With eight days left in the municipal election campaign, three main candidates remain standing in the race for the Toronto mayoralty: Rob Ford, Joe Pantalone and George Smitherman. Each has endured the rigours of a gruelling, months-long campaign in a bid to serve Toronto’s 2.6 million people. Each deserves respect for his effort. But only one candidate has the proven political skill, government experience, commitment to change, negotiating ability, compassion, drive, determination and charisma that — taken together — would amount to an effective mayor. George Smitherman is that candidate.

The mayoral race has been portrayed in some quarters as a choice between the lesser of two evils, Smitherman and Ford. Mayor David Miller, who is backing Pantalone, says that Smitherman is only “slightly less awful” than Ford. This is arrant nonsense.

Unlike Ford, Smitherman is a progressive thinker who is respectful of the diversity of the city. And he has experience in government, including five years as provincial minister of health, where he managed a budget five times the city’s. There he brought down wait times while simultaneously holding the line on costs. Then he moved to the energy portfolio where he was responsible for the introduction of the Green Energy Act, progressive legislation that has been applauded by environmentalists coast to coast.

Smitherman’s sometimes pugilistic nature is often deplored by his opponents, who have nicknamed him “Furious George.” But there is another side to that coin: he can be tough-minded when he has to be. While rebuilding the health-care system in the wake of the Harris years, he also leaned hard on hospitals to balance their budgets. Today the hospitals salute Smitherman for being tough but fair.

Besides experience, Smitherman would also bring a fresh perspective to city hall, and it is needed. While Toronto is still a great city, it is plagued with chronic problems, including budget shortfalls, crumbling infrastructure, gridlocked roads, under-built transit, a shortage of affordable housing, and disadvantaged neighbourhoods that foster crime and poverty. To tackle these problems, the city needs a change agent, one with a vision that extends beyond the next council meeting or even the next election. Smitherman has demonstrated in the past that he is capable of providing such vision and leadership.

To be sure, he has not run a perfect campaign, although he was handicapped by an early poll that showed him way in the lead (before Ford entered the race). In an odd way, with Miller not running, Smitherman became the incumbent in the race and Ford, who has served for 10 years on city council, the challenger.

Smitherman’s platform also contains some ill-advised planks, including a promise to freeze property taxes in his first year, which would make balancing the budget that much more difficult.

But as Smitherman himself says, “Compare me to the alternative, not the almighty.”

That alternative is Ford, a one-trick pony with a line he repeats at every opportunity: “It’s time to stop the gravy train.” That may sound good, but Ford is consumed by the picayune, not the big picture. His campaign has emphasized councillors’ expense accounts and the number of phone calls he has personally returned (more than 200,000). He has tapped into public anger over misspending at city hall, but he has not offered any real vision.

Ford has also exhibited boorish behaviour in the past. He has called one fellow councillor (a woman) “a waste of skin” and another (an Italian-Canadian) “Gino boy.” He was visibly drunk and profane at a Leafs game. He threatened a reporter at a council meeting. He is, in short, not the sort of person who should be representing the city as its chief magistrate.

Finally, there is Pantalone, a 30-year veteran of council and currently the deputy mayor. He is a decent man, but he is running on a status quo platform, with Miller’s backing. He sees very little wrong with the way the city has been run, nor does he see any need to apologize for past mistakes. “I don’t regret anything that I’ve done,” he told the Star’s editorial board.

Latterly, Pantalone has stooped to unfortunate ad hominem attacks on Smitherman, whom he has described as “more dangerous to Toronto” than Ford. The greater danger is that a vote for Pantalone could help elect Ford.

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Toronto today needs a combination of a fresh perspective and an experienced hand at the helm. The candidate offering that combination is George Smitherman. He deserves your support on election day, Oct. 25.