Howard Hampton
Encyclopedia
Howard George Hampton, MPP (born May 17, 1952) is a Canadian
lawyer and politician. 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
. A member of the Ontario New Democratic Party
, he was also the party's leader from 1996 to 2009. Hampton retired from the legislature at the 2011 Ontario provincial election
and subsequently joined Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP as a member of the law firm's corporate social responsibility and aboriginal affairs groups.
His wife, Shelley Martel
, was also an MPP until 2007, representing Nickel Belt
.
to a blue collar
family, George (April 17, 1928 - January 2, 2006) and Elsie (b. November 8, 1931) Hampton. 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
in New Hampshire, where he played for the school's Division I NCAA ice 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
.
, 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.
. He was re-elected in the 1990 provincial election
, in which the NDP won a 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 was defeated in the provincial election of 1995
, and Hampton was re-elected over Progressive Conservative Lynn Beyak by only 205 votes.
, 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 worst 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; the Harris government had reduced the number of ridings in Ontario from 130 to 103, and Hampton faced off against Frank Miclash
, the Liberal MPP for the adjoining Kenora
riding, in the amalgamated riding of Kenora-Rainy River
. Hampton defeated Miclash by 3,000 votes.
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 per cent. 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 per cent popular support, its highest level recorded since March, 1992, when Bob Rae's government was still in power. However, in the poll, the NDP still trailed the governing Liberals, who received 35 per cent support, and the Opposition Progressive Conservatives who led with 36 per cent. Other polls have shown the NDP with 20-23 per cent support, further behind the frontrunning parties, but still well ahead of the popular vote the party received in 2003.
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. The NDP also unveiled a new logo and look.
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 per cent pay raise for MPPs were cited as key factors in the upset win.
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. 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 would stay on further as the party leader.
On June 14, 2008, Hampton announced that he would not stand for re-election as party leader at the March 2009 party convention. He remained an MPP for the remainder of his parliamentary mandate, but did not run in the October 6, 2011 general election
.
Hampton currently lives in Toronto with his wife Shelley and children Jonathon and Sarah. He maintains a summer residence on Rainy Lake in Fort Frances.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
lawyer and politician. He has served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario
Legislative Assembly of Ontario
The Legislative Assembly of Ontario , is the legislature of the Canadian province of Ontario, and is the second largest provincial legislature of Canada...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, since 1987 as the Member of Provincial Parliament from the northern riding
Electoral district (Canada)
An electoral district in Canada, also known as a constituency or a riding, is a geographical constituency upon which Canada's representative democracy is based...
of Kenora—Rainy River
Kenora—Rainy River (provincial electoral district)
Kenora—Rainy River is a provincial electoral district in northwestern Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario since 1999. It was created from Kenora, most of Rainy River and part of Lake Nipigon. The boundaries of the new district corresponded with the...
. A member of the Ontario New Democratic Party
Ontario New Democratic Party
The Ontario New Democratic Party or , formally known as New Democratic Party of Ontario, is a social democratic political party in Ontario, Canada. It is a provincial section of the federal New Democratic Party. It was formed in October 1961, a few months after the federal party. The ONDP had its...
, he was also the party's leader from 1996 to 2009. Hampton retired from the legislature at the 2011 Ontario provincial election
Ontario general election, 2011
The 40th Ontario general election was held on October 6, 2011 to elect members of the 40th Legislative Assembly of Ontario. The Ontario Liberal Party will form a minority government, with the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario serving as the Official Opposition and the Ontario New...
and subsequently joined Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP as a member of the law firm's corporate social responsibility and aboriginal affairs groups.
His wife, Shelley Martel
Shelley Martel
Shelley Dawn Marie Martel is a Canadian politician. A former member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, she represented the riding of Sudbury East from 1987 to 1999, and Nickel Belt from 1999 until 2007, as a New Democrat....
, was also an MPP until 2007, representing Nickel Belt
Nickel Belt (provincial electoral district)
Nickel Belt is a provincial electoral district in the Canadian province of Ontario. It elects one member to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. The district is located in Northern Ontario and includes much of the eastern and southern parts of the District of Sudbury, as well as most of Greater...
.
