Parties & Leaders

New Democratic Party Leader Howard Hampton

MPP Kenora-Rainy River
[ New Democratic Party of Ontario ]

Howard Hampton, shown giving a speech to nurses in 2003, has led Ontario's NDP since 1996. (Aaron Harris/Canadian Press)

Under Howard Hampton, who has led Ontario's New Democrats since 1996, the number of seats held by the party has fallen to record lows.

The early days

Hampton, 55, is married to Shelley Martel, who has been the New Democrat MPP for the Sudbury riding of Nickel Belt since 1987. The pair have two young children — Sarah and Jonathan — and these days are known at Queen's Park as the power couple.

The son of a mill worker, Hampton was raised in the northern Ontario community of Crozier.

He worked in a number of jobs before becoming an elected official, including as a teacher and labour lawyer.

Hampton was first elected as MPP for the Northern Ontario riding of Rainy River in 1987 and went on to win four more victories in what is now known as Kenora-Rainy River.

After Bob Rae's NDP ousted David Peterson's Liberals in 1990, seizing a majority government with 74 of 130 seats, Hampton served first as Ontario's attorney general, then as natural resources minister.

The party's popularity didn't last long, as the NDP struggled to adjust to running its first government amid an economic slump. When it introduced public sector wage freezes and the so-called Rae Days — 10 days off a year without pay — Rae's government alienated many traditional NDP supporters, including powerful unions.

The result? Voters handed Harris's Tories 82 of 130 seats in the 1995 election, while leaving the New Democrats with 20.6 per cent of the popular vote and only 17 seats.

Rae retired from politics and Hampton threw his hat into the resulting leadership race, defeating Frances Lankin on a third ballot on June 22, 1996.

Fighting the legacy of the Rae days

Hampton faced a huge challenge as, for the first time, he led the party into an election in 1999.

Voter support for the NDP dropped far below traditional levels following Rae, the only New Democrat to become Ontario's premier.

As Hampton struggled to overcome the lingering shadow of the Rae years, he also faced a second threat: strategic voting, which saw traditional NDP voters flock to the Liberals in an effort to oust the Tories.

Meanwhile, even though Harris's government had spurred deep divides among voters, amid the Ipperwash controversy and labour strife, it was buoyed by a resurgent economy.

Harris won another majority government, albeit with a reduced number of seats — 59 of 103. Meanwhile, popular support for NDP plunged to 12.6 per cent and the party won only nine seats — three less than it needed to keep its official party status.

Losing official party status

The party managed to strike a deal with the government to lower the number of seats required for official party status to eight, allowing the NDP once again to ask questions in the House and access funds for caucus.

Then in the 2003 election, the NDP lost its official party status again. Though voter support rose marginally to 14.7 per cent, the number of seats held by New Democrat MPPs fell to the worst-ever showing at seven.

Again, the party lobbied hard to get the number of seats needed for party status lowered — this time with Dalton McGuinty's Liberal government, which had ousted the Tories under Harris's successor, Ernie Eves.

While the NDP made some headway, it didn't regain official party status until May 2004, when the New Democrats took the Hamilton East riding in a byelection.

Gaining momentum

The 2007 election unlikely to see NDP voters flocking to the Liberal Party in strategic voting and Hampton is under pressure to boost popular support.

The NDP has already managed to gain momentum in byelections in the past term, snatching Hamilton East and two Toronto ridings — Parkdale-High Park and York-South Weston — from the Liberals to push the party's total number of seats to 10.

Yet some political observers have speculated that the 2007 provincial election might be Hampton's last, a theory fuelled in part by divisions in the party and his wife's planned retirement from politics.

Recent polls show the NDP nudging toward 20 per cent of popular support among decided voters.

In fact, some Liberals fear Hampton more than Progressive Conservative Leader John Tory, worried the NDP may successfully woo left-leaning members brought into the Liberal fold since 1995.

Election promises

The New Democrats have come out strong recently on raising the minimum wage, with newly elected Parkdale-High Park MPP Cheri DiNovo loudly campaigning for an increase to $10 per hour.

They have also made an election issue of increased dental coverage through public health. Hampton has promised to spend $100 million a year on his plan titled Ontario Smiles, a free dental program providing preventative care, fillings and extractions. Other election promises made so far include to:

• Hire 3,000 police officers by transferring provincial funds to the cities.
• Reverse some of the Harris government's downloading to municipalities, by transferring back to the province the responsibility for programs such as drug and disability benefits, court security and public transit at a cost of $3.6 billion by 2015.

While many of Hampton's promises have focused on municipalities, as have those by the other leaders, another one is aimed at Northern Ontario.

Called Due North, the plan would make sure that royalties, fees and charges imposed on the area's mining, forestry and hydro sectors stay in the communities.

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