Howard Hampton

Infobox Politician
name = Howard George Hampton

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size = 260
caption = Howard Hampton at Paul Ferreira's York South—Weston victory party, February 8, 2007.
small_

office = Leader of the Ontario NDP
term_start =June 22, 1996
term_end = Incumbent
predecessor = Bob Rae
successor = Incumbent
constituency = Ontario
majority =
office2 = Member of Provincial Parliament
term_start2 = June 3, 1999
term_end2 = Incumbent
predecessor2 =New electoral district
successor2 = Incumbent
constituency2 =Kenora—Rainy River (provincial electoral district), Ontario
majority2 =
office3 =Member of Provincial Parliament
term_start3 = September 10, 1987
term_end3 = June 3, 1999
predecessor3 = Jack Pierce Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario
successor3 = Electoral district disbanded
constituency3 = Rainy River, Ontario
majority3 =
birth_date = Birth date and age|1952|5|17|mf=y
birth_place = Fort Frances, Ontario
death_date =
death_place =
party = New Democratic Party
relations =Elie Martel, father-in-law
spouse =Shelley Martel
civil partner =
children = Sarah and Jonathan
residence =Fort Frances & Toronto, Ontario
occupation = Lawyer


website =
footnotes =
religion = United Church of Canada

Howard George Hampton, MPP (born May 17, 1952) is the leader of the Ontario New Democratic Party (NDP). He has served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, Canada, since 1987 as the Member of Provincial Parliament from the northern riding of Kenora—Rainy River.

Hampton's wife, Shelley Martel, was also an MPP until 2007, representing Nickel Belt. ["George Hampton, Ontario NDP leader's father, dies of heart attack", Niagara Falls Review (ON). Canada, Wednesday, January 4, 2006, p. A8. accessed on October 6, 2006.]

Biography

Background and early career

Hampton was born in Fort Frances, Ontario to a blue collar family, George (1928? - January 2, 2006) and Elsie (b. [ ] ?) Hampton."Howard Hampton's father dies", Barrie Examiner (ON). News, Wednesday, January 4, 2006, p. A8. accessed on October 6, 2006.] He was a good student, but also athletically gifted and politically active. He first joined the NDP when he was a teenager.

Hampton took an undergraduate degree in philosophy and religion from Dartmouth College, an Ivy League institution in New Hampshire, where he played for the school's D-I NCAA hockey team. He later obtained a degree in education from the University of Toronto and a law degree from the University of Ottawa. He worked as a lawyer for the Canadian Labour Congress, and for the provincial NDP government of Allan Blakeney in Saskatchewan.

Hampton sought election to the Ontario legislature under the NDP banner in the 1977 provincial election, placing third against incumbent Liberal Pat Reid and Progressive Conservative Gordon Thomson in Rainy River. He ran for the riding again in the 1985 provincial election, and lost to Progressive Conservative candidate Jack Pierce by 278 votes.

Provincial politics

Hampton was elected to Queen's Park on his third attempt, in the provincial election of 1987. He was re-elected in the 1990 provincial election, in which the NDP won an unexpected majority government. On October 1, 1990, he was appointed Attorney General in the government of Bob Rae.

By all accounts, Hampton and Rae were not cabinet allies. Hampton disapproved of many of the Rae government's centrist policies; in particular, he opposed Rae's decision to retreat from an election pledge to introduce public automobile insurance in the province. Journalist Thomas Walkom has argued that Rae deliberately undermined Hampton's control over the Attorney General's office, staffing the ministry with bureaucrats to which he was ideologically incompatible. However, Walkom has also noted that Hampton supported Rae's decision to impose a Social Contract of wage restraints and cost-saving measures on Ontario public servants.

Following a cabinet shuffle on February 3, 1993, Hampton was demoted to Minister of Natural Resources, responsible for Native Affairs. Marion Boyd replaced him as Attorney General. The NDP were defeated in the provincial election of 1995, and Hampton re-elected over Progressive Conservative Lynn Beyak by only 205 votes.

Ontario NDP Leader

After Rae retired from politics, Hampton became the leader of the NDP on June 22, 1996, beating Frances Lankin, who was seen as a Rae ally and whom many had considered the front-runner, on the third ballot. Leadership candidate Peter Kormos and his support generally went to Hampton rather than Lankin, which was seen as important to Hampton's victory. Tony Silipo also ran for the leadership and would become Hampton's Deputy Leader until 1999.

In the 1999 Ontario election, some progressives and union leaders, who had been a crucial source of NDP support before 1995, attempted to defeat Mike Harris, the Progressive Conservative premier, by abandoning the NDP for the Liberals. This tactical voting, commonly called "strategic voting," did not succeed in ousting the Harris government, but nearly decimated the NDP as they took just nine seats and 12 per cent of the popular vote in their poorest election showing since the 1950s. As Hampton was not judged to have been at fault, he stayed on as leader. Hampton himself faced a challenging re-election against Liberal Frank Miclash, but was able to win fairly convincingly.