Early life, education, and early career
Hampton was born in Fort Frances, OntarioOntario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
to a blue collar
Blue collar
Blue collar can refer to:*Blue-collar worker, a traditional designation of the working class*Blue-collar crime, the types of crimes typically associated with the working class*A census designation...
family, George (April 17, 1928 - January 2, 2006) and Elsie (b. November 8, 1931) Hampton. 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
Undergraduate degree
An undergraduate degree is a colloquial term for an academic degree taken by a person who has completed undergraduate courses. It is usually offered at an institution of higher education, such as a university...
in philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
and religion
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
from Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College is a private, Ivy League university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. The institution comprises a liberal arts college, Dartmouth Medical School, Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business, as well as 19 graduate programs in the arts and sciences...
in New Hampshire, where he played for the school's Division I NCAA ice hockey
Ice hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
team. He later obtained a degree in education from the University of Toronto
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
and a law degree
Law degree
A Law degree is an academic degree conferred for studies in law. Such degrees are generally preparation for legal careers; but while their curricula may be reviewed by legal authority, they do not themselves confer a license...
from the University of Ottawa
University of Ottawa
The University of Ottawa is a bilingual, research-intensive, non-denominational, international university in Ottawa, Ontario. It is one of the oldest universities in Canada. It was originally established as the College of Bytown in 1848 by the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate...
. He worked as a lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
for the Canadian Labour Congress
Canadian Labour Congress
The Canadian Labour Congress, or CLC is a national trade union centre, the central labour body in English Canada to which most Canadian labour unions are affiliated.- Formation :...
, and for the provincial NDP
Saskatchewan New Democratic Party
The Saskatchewan New Democratic Party is a social-democratic political party in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It currently forms the official opposition, but has been a dominant force in Saskatchewan politics since the 1940s...
government of Allan Blakeney
Allan Blakeney
Allan Emrys Blakeney, PC, OC, SOM, QC, FRSC was the tenth Premier of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan from 1971 to 1982, and leader of the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party .-Life and career:...
in Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....
.
Enters provincial politics
Hampton sought election to the Ontario legislature under the NDP banner in the 1977 provincial electionOntario general election, 1977
The Ontario general election of 1977 was held on June 9, 1977, to elect the 125 members of the 31st Legislative Assembly of Ontario of the Province of Ontario, Canada....
, placing third against incumbent Liberal
Ontario Liberal Party
The Ontario Liberal Party is a provincial political party in the province of Ontario, Canada. It has formed the Government of Ontario since the provincial election of 2003. The party is ideologically aligned with the Liberal Party of Canada but the two parties are organizationally independent and...
Pat Reid
T. Patrick Reid
Thomas Patrick Reid is a businessman and former politician in Ontario, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1967 to 1984....
and Progressive Conservative
Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario
The Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario , is a right-of-centre political party in Ontario, Canada. The party was known for many years as "Ontario's natural governing party." It has ruled the province for 80 of the years since Confederation, including an uninterrupted run from 1943 to 1985...
Gordon Thomson in Rainy River. He ran for the riding again in the 1985 provincial election
Ontario general election, 1985
The Ontario general election of 1985 was held on May 2, 1985, to elect members of the 33rd Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada...
, and lost to Progressive Conservative candidate Jack Pierce
Jack Pierce (Ontario politician)
Franklin Jack Pierce is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1985 to 1987, as a member of the Progressive Conservative Party....
by 278 votes.
Cabinet minister
Hampton was elected to Queen's Park on his third attempt, in the provincial election of 1987Ontario general election, 1987
The Ontario general election of 1987 was held on September 10, 1987, to elect members of the 34th Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada.The governing Ontario Liberal Party, led by David Peterson, was returned to power with a large majority...
. He was re-elected in the 1990 provincial election
Ontario general election, 1990
The Ontario general election of 1990 was held on September 6, 1990, to elect members of the 35th Legislative Assembly of the province of Ontario, Canada....
, in which the NDP won a majority government. On October 1, 1990, he was appointed Attorney General in the government of Bob Rae
Bob Rae
Robert Keith "Bob" Rae, PC, OC, OOnt, QC, MP is a Canadian politician. He is the Member of Parliament for Toronto Centre and interim leader of the Liberal Party of Canada....
.
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
Social contract
The social contract is an intellectual device intended to explain the appropriate relationship between individuals and their governments. Social contract arguments assert that individuals unite into political societies by a process of mutual consent, agreeing to abide by common rules and accept...
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
Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs (Ontario)
The Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs is the Government of Ontario ministry responsible for issues relating to First Nations, Métis and Inuit in Ontario. The current Minister of Aboriginal Affairs is Kathleen Wynne who sits in the Executive Council of Ontario or cabinet...
. Marion Boyd
Marion Boyd
Marion Boyd is a former Canadian politician, who represented the riding of London Centre in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1990 to 1999 as a member of the Ontario New Democratic Party.-Background:...
replaced him as Attorney General. The NDP was defeated in the provincial election of 1995
Ontario general election, 1995
The Ontario general election of 1995 was held on June 8, 1995, to elect members of the 36th Legislative Assembly of the province of Ontario, Canada...
, and Hampton was re-elected over Progressive Conservative Lynn Beyak by only 205 votes.
