Andrea Horwath

Andrea Horwath
MPP
Leader of the Ontario New Democratic Party
Assumed office
March 7, 2009
Preceded by Howard Hampton
Member of the Ontario Provincial Parliament
for Hamilton Centre
Hamilton East (2004-2007)
Assumed office
May 13, 2004
Preceded by Dominic Agostino
Hamilton, Ontario City Councillor
In office
December 1, 1997 – June 16, 2004
Serving with
Ron Corsini (1997-2000)
Preceded by Vince Agro
Bill McCulloch
Succeeded by Bob Bratina
Constituency Ward Two
Personal details
Born (1962-10-24) October 24, 1962
Hamilton, Ontario
Political party New Democratic
Alma mater McMaster University
Occupation Community development coordinator

Andrea Horwath, MPP (pronounced "Horvath"; born October 24, 1962) is a Canadian 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 the first woman to lead the Ontario New Democratic Party, and one of only three women to serve as leader of a political party with representation in the provincial legislature (Liberals Kathleen Wynne and Lyn McLeod are the other two).

Early life, education, early career

Horwath was born and raised in Hamilton, Ontario, and has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Labour Studies from McMaster University in that city. She worked part-time as a waitress to pay her way through university. Her father Andrew, an ethnic Hungarian, had immigrated to Canada from Slovakia, and worked on the assembly line at the Ford Motor Company plant in Oakville, Ontario.[1] Her mother is of French and Irish descent.[2]

She worked closely with the Hamilton labour movement for several years, programming and providing literacy, numeracy and ESL training for workers. She subsequently got involved in the cooperative housing movement in Welland, and later became a community development coordinator for Hamilton's McQuesten Legal & Community Services, providing public legal education to groups working with tenants, injured workers and people with disabilities.

In 1996 Horwath earned a certificate of achievement in anti-racism training, and was an organizer of Hamilton's Days of Action campaign against provincial government cutbacks announced by Mike Harris. That year she received the Woman of the Year Award in Public Affairs from the Hamilton Status of Women Committee, in recognition of her work in the community. She also dedicated her time and efforts toward the field of social housing, and was subsequently awarded the Graham Emslie Award for Community Development in Housing by the Canadian Housing and Renewal Association.

She lives in Hamilton with her son Julian (born November 1992). In a March 2011 interview with the Toronto Star, she spoke publicly for the first time about the breakup of her longtime relationship with Julian's father, Hamilton businessman Ben Leonetti.[3] Horwath had met Ben Leonetti in her university years, when she was working part-time as a waitress and he was a jazz musician. The two lived together for 25 years without getting married, and split up in 2010.[4]

Early political career

In the Canadian federal election of 1997, she was the NDP candidate against incumbent Liberal Stan Keyes in the riding of Hamilton West. Although unsuccessful, her second-place finish was a significant improvement on previous NDP efforts in the riding, and gave her an increased level of prominence in the city.

City councillor

Later in 1997, she was elected to Hamilton City Council for Ward Two, outpolling two incumbents who had represented the area for more than 20 years. She emerged as a prominent voice for the political left in the city, and was re-elected to council in 2000 and 2003. During her three terms as city councillor, she chaired the solid waste management committee and the municipal non-profit housing corporation.

Provincial politics

By-election victory

Horwath was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in a 2004 by-election in the then-extant provincial riding of Hamilton East, defeating Liberal candidate Ralph Agostino to succeed the deceased Liberal member Dominic Agostino, Ralph's brother. Winning 63.6 per cent of the vote, up from the NDP's 29.4 per cent in that riding six months earlier, her landslide victory boosted the NDP's seat count over the threshold for official party status in the legislature, and helped give the federal New Democratic Party a bounce in Hamilton that would continue into the federal election shortly thereafter.

2007 election

In the 2007 election, Horwath ran in the new riding of Hamilton Centre, due to redistricting that divided her former Hamilton East riding between Hamilton Centre and the new riding of Hamilton East—Stoney Creek. Horwath's new Hamilton Centre riding included approximately half of her former riding as well as a portion of the former Hamilton West riding where she had run federally in 1997. It also included her entire former city council ward.

In the leadup to the campaign, Horwath was expected to face Hamilton West Liberal incumbent Judy Marsales. However, Marsales opted not to run for another term, and Horwath easily defeated Liberal candidate Steve Ruddick on election day.

2009 NDP leadership campaign

On November 7, 2008, Horwath officially launched her campaign to win the party's leadership. The leadership election was held March 6–8, 2009. Horwath led on the first two ballots, and won on the third ballot with 60.4% of the vote defeating Peter Tabuns, Gilles Bisson and Michael Prue.[5]

2011 election

The 2011 provincial election saw a rise in support for the NDP under Horwath's leadership. The party won more than 20% of the popular vote for the first time since 1995 and almost doubled its seats to elect 17 members of the legislature. The election also resulted in the Liberal government of Dalton McGuinty being reduced to a minority government with the NDP holding the balance of power.

