At a press conference today, former Toronto mayor John Sewell said he will head a municipal "government reform" panel if George Smitherman is elected mayor. The idea, perhaps, is to bring in someone old to make change anew...?

Smitherman said that if elected he will create an unpaid, seven-member panel that would release government recommendations by next April. According to the Toronto Star, the list also includes former Toronto chief planner Paul Bedford; development lawyer Stephen Diamond; former Metro councillor Joan King; Empire Club executive director Julie Dzerowicz; Waqar Khan, co-chair of the Scarborough Civic Action Network; and community health centre director Russ Ford.

The reform panel would aim to create better discourse between residents and city planners. Smitherman said its cost wouldn'r run much beyond a "pot of coffee."