Howard George Hampton (born May 17, 1952) is a politician who was a member of Provincial Parliament for the province of Ontario. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, Canada, from 1987 to 1999 in the electoral district of Rainy River, and from 1999 to 2011 in the redistributed electoral district of Kenora—Rainy River. A member of the Ontario New Democratic Party, he was also the party's leader from 1996 to 2009. Hampton retired from the legislature at the 2011 Ontario provincial election and subsequently joined Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP as a member of the law firm's corporate social responsibility and aboriginal affairs groups.
His wife, Shelley Martel, was also an MPP until 2007, representing Nickel Belt.
Early life, education, and early career
Hampton was born in Fort Frances, Ontario to a blue collar family, George (April 17, 1928 - January 2, 2006) and Elsie (November 8, 1931 - April 18, 2016) Hampton. He was a good student, but also athletically gifted and politically active. He first joined the NDP when he was a teenager.
Hampton took an undergraduate degree in philosophy and religion from Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, where he played varsity hockey for the school's Division I NCAA ice hockey team. He later obtained a degree in education from the University of Toronto and a law degree from the University of Ottawa. He worked as a lawyer for the Canadian Labour Congress, and for the provincial NDP government of Allan Blakeney in Saskatchewan.
Enters provincial politics
Hampton sought election to the Ontario legislature under the NDP banner in the 1977 provincial election, placing third against incumbent Liberal Pat Reid and Progressive Conservative Gordon Armstrong in Rainy River. He ran for the riding again in the 1985 provincial election, and lost to Progressive Conservative candidate Jack Pierce by 278 votes.
Cabinet minister
Hampton was elected to Queen's Park on his third attempt, in the provincial election of 1987. He was re-elected in the 1990 provincial election, in which the NDP won a majority government. On October 1, 1990, he was appointed Attorney General in the government of Bob Rae.
By all accounts, Hampton and Rae were not cabinet allies. Hampton disapproved of many of the Rae government's centrist policies; in particular, he opposed Rae's decision to retreat from an election pledge to introduce public automobile insurance in the province. Journalist Thomas Walkom has argued that Rae deliberately undermined Hampton's control over the Attorney General's office, staffing the ministry with bureaucrats to which he was ideologically incompatible. However, Walkom has also noted that Hampton supported Rae's decision to impose a Social Contract of wage restraints and cost-saving measures on Ontario public servants.
Following a cabinet shuffle on February 3, 1993, Hampton was demoted to Minister of Natural Resources, responsible for Native Affairs. Marion Boyd replaced him as Attorney General. The NDP was defeated in the provincial election of 1995, and Hampton was re-elected over Progressive Conservative Lynn Beyak by only 205 votes.
Cabinet posts
Ontario NDP Leader
thumb|Howard Hampton at [[Queen's Park (Toronto)|Queen's Park addressing CUPE 3903 members protesting against back to work legislation during a York University strike]]
After Rae retired from provincial politics, Hampton became the leader of the NDP on June 22, 1996, beating Frances Lankin, who was seen as a Rae ally and whom many had considered the front-runner, on the third ballot. Leadership candidate Peter Kormos and his support generally went to Hampton rather than Lankin, which was seen as important to Hampton's victory. Tony Silipo also ran for the leadership and would become Hampton's Deputy Leader until 1999. The NDP also unveiled a new logo and look.
Hampton's NDP increased its seat count to 10 in February 2007, when businessman and community activist Paul Ferreira defeated star Liberal candidate Laura Albanese in a byelection in the Toronto riding of York South-Weston. The seat became vacant when Liberal cabinet minister Joe Cordiano resigned. The NDP's campaign for the $10 minimum wage and its opposition to a controversial 25 per cent pay raise for MPPs were cited as key factors in the upset win.
Despite several encouraging opinion polls that predicted a gain of several seats, Hampton's NDP failed to increase its seat count beyond 10 in the 2007 provincial election. While there was speculation following the election that he may retire, Hampton announced at the November 24, 2007, NDP provincial council that he was staying as party leader. However, in April 2008, he indicated he was considering his political future and, on June 14, 2008, he announced that he would not stand for re-election as party leader at the March 2009 party convention. He remained an MPP for the remainder of his parliamentary mandate, but did not run in the 2011 election.
Recent career
Hampton currently lives Fort Frances. He and his wife Shelley Martel are separated.
After leaving politics, Hampton worked for several years for the Toronto law firm Fasken Martineau. Hampton announced that he would seek the party's nomination in the riding for the October 19, 2015 federal election; he subsequently won the nomination. The federal riding includes much of Hampton's old provincial riding. Hampton finished second behind the Liberal candidate, former MP and cabinet minister Bob Nault, pushing Rickford into third place.
Election results
|align="left" colspan=2|New Democrat hold
|align="right"|Swing
|align="right"| +1.09
^ Change is from redistributed results