In April 2012, Horwath passed a leadership review at the party's convention with 76% support.

2014 election

In the 2014 provincial election, the NDP was able to maintain its seat count of 21 at dissolution despite the loss of three seats in Toronto, but lost the balance of power when the Liberals took a majority win in the election. Horwath has faced criticism from some party members and progressives for running a populist campaign which they described as right-wing.[6]

Despite criticism of her leadership from some quarters, Horwath received a slightly increased level of support, 77%, at the party's post-election convention held on November 15.[7]

Awards

In March 2012, Horwath received the EVE award which is sponsored by Equal Voice, a non-profit organization focused on promoting women in politics. Past recipients have included women from every level of government.[8]

Electoral record

Hamilton West - Canadian federal election, 1997
Party Candidate Votes % ±
LiberalStan Keyes 20,951
New DemocraticAndrea Horwath 7,648
Progressive ConservativeJohn Findlay 6,510
ReformKen Griffith 6,285
Natural LawBrian Rickard 323
Marxist–LeninistWendell Fields 170
Hamilton East: By-election, 2004
Party Candidate Votes % ±
New DemocraticAndrea Horwath 15,185 63.6
LiberalRalph Agostino 6,362 26.6
Progressive ConservativeTara Crugnale 1,772 7.4
GreenRaymond Dartsch 448 1.9 –
IndependentJohn Turmel 120 0.5
Hamilton Centre - Ontario general election, 2007
Party Candidate Votes % ±
New DemocraticAndrea Horwath 17,182 44.6
LiberalSteve Ruddick 11,042 28.7
Progressive ConservativeChris Robertson 5,711 14.8
GreenPeter Ormond 3,703 9.6 –
Family CoalitionLynne Scime 553 1.4
CommunistBob Mann 316 0.8
Hamilton Centre - Ontario general election, 2011
Party Candidate Votes % ±
New DemocraticAndrea Horwath 20,528 61.3 +16.7
LiberalDonna Tiqui-Shebib 5,852 17.5 -11.1
Progressive ConservativeDon Sheppard 4,418 13.2 -1.6
GreenPeter Ormond 1,243 3.7 -5.9
LibertarianRobert Kuhlman 634 1.9
IndependentMicheal Baldasaro 268 0.8
Family CoalitionSteve Passmore 229 0.7 -0.9
CommunistAnthony Gracey 133 0.4 -0.4
FreedomChris Lawson 128 0.4
ReformRobert Szajkowski 75 0.2
Total valid votes 33,508 100.0

Source: "Declared Candidates," The Hamilton Spectator July 23, 2011, A6, News,
Teri Pecoskie. "Liberals give lawyer Hamilton Centre nod," The Hamilton Spectator August 22, 2011, News

Hamilton Centre - Ontario general election, 2014
Party Candidate Votes % ±
New DemocraticAndrea Horwath 18,699 52.05 -9.28
LiberalDonna Tiqui-Shebib 8,450 23.52 +6.06
Progressive ConservativeJohn Vail 5,136 14.30 +1.13
GreenPeter Ormond 3,078 8.57 +4.85
FreedomPeter Melanson 331 0.92 +0.53
CommunistBob Mann 229 0.64 +0.28
Total valid votes 35,923100.0  
New Democratic hold Swing -7.67
Source: Elections Ontario[9]

References

  1. ↑ NDP Leader gets up close and personal, by Anna Mehler Paperny, The Globe and Mail, Sept. 24, 2011, p. A4
  2. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 1970-01-01. Retrieved 2013-04-14.
  3. ↑ "Horwath opens up about life as a single mom". Toronto Star, March 11, 2011.
  4. ↑ "Anger is a big motivator for NDP's Andrea Horwath", by Linda Diebel, Toronto Star, October 3, 2011, pp. A1, A3
  5. ↑ Murray Campbell, "Horwath elected Ontario NDP Leader". The Globe and Mail, March 7, 2009.
  6. ↑ http://www.thestar.com/news/ontario_election/2014/05/28/gang_of_34_letter_points_to_real_problems_within_horwaths_ndp_walkom.html
  7. ↑ http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/11/15/andrea-horwath-wins-77-percent-in-leadership-review-at-ndp-convention-will-stay-on-as-leader/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
  8. ↑ "Equal Voice Toronto announces 2012 EVE Award Recipient Andrea Horwath". 2012. Retrieved 21 May 2013.
  9. ↑ "General Election Results by District, 031 Hamilton Centre". Elections Ontario. 2014. Retrieved 17 June 2014.

External links

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