Maintaining the seat he’s had since 1987, NDP leader Howard Hampton was re-elected as MPP for the Kenora-Rainy River riding in a landslide victory last Wednesday.
Looking ahead to the next four years, Hampton said during his victory party at La Place Rendez-Vous that he clearly laid out issues crucial to the region during the campaign—and he’s dedicated to keep hammering away at them until the McGuinty government does something.
“The government’s got to take more effective action to help reposition the forest industry,” Hampton stressed.
“We all recognize there are changes happening,” he noted. “Some kinds of paper, like newsprint, are in less demand while other kinds of paper are in more demand.
“And so we need to make some investments to help reposition mills so they can move to the part of the paper market where the demand is increasing.
“The reality is the forest sector is not dying—the forest sector may be changing, but it still has a brilliant future ahead of it,” Hampton added.
“We’ll have to manage some of that change, and I’ll be there and the Democrats will be there to work with you to make sure that this issue stays on the front page.”
Hampton said hydro issues have to be dealt with. “You can’t keep driving hydro rates though the roof and expect to maintain manufacturing and forest sector jobs,” he reiterated.
He also stressed the McGuinty government has to build a better relationship with First Nations.
“If you look at what’s happening to the world price of minerals—gold, silver, platinum, lead, zinc—the price of those minerals are going through the roof and yet the best remaining potential in the world to find and mine those minerals happens to be in Northern Ontario,” Hampton remarked.
“But if anything’s going to happen, a better working relationship has to got to be built with First Nations, and the McGuinty government hasn’t done that,” he charged.
“And the final issue is we’ve got all kinds of holes and cracks in our health care system, and moving to a more profit-driven, private health care is not going to fix it,” Hampton argued.
“The government is going to have to respond to those things.”
Hampton pledged the NDP also will continue to fight for “a decent minimum wage” and affordable post-secondary education. “People who work hard deserve to make a living wage,” he said.
Hampton received 14,280 votes for a lion’s share (60.6 percent) of the total votes cast in the riding.
Liberal candidate Mike Wood of Dryden garnered 5,753 votes (24.4 percent), followed by PC candidate Penny Lucas of Kenora with 2,757 and Green Party candidate Jo Jo Holiday, also from Kenora, at 770.
Hampton conceded he wasn’t surprised to win by such a significant margin here.
“People told me when I was canvassing in May, June, July, August, before the election was even called, and people said to me, ‘Look, I may not agree with everything the NDP says, and I may not agree with you on everything, but you’ve raised the issues that make a difference for us and nobody else has,’” he said.
“People said to me, ‘I turn on the national news and there you are raising our issues. That’s never been done before so I’m going to vote for you for that reason,’” added Hampton.
“On some of those issues, we forced the government to respond, on some we weren’t able to force them to respond, but I think one of the challenges now for the McGuinty government is they can’t do what they did last time,” he continued.
“They can’t promise everything and then break those promises,” he stressed. “They’ve got to start addressing some of these issues they failed to address, and I’ll make sure they do.”
Hampton said he received “tremendous support” from First Nations across the far north.
“Some of the results were unbelievable,” he noted. “I’m not going to single out any of the First Nations other than to say, to all those First Nation communities, ‘We will not let you down.’
“We know this is an important election for First Nations in this riding and First Nations across Ontario, and the New Democrats will not let you down,” Hampton vowed.
“We know the issues that have to be raised. We know, for example, that northern First Nations are not opposed to mining exploration and mining, but they’ve insisted, and rightfully so, on a revenue sharing package.
“Not all the money should flow to Switzerland or to New York or Toronto or Chicago,” added Hampton. “First Nations need jobs and need an economic base.
“We’re going to continue to work on that issue.”
With no new seats gained by the NDP this election, the question asked by nearly every reporter last Wednesday was whether Hampton would want to stay on as leader of the Ontario NDP.
But Hampton said he’s not planning on giving up that mantle anytime soon.
“After every election, you sit down and think about what I want to do for the next four years,” he said. “I talk to my friends and I talk to other MPPs. I talk to my wife and, increasingly, I talk to my kids because they’re at an age now where they’re taking part in some of this.
“But I still like doing this work. I like doing it for the people of this riding and I like doing it for people of Ontario,” he stressed. “My desire would be to keep on doing it.
“But if others persuade me not to, well, I’ll let you know,” he added, noting he was encouraged to see the NDP score nearly a four percent gain in the popular vote province-wide last Wednesday.
Another plus for the party, Hampton noted more women ran as NDP candidates in this election than ever before—and more than either the PCs or the Liberals.
“We had some absolutely outstanding women running as candidates and I want to say this to all of you who had the courage and tenacity to put your name forward, ‘Do it again.’
“This is never a sprint. It’s a long-distance race,” he stressed. “You don’t just run one race, you do it two or three times, and you will be rewarded.
“I look forward to working with you in elections to come.”
Hampton also thanked all the volunteers, his campaign team, and electorate for all their support, noting the hardest part of this election had been the fact it was his first without his late father, George, lending a hand.
“You have put your trust in me since 1987, and all I can do is say that I’m going to continue to work as hard as I can,” he said to thunderous applause.
“If I can say to everyone here: there’s been some rumblings about what I might do or might not do after this election, and I can say this—I appreciate the confidence you’ve shown in me and I’m not going anywhere.”
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
