Ontario New Democratic Party - Horwath Leadership

Horwath Leadership

On November 7, 2008, Andrea Horwath officially launched her campaign to win the party's leadership. Andrea Horwath advocated heavy investment in light rail. In party matters she emphasised a closer relationship to unions and the hiring of regional organisers. 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.

In the lead-up to the election, Horwath began to campaign on tax incentives for businesses that create jobs in the province, making investments that improve health-care wait times, and cutting the Harmonized Sales Tax from necessities such as home-heating and gas. Instead of providing broad corporate tax cuts, Horwath would focus on tax cuts for small businesses and companies that make investments in Ontario. Her campaign also criticized the McGuinty government for not soliciting competitive bids for green energy projects, and pledged to have a public bidding process where preference is given to local providers.

She distanced the ONDP from former Premier Bob Rae, now interim leader of the federal Liberal Party of Canada, by pointing out that he is the exception to the rule of NDP Premiers in other provinces who have been able to balance provincial budgets. At the official televised leaders' debate, her political rivals criticized the ONDP's handling of the economy in the early 1990s, but Horwath further distanced the New Democratic Party from Mr. Rae by pointing out his current allegiance to the federal Liberals as interim leader of the (federal) Liberal Party. Her campaign largely refrained from mudslinging and personal attacks, and she led her party to an increase from 10 seats to 17 seats in the legislature. The Liberals were re-elected with a minority government giving Horwath's NDP the balance of power in the legislature.

At an automatic leadership review held at the party's provincial convention in April 2012, 76.4% of delegates voted in favour of Horwath's continued leadership.