NDP leader focuses on building on party's gains with urban voters
James Cowan, The National PostPublished: Tuesday, October 02, 2007 TORONTO - Ontario NDP leader Howard Hampton pushed across Toronto on yesterday, staging a string of events in the city that has become his party's stronghold. "This election is about fairness for cities like Toronto," Mr. Hampton told a crowd at an uptown coffee shop during his second stop in an 11-hour blitz across the city. Mr. Hampton had nothing new to say to Toronto voters as he returned to familiar themes like hiking the minimum wage and providing more money for children with autism. But the leader's continued focus on Toronto highlights how important the city is to his party. While the Liberals control the vast majority of Toronto seats, half of Mr. Hampton's 10-member caucus represents ridings within the city's limits. Furthermore, the NDP has been emboldened by a string of byelection victories since the 2003 vote, including an upset win in York-South Weston. The NDP claimed the seat in February after the retirement of Joe Cordiano, a former Liberal cabinet minister. The NDP now contends there is no such thing as a safe Liberal seat in Toronto and has begun a push to turn its byelection momentum into long-term growth. Mr. Hampton said the Liberals have failed to support Toronto's low-income families. He used his first campaign stop yesterday to trumpet his party's plan to hike the minimum wage to $10 per hour, a promise the NDP believes helped them win York-South Weston. In February, the Liberal government increased the minimum wage to $8 per hour, up from $7.75. It also promised to continue hiking the wage by 75 cents each year until the minimum wage reaches $10.25 in 2010. But Mr. Hampton said the Liberals are making low-income families wait for relief while also voting to increase MPPs' salaries by more than $22,000 annually and the premier's salary by more than $37,000 each year. "Dalton McGuinty's pay hike alone was almost twice as much as the average Ontario woman gets paid in a whole year," Mr. Hampton said. |
