Still wondering who to vote for? Today we’re running profiles of the four major leaders, their platforms, and their scandals. Click here to see the rest of them.
Andrea Horwath (Ontario New Democratic Party)
Place of Birth: Hamilton, Ontario in 1962.
Education: BA in Labour Studies at McMaster University, certificate in achievement in anti-racism training.
Life Before Politics: She was a community development coordinator and worked closely with Hamilton Labour Party because of course she did.
Political Background: Hamilton city councillor (1997-2004), elected as MPP for Hamilton-East in by-election (2004-2007). She was elected again as MPP for Hamilton Centre (2007- ) after the Hamilton-East riding was redistributed to other ridings.
Current Position: Leader of the Ontario NDP (2009- ).
Andrea Horwath
Michelle Tribe
Tax Policy:
Andrea Horwath and the NDP hope to reward job creators by creating a job creation tax credit, which will re-reimburse employers for 10% of the salary of new hires. Horwath really loves those job creators. She loves them almost as much as Tim Hudak does. This is an incredibly unusual tax policy for the NDP, creating tax credits for…well…anyone.
She’ll also cut corporate taxes by 3%, take HST off of hydro-electricity, and reduce auto insurance rates by 15%. Despite her claims that she’s met business owners who beg for higher taxes, Horwath’s taxation policy appears to be slightly right of Hudak.
Spending Policy:
Education: Horwath wants to hire 1,000 new phys-ed teachers, 1,000 more Educational Assistants, invest $15 million per year on nutrition, and spend wherever else possible, including providing dental benefits to students. It’s easy to lose your teeth on the playground, though she might want to remember that baby teeth do grow back. She would also freeze post-secondary tuition, an issue which has not ignited Ontarians nearly as much as it did in Quebec two years ago.
Transit: She wants better public transit, which is a reasonable goal, but her only specifics involve widening 60km of highway across the province, and prioritizing “high impact transit projects including the Downtown Relief Line, Clean Trains Now, Scarborough transit and all day two-way GO Train to Kitchener-Waterloo and Niagara Falls.” We’re not sure what prioritizing these projects entails (which projects would be left underfunded to compensate?), but hopefully it would do something.
Healthcare: Horwath says she wants to “make healthcare a priority” (because Hudak and Wynne want everyone to get sick and die, clearly), through opening new 24-hour clinics, hiring more nurse practitioners, eliminating wait times (somehow), creating a Caregiver tax credit, and forgiving student debt in exchange for medical doctors moving to under-serviced communities. When thinking about that last point, you start by thinking “What a terrible idea” then arrive at “hey, that’s actually not so bad an idea, maybe doctors from expensive schools will go for it” to “how is this possibly the best solution you could think of when they can go make good money somewhere else?”
Scandals:
Horwath was publicly shamed for rejecting the Liberal budget in May 2014 (which started this whole election mess), even though Wynne’s proposed budget read like an NDP wish-list when they’re in a particularly communist mood. So outraged were NDP loyalists at Horwath passing up the opportunity to advance their goals in a play for votes that they called the platform “deeply disturbing.”
Quotes:
“I have no way of knowing what the next several months are going to bring” (on her insecurities as an amateur palm reader)
“Your tough medicine is not Buckley’s. It tastes awful and it’s not going to work.” (On Hudak’s Million Job Plan)
Be sure to check out the other three major candidate’s platforms here! And, if you want more hilarious and extensive Ontario election coverage as June 12 approaches? Go buy a shot glass or t-shirt from our IndieGoGo campaign! igg.me/at/truenorthtimes!