Talk Elections

NDP easily wins vote
Eighth seat earns party official status

Vote seen as setback for McGuinty


RICHARD BRENNAN AND ROBERT BENZIE
QUEEN'S PARK BUREAU

HAMILTON—New Democrat Andrea Horwath won the Hamilton East by-election last night, giving the NDP official party status and handing Premier Dalton McGuinty a devastating loss on the eve of next week's provincial budget.

In the biggest political setback of McGuinty's seven-month old government, Horwath, 41, defeated the Premier's hand-picked candidate Ralph Agostino, 42. Horwath took 63.6 per cent of the vote and Agostino 26.6. Conservative Tara Crugnale, 28, finished third with 7.4 per cent.

The by-election was sparked by the death in March of popular Liberal MPP Dominic Agostino, Ralph's brother. The win gives the NDP eight seats in the 103-seat Legislature, enough for official party status.

"The voters of Hamilton East are telling the McGuinty government they don't want any more of those broken promises," Horwath said last night, a jubilant NDP Leader Howard Hampton standing next to her.

The resounding victory returns the working-class riding to the NDP, which held it for more than 40 years before Dominic Agostino won in 1995.

"It was a combination of things — broken promises, disillusionment with the Liberals altogether, both federally and provincially and ... the way that the Liberal candidate was chosen. All of those things were a heady brew," Horwath told reporters.

"People want those (election) promises to be kept, they want to have change for the people."

Hampton said having party status again means "greater capacity to hold the government accountable." The win means $1.3 million in additional funding for legislative staff, researchers and resources for the party.

"This is a tremendous breath of momentum," Hampton said of the NDP victory, predicting that the scenario will be repeated across Ontario when the federal Liberal government calls an election later this month.

Hampton said his party capitalized on the fact that voters "are very angry" at both provincial and federal Liberals.

A gracious Ralph Agostino said last night he tried his best to "honour Dominic's memory."

"You can't be a fighter if you're afraid of losing," he said.

McGuinty, who paid a surprise visit to Agostino's headquarters last night, insisted the Liberals will not be sidetracked from what they were elected to do on Oct. 2.

"Our cause remains very much alive," the Premier said. "We have a mandate on which we still must deliver."

Ontario Liberal party president Deb Matthews played down the impact of the stunning defeat.

"This is an NDP riding," said Matthews, who is MPP for London North Centre. "If the NDP can't win this riding, then they are in serious trouble.

"It's absolutely not in my thinking an anti-government vote, no," Matthews said.

McGuinty called the by-election just three weeks after Dominic Agostino died. The Premier manipulated the nomination process so the late MPP's brother would carry the Liberal flag.

"I don't have any regrets in terms of the process," the Premier said. "The people of Hamilton East have spoken and we respect their decision."

But the move outraged many local Liberals and led to an exodus of traditionally Liberal support toward Horwath.

Sam Merulla, a life-long Liberal and former executive assistant to Dominic Agostino, denounced McGuinty's "cynical" rigging of the process.

Merulla, who serves on city council with Horwath, helped to siphon many votes his colleague's way.

To try to save the seat, the Liberals made funding announcements in Hamilton totalling $650 million. But McGuinty, who dispatched MPPs, ministers and political operatives to help in the by-election, didn't visited Hamilton East during the campaign. The Premier said he was "too busy" to go to Hamilton and, earlier this week, played down the importance of the vote.

That led to taunts from the opposition Tories that the Liberals were scared to put McGuinty out there because he was a political liability due to an expected bad-news budget on Tuesday.