Ontario NDP Leader
After Rae retired from provincial politics, Hampton became the leader of the NDP on June 22, 1996, beating Frances LankinFrances Lankin
Frances Lankin, PC is a former president and CEO of United Way Toronto, and a former Ontario MPP and cabinet minister. On November 30, 2010, Frances Lankin was appointed by the province to co-chair, along with Dr. Munir Sheikh, a comprehensive review of social assistance in Ontario...
, who was seen as a Rae ally and whom many had considered the front-runner, on the third ballot. Leadership candidate Peter Kormos
Peter Kormos
Peter Kormos is a politician in Ontario, Canada. A former lawyer, he was first elected as an Ontario New Democratic Party Member of Provincial Parliament to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in the Welland constituency in a 1988 provincial by-election. He replaced veteran NDP legislator Mel...
and his support generally went to Hampton rather than Lankin, which was seen as important to Hampton's victory. Tony Silipo
Tony Silipo
Tony Silipo is a former Canadian politician.Silipo was educated at the University of Toronto and Osgoode Hall at York University, and began practising law in 1984...
also ran for the leadership and would become Hampton's Deputy Leader until 1999.
In the 1999 Ontario election
Ontario general election, 1999
An Ontario general election was held on June 3, 1999, to elect members of the 37th Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada....
, some progressives and union leaders, who had been a crucial source of NDP support before 1995, attempted to defeat Mike Harris
Mike Harris
Michael Deane "Mike" Harris was the 22nd Premier of Ontario from June 26, 1995 to April 15, 2002. He is most noted for the "Common Sense Revolution", his Progressive Conservative government's program of deficit reduction in combination with lower taxes and cuts to government...
, the Progressive Conservative premier, by abandoning the NDP for the Liberals
Ontario Liberal Party
The Ontario Liberal Party is a provincial political party in the province of Ontario, Canada. It has formed the Government of Ontario since the provincial election of 2003. The party is ideologically aligned with the Liberal Party of Canada but the two parties are organizationally independent and...
. This tactical voting
Tactical voting
In voting systems, tactical voting occurs, in elections with more than two viable candidates, when a voter supports a candidate other than his or her sincere preference in order to prevent an undesirable outcome.It has been shown by the Gibbard-Satterthwaite theorem that any voting method which is...
, 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 worst 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; the Harris government had reduced the number of ridings in Ontario from 130 to 103, and Hampton faced off against Frank Miclash
Frank Miclash
Frank Ranover Miclash is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He served as a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1987 to 1999....
, the Liberal MPP for the adjoining Kenora
Kenora (electoral district)
Kenora is a federal and former provincial electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 2004, and was represented in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from the early twentieth century....
riding, in the amalgamated riding of Kenora-Rainy River
Kenora—Rainy River (provincial electoral district)
Kenora—Rainy River is a provincial electoral district in northwestern Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario since 1999. It was created from Kenora, most of Rainy River and part of Lake Nipigon. The boundaries of the new district corresponded with the...
. Hampton defeated Miclash by 3,000 votes.
Bill Blaikie
William Alexander "Bill" Blaikie, PC is a Canadian politician. He has been a member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba since April 2009, representing the Winnipeg division of Elmwood as a member of the New Democratic Party of Manitoba, and Minister of Conservation and Government House Leader...
in the latter's unsuccessful bid for the federal New Democratic Party
New Democratic Party
The New Democratic Party , commonly referred to as the NDP, is a federal social-democratic political party in Canada. The interim leader of the NDP is Nycole Turmel who was appointed to the position due to the illness of Jack Layton, who died on August 22, 2011. The provincial wings of the NDP in...
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
Jack Layton
John Gilbert "Jack" Layton, PC was a Canadian social democratic politician and the Leader of the Official Opposition. He was the leader of the New Democratic Party from 2003 to 2011, and previously sat on Toronto City Council, serving at times during that period as acting mayor and deputy mayor of...
.
In Harris' second term, the government unveiled plans to privatize the public electricity utility, Ontario Hydro
Ontario Hydro
Ontario Hydro was the official name from 1974 of the Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario which was established in 1906 by the provincial Power Commission Act to build transmission lines to supply municipal utilities with electricity generated by private companies already operating at Niagara...
. 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
Ernie Eves
Ernest Lawrence "Ernie" Eves was the 23rd Premier of the province of Ontario, Canada, from April 15, 2002, to October 23, 2003.-Beginnings:...
, ultimately reached the decision not to sell the hydro utility.
Hampton and the NDP won only seven seats in the 2003 Ontario election
Ontario general election, 2003
The Ontario general election of 2003 was held on October 2, 2003, to elect the 103 members of the 38th Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada....
, losing official party status
Official party status
Official party status refers to the Canadian practice of recognizing political parties in the Parliament of Canada and the provincial legislatures. The type of recognition and threshold needed to obtain it varies...
for the first time since 1963
Ontario general election, 1963
The Ontario general election of 1963 was held on September 25, 1963, to elect the 108 members of the 27th Legislative Assembly of Ontario of the Province of Ontario, Canada....