Hampton endorsed Bill Blaikie in the latter's unsuccessful bid for the federal New Democratic Party leadership in 2002. This decision was unpopular with some other members of his caucus, including Deputy Leader Marilyn Churley who was a leading supporter of Jack Layton.

In Harris' second term, the government unveiled plans to privatize the public electricity utility, Ontario Hydro. Hampton quickly distinguished himself as an advocate of maintaining public ownership of the utility, and published a book on the subject, "Public Power", in 2003. Harris' successor as premier, Ernie Eves, ultimately reached the decision not to sell the hydro utility.

Hampton and the NDP won only seven seats in the 2003 Ontario election, losing official party status for the first time since 1963. However, Hampton retained his seat and the party increased its share of the popular vote by 2%. After intense lobbying to lower the minimum number of seats for party status, a compromise was reached which allowed additional funding for the NDP and more inquiry opportunities during Question Period.

Ultimately, this controversy was all for nought as on May 13, 2004, the NDP regained official party status in a by-election in Hamilton East, where city councillor Andrea Horwath was elected to fill the vacancy left by the death of Liberal member Dominic Agostino. When Marilyn Churley resigned her Toronto—Danforth seat in May 2005, the NDP was granted official party status at first until the by-election, and then until the 2007 provincial election; NDP candidate Peter Tabuns won the seat.

Recent polls suggest that the NDP may at long last be recovering its early 1990s levels of support. A July, 2006 Environics poll showed the Ontario NDP with 27% popular support, it's highest level recorded since March, 1992, when Bob Rae's government was still in power. [ " [http://erg.environics.net/media_room/default.asp?aID=608 Ontario Liberals tied with PCs as NDP support rises] " Environics News Release, July 18, 2006] However, in the poll, the NDP still trailed the governing Liberals who received 35% support and the Opposition Progressive Conservatives who led with 36%. Other polls have shown the NDP with 20-23% support, further behind the frontrunning parties but still well ahead of the popular vote the Party received in 2003. [ [http://www.nodice.ca/elections/ontario/polls.php http://www.nodice.ca/elections/ontario/polls.php] accessed on December 10, 2006] After losing party status in two successive elections, the pressure will be on Hampton to translate the NDP's recent resurgence into more seats in the next provincial election.

The Ontario NDP increased its seat count to nine in September 2006, when well-known local United Church minister Cheri DiNovo won a byelection. The seat became vacant when Liberal MPP Gerard Kennedy resigned to seek the Liberal Party of Canada leadership.

Hampton launched the Ontario NDP's 2007 provincial election campaign at the party's Fresh Ideas New Energy January 2007 policy convention. Hampton's keynote speech focused on the party's campaign to raise the minimum wage to $10 an hour, and signalled the NDP's renewed focus on matters of economic justice. [Kerry Gillespie, " [http://www.thestar.com/Unassigned/article/175702 NDP leader wants $10 wage vote] ", "Toronto Star", January 28, 2007 ] The NDP also unveiled a new logo and look. [Canada News Wire, " [http://www.cnw.ca/fr/releases/archive/January2007/26/c9871.html Ontario's NDP moves forward with confidence, new look] ", January 26, 2007]

Hampton's NDP increased its seat count to 10 in February 2007, when businessman and community activist Paul Ferreira defeated star Liberal candidate Laura Albanese in a byelection in the Toronto riding of York South-Weston. The seat became vacant when Liberal cabinet minister Joe Cordiano resigned. The NDP's campaign for the $10 minimum wage and its opposition to a controversial 25% pay raise for MPPs are cited as key factors in the upset win. [Rob Ferguson, " [http://www.thestar.com/News/article/179967 NDP pulls upset] ", "Toronto Star", February 8, 2007]

Despite several encouraging opinion polls that predicted a gain of several seats, Hampton's NDP failed to increase its seat count beyond 10 in the 2007 provincial election. While there was speculation following the election that he may retire Hampton announced at the November 24, 2007, NDP provincial council that he was staying as party leader. [Jared Stuffco, " [http://www.thestar.com/News/Ontario/article/279676 Hampton to stay at NDP helm] ", "Toronto Star", November 25, 2007] He announced in April 2008 that he was considering his political future, and would make an announcement later in 2008 as to whether or not he will stay on further as the party leader. [ [http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5gp-k8udhRVvi_KIJkOXsrLVCTwCQ "NDP leader says he will soon reveal his political future"] , Canadian Press, April 5, 2008.]

On June 14 2008, Hampton announced that he is not going to stand for re-election as party leader at the March 2009 party convention. [Keith Leslie, [http://www.thestar.com/News/Ontario/article/443215 "Hampton to step down as NDP leader: Sources"] , "Toronto Star". June 13, 2008. ] He indicated, however, that he will continue to serve as the MPP for Kenora—Rainy River at least until the 2011 election.

References

Political office