ANDREA HORWATH

Andrea is a 46-year-old dynamo who has made her mark by achieving tremendous results in every endeavour in which she has been involved - from community development, to municipal politics as a Hamilton City Councillor for seven years and since 2004 as a Member of Provincial Parliament in the Ontario Legislature.

Andrea Horwath is currently the NDP MPP for Hamilton Centre. Her election in May 2004 with a resounding victory in the by-election in Hamilton East, returned the NDP to official party status.

Born in Stoney Creek, Andrea worked her way through McMaster University on low wage jobs to earn her B.A. in Labour Studies. After earning her degree Andrea worked closely with the Hamilton Labour movement for several years programming and providing literacy, numeracy and ESL training for workers. She went on to immerse herself in the Co-op Housing movement in Welland, Ontario where she honed her community development skills.

In the early 1990s she accepted a job at a Community Legal Clinic as a Community Development Co-ordinator, the only position of its kind in the province. Because of her talent and effectiveness as a grassroots organizer and as co-chair of Hamilton’s Coalition for Social Justice, Horwath was chosen by the city’s community based groups and organizations to be the “Community Co-chair” of Hamilton’s highly successful Days of Action campaign in 1996, standing shoulder to shoulder with Labour, against the Conservative Government cutbacks.

It is estimated that some 100,000 people took to the streets of Hamilton. Andrea was honoured as Hamilton's Woman of the Year in “Public Affairs” that same year.
Andrea's leadership, vision and commitment continued. As a three-time elected City Councillor for downtown Hamilton, she brought vision and practicality to the job and left a legacy of accomplishments between 1997 and 2004.

One prime example is Andrea’s contribution to the field of race relations, access and equity. In 1996, Andrea earned her certificate of achievement in anti-racism training. Andrea took what she had learned and advocated for the development of an Access and Equity Office for the City of Hamilton. Thanks to her groundbreaking hard work, the office is now a reality to the great benefit of the city.

Andrea led the steps toward the revitalization of a sustainable downtown core and Hamilton's waterfront. She played a key role in the development of Hamilton’s now thriving James Street North Arts District and has served on the board of both Theatre Aquarius and Hamilton’s prestigious Art Gallery. She was instrumental in attracting the film industry to Hamilton. Andrea recognized what is now a well known concept made famous by Richard Florida: the importance of the “creative class” to thriving cities.

She led Hamilton’s ambitious program to divert household waste from landfill and chaired the committee that ushered in Hamilton’s green cart and expanded recycling program.

Andrea found novel uses for city owned property to better serve high needs neighbourhoods that lacked facilities.

After the toxic Plastimet fire in Hamilton, Andrea helped to rejuvenate the site into an impressive public space, Jackie Washington Park. It was the first park to be named after a person of colour and the first to honour a local performing artist.

Throughout her municipal career, Andrea was the voice for the community. Andrea was instrumental in bringing new amenities and upgrading services to her community - a health centre, recreation centre, immigrant services and help for disadvantaged people. She won the Graham Emslie award for Community Development in Housing by the Canadian Housing and Renewal Association.

Not only did she Chair the Social Housing and Access Committee, she also served on the Board of the Hamilton Housing Authority prior to being elected municipally. As a City Councilor Andrea was on the Board of the Municipal Housing Corporation and later chaired the post-downloading organization City Housing Hamilton, the consolidation of these two entities.

Upon arriving at Queen's Park, Andrea continued to focus on achieving results that matter to people.

Andrea’s Bill 111, the Bob Shaw Act, led to compensation for firefighters who become seriously ill due to toxins at fires such as Plastimet, pegged the worst environmentally toxic fire in Canadian history when it raged in 1997. It is rare indeed for the content of any Private Member’s Bill to become a government law. Andrea forced the government to bring in presumptive legislation. Without Horwath, fair compensation for firefighters and their families would not have happened.

There is strong hope that the bill Horwath pioneered in memory of Lori Dupont, to outlaw workplace harassment and violence will meet with the same acceptance.

Likewise, the government's long term care hotline was established as a result of Horwath's expose on long-term care homes and her call for minimum cooling standards in nursing homes.

Horwath was part of a local movement that forced the government to announce funding to clean up Randle Reef, the second-most polluted waterway in Canada.

Her intervention spurred an Ombudsman's investigation and the subsequent "What's In a Name" report on the failings of the Family Responsibility Office, obtained government funding for the Toronto Woman Abuse Council, the 50th annual Canusa games and the North Hamilton Community Health Centre.

