09.03.2010 06:55 PM

Furious at Arm’s Length: George has secret chat with staffer

Mayoralty candidate Smitherman admits to staffer Erika Mozes he cursed at a young female volunteer.

16 Comments

  1. Scott says:

    Good one. And it shows what George is all about. Similar to Ford’s “oops, I had a joint too” moment.

    However, didn’t he really say the f-bomb?

  2. Paul R. Martin says:

    Some Honourable Voters: “SHAME! SHAME!”

    It is time for Ms Mozes to resign from the campaign if she has any professional integrity.

    It is also time for Curious George to admit that he appears to have mis-remembered the actual word he used.

  3. james Smith says:

    Sheesh!

  4. AmandaM says:

    I feel badly for Erika; she was likely repeating what her boss told her. However, signing an affidavit before knowing the full story was a big mis-step.

    Either way, I don’t think George isn’t the right man for the job. Liberals need to stop drinking the kool-aid and look at all the candidates to decide what we think is right for Toronto. Knowing what it’s like to work with him, along with this incident, does not make me comfortable with his characterization of himself as a consensus-builder. In my experience, he does not build consensus; rather, he is belligerent and bullying, and uses the “I’m going to yell and scream until you’ve had enough, give in so I’ll close my mouth, and then we’ll call it consensus” tactic.

    Not only that, but I cannot abide that he was part of the team that he is now pledging to go up against. He should be being honest about how the system works, and that many of his proposals are simply not tenable in this economic environment. He is not going to be able to cow Premier McGuinty and Prime Minister Harper into paying for his platform promises, and he needs to be honest about what can be done realistically.

  5. Scott says:

    Warren,

    I’m a vet of the Mayor wars….

    Don’t fall for the traps…

    Ford will be a 4 year wonder….Smitherman will stick for long and longggggg

  6. james curran says:

    Just so I understand this. The “kid” followed George around with Rossi campaign material harassing him with his own record on Youth and when George told her where to go, Rossi volunteers just happened to be around to video all of this. I see.

    And Ford train rolls on.

    Yes that poor poor poor innocent volunteer. I’ve seen this movie before. It was 2006.

    • Warren says:

      Bullshit, my friend.

      She is young, shy and a good person. She was handing out a release detailing the number of youth job initiatives Smitherman did when he still had power (none).

      He approached her and took the release. He read it. He then leaned into her, smiling, and told her to screw off, and that she should go check out “stupid.ca.” As in, she was stupid.

      She was upset and later crying. Rossi people were talking to her. A CTV reporter saw something was up, and asked to speak to her.

      That’s when an affidavit was done up, because everyone knew that Smitherman’s team would not hesitate to destroy her if the story got out. (Which they have tried to do, with relish. I hope she sues their asses off. They are in effect accusing her of perjury.)

      I have not read the affidavit, but it has been read to me. What I detail above is what it says.

      As someone once wrote in another context, she has produced a sworn affidavit. George Smitherman – who every Ontario Liberal knows is a foul-mouthed bully who treats even staff like crap – hasn’t.

      I know who is telling the truth. So do you.

      • james curran says:

        W., I know all about George’s temper. Seen it myself firsthand. I’ve also seen certain members of Rocco’s team in their past campaigns threatening 17 and 18 year olds that their careers in politics were “over” after they swtiched to another candidate. Talk about tears…thank God they’re both gainfully employed at Queen’s Park.
        Bullying exists, as we both know, on all sides and politics (as I know better than most) is a bloodsport. Do I condone it? Nope. But it is the way the game gets when tensions are high.

  7. Scott says:

    It’s nice to see the Star picked up the story.

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