/
1x
Advertisement
Proudly Canadian, obsessively Toronto. Subscribe to Toronto Life!
City News

One-time mayoral candidate George Smitherman is getting into the medical-marijuana biz

By Steve Kupferman
Copy link
(Image: Smitherman: Joseph Morris ; marijuana: Mark )
(Image: Smitherman: Joseph Morris; marijuana: Mark)

What does life after losing an election to Rob Ford look like? For George Smitherman, the second-place finisher in 2010’s mayoral election, it evidently looks like a bucolic farm, and a never-ending supply of medical-grade weed. CTV reports that the ex-Ontario health minister is working with former deputy police chief Kim Derry and a Markham pharmacist to start a licensed grow-op in Uxbridge. He’s one of hundreds of applicants under a new federal program designed to take pot cultivation out of the hands of medical-marijuana patients and make it the purview of a new group of licensed commercial growers. The program is proceeding, despite a court injunction issued against it late last month.

The other 2010 mayoral candidates are also getting on with their lives, albeit in less headline-grabbing ways. Rocco Rossi lost a bid for a seat at Queen’s Park and is now CEO of Prostate Cancer Canada, Joe Pantalone is a lobbyist and Sarah Thomson, having also lost a Queen’s Park bid, has morphed into a kind of professional weirdo.

NEVER MISS A TORONTO LIFE STORY

Sign up for This City, our free newsletter about everything that matters right now in Toronto politics, sports, business, culture, society and more.

By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy.
You may unsubscribe at any time.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Advertisement
Advertisement

The Latest

“I’m a Toronto man through and through”: Meet Hassan Phills, the Scarborough comedian sampled by Drake
Culture

“I’m a Toronto man through and through”: Meet Hassan Phills, the Scarborough comedian sampled by Drake

Inside the Latest Issue

The May issue of Toronto Life features the artists, professors, scientists and other luminaries moving north to avoid the carnage of Trump. Plus, our obsessive coverage of everything that matters now in the city.