Andrea Horwath is the only MPP to successfully challenge the McGuinty government’s deep cuts to the allowance low-income people receive for the purchase of nutritious food. Thanks to Andrea, people with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) are now eligible to receive the special diet allowance that the Liberal government had taken away.

Andrea takes courageous stands. On the ending of mandatory retirement, Andrea Horwath was the one who stood up and said – “no, first reform pensions then end mandatory retirement. That way, those seniors who wish not to work beyond age 65 can be guaranteed a decent income and security in their retirement years.”

Andrea put the issue of pension protection on the map by undertaking a 10-city provincial tour and writing a far-reaching report on pension reform.

Government ministers give her credit, noting that Horwath is always prepared, does her homework, knows what she's doing and is a formidable political adversary.

Andrea is the second woman in Ontario history to serve as Deputy Deputy Speaker - one of the presiding officers of the Legislature.

Andrea holds or has held the critic portfolios of Municipal Affairs; Government and Consumer Services; Children and Youth; Autism; Occupational Health and Safety; Pensions; Women's Issues; Economic Development and Trade.

As Municipal Affairs critic, Andrea is relentlessly pressing the government to deal with downloading and relief for municipalities.

She is a member of the powerful Public Accounts Committee, where she made private hospital financing an issue by calling for an Auditor's review.

As Children and Youth services critic, Andrea is the staunchest ally of not-for-profit child care expansion. She forced a formal debate on keeping commercial big box child care operators out of Ontario. Her groundbreaking Bill 26 was widely supported by the Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care.

Andrea has received accolades for her support of families of children with autism and the right to their child’s treatment. Her advocacy for children with special needs and mental health challenges is welcomed and needed in the face of inadequate government funding and policies.

As Health and Safety critic and a labour activist, Andrea joined with Sault Ste. Marie MP Tony Martin’s federal effort and introduced a bill to form an Occupational Disease and Workplace Accident Registry in Ontario to better protect existing and potential employees.

A staunch environmentalist, Andrea champions good stewardship and environmentally-friendly practices. Andrea, her partner Ben and son Julian are proud of their accomplishment of reducing their own household garbage to one scant bag every 4 to 6 weeks. When floods ravaged and soot fallout covered local homes and property, Andrea’s was a singular presence in the forefront demanding accountability and action. She has been active in calling for a return to the public monitoring of air quality, full environmental assessments for waste-burning facilities and an inquiry into the Beidermann Packaging fire that sent tonnes of pesticides into local waterways.

When the McGuinty government refused to help a community rebuild a Hindu temple that was destroyed by arson in a horrific hate-motivated crime, Andrea’s involvement took that issue to the front page. Not only did she second the motion at City Council strongly condemning this horrific act, she worked with community leaders to obtain government consideration for future grants after being elected MPP.

Acutely aware of the need to create an environment where people feel welcome, a sense of belonging and are valued for their contributions, Andrea helped in the drive to make Hamilton a leader as a home for newcomers from all over the world. The Hamilton Centre for Civic Inclusion, SISO, the Hindu Samaj community centre, Immigrant Arts and Heritage are progressive models that Andrea had a big hand in shaping.

The preservation of Ontario’s natural and built heritage continues in the spotlight as a result of Andrea pushing to save historically important land and buildings, the Royal Botanical Gardens and Lister Block, for example.

Locally Andrea was a lead voice demanding a stop to cutthroat bidding in the home health care sector with OPSEU, ONA, SEIU, CUPE, LIUNA and other local unions, forcing the McGuinty government to shut down the process that would have devastated local non-profit organizations like the VON.

As a member of the First Ontario Credit Union she also brought COPE and their members’ fight to the legislature, demanding intervention by the government whose agency FSCO’s (Financial Services Commission of Ontario) lack of oversight exacerbated an attempt by management to wring concessions from these mostly women workers.

Andrea was also proud to stand alongside Steelworkers and raise the clarion call for pension protection and provincial government action during the recent ruthless CCAA process endured by the hardworking members of USWA. She continues to be the local lead on fighting neighbourhood school closures and demanding accountability in Hamilton's proposed hospital restructuring.

Andrea has also worked hard as a Caucus Member to support the party across the province, including serving on Ontario's NDP Provincial Executive, co-chairing the Election Planning Committee and representing the NDP at a multitude of community and political events. She has been a proud member of the NDP for over two decades.