 (UTC)[reply]

But it is clear that there were three children in a somewhat complex relationship, a fact that your reference search should have found. I looked for '"George Smitherman" children' on Google search and easily found this information. EncyclopediaUpdaticus (talk) 13:31, 17 October 2015 (UTC)[reply]

My willingness to research a subject I have no interest in is not the issue here. The issue is whether we can assert that he has three children, and I don't see any legal basis on which we can do so. His partner's adult child is not Smitherman's own. It's simply an adult that may have visited his home. That doesn't qualify as a child of Smitherman. I'll remind you of WP:BLP. Samsara 13:47, 17 October 2015 (UTC)[reply]

External links modified

Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just added archive links to one external link on George Smitherman. Please take a moment to review my edit. If necessary, add {{cbignore}} after the link to keep me from modifying it. Alternatively, you can add {{nobots|deny=InternetArchiveBot}} to keep me off the page altogether. I made the following changes:

Added archive https://web.archive.org/20110610124802/http://www.health.gov.on.ca/english/media/news_releases/archives/nr_07/aug/ to http://www.health.gov.on.ca/english/media/news_releases/archives/nr_07/aug/

When you have finished reviewing my changes, please set the checked parameter below to true to let others know.

This message was posted before February 2018. After February 2018, "External links modified" talk page sections are no longer generated or monitored by InternetArchiveBot. No special action is required regarding these talk page notices, other than regular verification using the archive tool instructions below. Editors have permission to delete these "External links modified" talk page sections if they want to de-clutter talk pages, but see the RfC before doing mass systematic removals. This message is updated dynamically through the template {{source check}} (last update: 5 June 2024).

If you have discovered URLs which were erroneously considered dead by the bot, you can report them with this tool.
If you found an error with any archives or the URLs themselves, you can fix them with this tool.

Cheers. —^{cyberbot II}_{Talk to my owner:Online} 16:29, 18 October 2015 (UTC)[reply]

External links modified

Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified one external link on George Smitherman. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:

When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.

This message was posted before February 2018. After February 2018, "External links modified" talk page sections are no longer generated or monitored by InternetArchiveBot. No special action is required regarding these talk page notices, other than regular verification using the archive tool instructions below. Editors have permission to delete these "External links modified" talk page sections if they want to de-clutter talk pages, but see the RfC before doing mass systematic removals. This message is updated dynamically through the template {{source check}} (last update: 5 June 2024).

If you have discovered URLs which were erroneously considered dead by the bot, you can report them with this tool.
If you found an error with any archives or the URLs themselves, you can fix them with this tool.

Cheers.—InternetArchiveBot (Report bug) 07:10, 10 January 2017 (UTC)[reply]

External links modified

Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified 3 external links on George Smitherman. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:

Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20081013083845/http://www.health.gov.on.ca/english/media/news_releases/archives/nr_07/aug/agingathome_bg_12_20070728.pdf to http://www.health.gov.on.ca/english/media/news_releases/archives/nr_07/aug/agingathome_bg_12_20070728.pdf
Corrected formatting/usage for http://elections.on.ca/NR/rdonlyres/AB409CCD-84F3-46FA-B3BD-39AB659EFC2D/0/SummaryofValidBallotsCastforEachCandidate.pdf
Corrected formatting/usage for http://election.toronto.ca/epr/eprDetail.do?000

When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.

This message was posted before February 2018. After February 2018, "External links modified" talk page sections are no longer generated or monitored by InternetArchiveBot. No special action is required regarding these talk page notices, other than regular verification using the archive tool instructions below. Editors have permission to delete these "External links modified" talk page sections if they want to de-clutter talk pages, but see the RfC before doing mass systematic removals. This message is updated dynamically through the template {{source check}} (last update: 5 June 2024).

If you have discovered URLs which were erroneously considered dead by the bot, you can report them with this tool.
If you found an error with any archives or the URLs themselves, you can fix them with this tool.

Cheers.—InternetArchiveBot (Report bug) 03:23, 4 September 2017 (UTC)[reply]

[1] [1]

[2] [2]

[3] [3]

[1]

[2]

[3]