Andrea Horwath wins Ontario NDP leadership race
Posted March 7, 2009 12:00 pm.
Last Updated June 6, 2018 11:23 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Andrea Horwath took the helm of the Ontario New Democrats Saturday, becoming the first woman to lead the provincial party and she promised to hold the government to account when it comes to job losses.
“First order of business is holding Dalton McGuinty to account in question period on Monday,” an overjoyed Horwath said following her acceptance speech.
“It’s going to be an excellent opportunity for us to grow our party, so other than doing that work at Queen’s Park, I’ll be working with our riding associations and I’ll be working with Ontarians to try to make some positive change in this province.”
She beat out three other caucus members to end the third round of voting with 60.4 per cent of the vote.
Her closest rival was Peter Tabuns, a former Greenpeace director considered the establishment candidate, who reaped 39.6 per cent support.
Ontario Federation of Labour president Wayne Samuelson, who endorsed Horwath early on, said she demonstrated from the start that she was the right person to tackle the province’s problems.
“She’s got an incredible energy, she brings to this party a sense of direction,” Samuelson said.
“The delegates of this convention have seen the kind of leader, have seen the potential.”
Horwath said she looks forward to working with the same caucus as outgoing leader Howard Hampton has. However she acknowledged the party must be reinvigorated so it can grow from its 10 seats in the legislature and stand a chance to win the 2011 election.
“The NDP has needed an opportunity to rebrand and to refresh, and I think with this leadership contest now over, with a new kind of face at the front of the party, it gives us opportunity to pre-engage with people and talk to them about their issues,” she said.
The 46-year-old mother of a teenage boy was the youngest contender and her campaign gathered quick momentum as the new face of the NDP.
She stressed her background as a community organizer and argued she has the energy and ideas to rebuild the struggling party.
Tabuns, a former Greenpeace executive whose main platform was the need to create green jobs, said during his final speech Saturday that he has the most innovative ideas to rebuild the party and keep jobs in the province.
He congratulated Horwath after her winning, saying the party needed “to continue speaking with a united voice to defend the principles and values that are at the core of our party.”
Despite all the talk of change, Horwath was the candidate who used the most traditional party language – and the only one to talk about New Democrats as socialists.
Graham White, a political science professor at the University of Toronto, said Horwath has been able to get people excited and may garner new enthusiasm for the party.
“That said, I don’t get a sense from her that she had what the theme of the convention was to be about, which was…new leadership, new ideas,” he said.
“She has some thoughts on green economy but a lot of it seemed to be that she didn’t want to adjust to the de-industrialization of Ontario.”
“She really hasn’t accepted that the Ontario of tomorrow is going to be fundamentally different.”
Hampton, 56, officially stepped down earlier Saturday after 13 years at the helm of the party.
He took over from former premier Bob Rae in 1996 and led the New Democrats through dark years that saw them hurt badly by strategic voting and lose party status in 1999 and again after the 2003 election.
In a statement Saturday, McGuinty congratulated Horwath, calling her “hard-working, dedicated and committed to public service.”
“I look forward to working with her in her new role as leader,” he said.
Among the other two candidates, Gilles Bisson lost out in the second round of voting early in the evening with almost 25 per cent of the vote, crossing the floor to throw his support to Horwath.
“What’s important is that the party has to be unified and that’s what we’re getting here,” Bisson said, hugging Horwath as her boisterous supporters cheered her name.
“Andrea [is] a person of integrity, I’ve always respected her, she’s a person who’s got an ability to connect with voters.”
Michael Prue dropped off in the first round with just 11 per cent of the vote and threw his support behind Bisson.
Both Prue and Bisson said they were disappointed with the results, but Prue said he wasn’t upset with the outcome, since he’s always considered his bid was a long shot.
“I’m disappointed of course today, but Monday I’ll be at my desk doing the job that I was elected to do and happy to serve whoever wins,” Prue said.
He also dismissed questions that the poor showing may have to do with his insistence in renewing the debate about religious school funding, which was blamed for Progressive Conservative John Tory’s poor showing in the 2007 election.
“My vision was well received – It’s who I am, it’s what I am, if they choose someone else that’s their democratic right.”