. However, Hampton retained his seat and the party increased its share of the popular vote by 2 per cent. 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
Question Period
Question Period, known officially as Oral Questions occurs each sitting day in the Canadian House of Commons. According to the House of Commons Compendium, “The primary purpose of Question Period is to seek information from the Government and to call it to account for its actions.”-History:The...
.
Ultimately, this controversy was all for nought as on May 13, 2004, the NDP regained official party status in a by-election
By-election
A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....
in Hamilton East, where city councillor Andrea Horwath
Andrea Horwath
Andrea Horwath , is a Canadian activist and politician. She is the Leader of the Ontario New Democratic Party in Canada. She is a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, representing the riding of Hamilton Centre, and was chosen as the party's leader at its 2009 leadership convention.She is...
was elected to fill the vacancy left by the death of Liberal member Dominic Agostino
Dominic Agostino
Dominic Agostino was a Canadian politician who represented the riding of Hamilton East for the Liberal Party in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1995 until his death in 2004.-Biography:...
. When Marilyn Churley resigned her Toronto—Danforth
Toronto—Danforth (provincial electoral district)
Toronto—Danforth is a provincial electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario since 1999...
seat in May 2005, the NDP was granted official party status at first until the by-election, and then until the 2007 provincial election
Ontario general election, 2007
The Ontario general election of 2007 was held on October 10, 2007 to elect members of the 39th Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada. The Liberals under Dalton McGuinty won the election with a majority government, winning 71 out of a possible 107 seats with 42.2% of the popular...
; NDP candidate Peter Tabuns
Peter Tabuns
Peter Charles Tabuns is a Canadian politician. He is serving as a member of the Ontario Legislative Assembly where he represents the riding of Toronto-Danforth as a member of the New Democratic Party. He launched a bid to lead the party after the previous leader, Howard Hampton, resigned. A...
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 per cent popular support, its highest level recorded since March, 1992, when Bob Rae's government was still in power. However, in the poll, the NDP still trailed the governing Liberals, who received 35 per cent support, and the Opposition Progressive Conservatives who led with 36 per cent. Other polls have shown the NDP with 20-23 per cent support, further behind the frontrunning parties, but still well ahead of the popular vote the party received in 2003.
The Ontario NDP increased its seat count to nine in September 2006, when well-known local United Church minister Cheri DiNovo
Cheri DiNovo
Cheri DiNovo, MPP, is a Canadian social democratic politician. She is an United Church of Canada minister and previously headed the Emmanuel-Howard Park congregation in Toronto, Ontario. As the New Democratic Party of Ontario candidate in Parkdale–High Park, she was elected to the Legislative...
won a byelection. The seat became vacant when Liberal MPP Gerard Kennedy
Gerard Kennedy
Gerard Michael Kennedy is a Canadian politician in Ontario, Canada. He served as Ontario's Minister of Education from 2003 to 2006, when he resigned to make an unsuccessful bid for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada...
resigned to seek the Liberal Party of Canada
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
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. The NDP also unveiled a new logo and look.
Hampton's NDP increased its seat count to 10 in February 2007, when businessman and community activist Paul Ferreira
Paul Ferreira
Paul Ferreira is a Canadian social democratic politician and one of the first openly gay politicians elected to provincial office in Canada. He also has the distinction of being the very first Azorean-Canadian MPP...
defeated star Liberal candidate Laura Albanese
Laura Albanese
Laura Albanese is a Canadian politician, formerly a news anchor for Italian language news programming on Omni Television. She is the Member of Provincial Parliament in the Ontario Legislative Assembly for the riding of York South—Weston which is situated in the northwest part of Toronto...
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 per cent pay raise for MPPs were cited as key factors in the upset win.
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
Ontario general election, 2007
The Ontario general election of 2007 was held on October 10, 2007 to elect members of the 39th Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada. The Liberals under Dalton McGuinty won the election with a majority government, winning 71 out of a possible 107 seats with 42.2% of the popular...
. 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. 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 would stay on further as the party leader.
On June 14, 2008, Hampton announced that he would not stand for re-election as party leader at the March 2009 party convention. He remained an MPP for the remainder of his parliamentary mandate, but did not run in the October 6, 2011 general election
Ontario general election, 2011
The 40th Ontario general election was held on October 6, 2011 to elect members of the 40th Legislative Assembly of Ontario. The Ontario Liberal Party will form a minority government, with the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario serving as the Official Opposition and the Ontario New...
.
Hampton currently lives in Toronto with his wife Shelley and children Jonathon and Sarah. He maintains a summer residence on Rainy Lake in Fort Frances.