24 Facts About Howard Hampton

Howard George Hampton was born on May 17,1952 and is a politician who was a member of Provincial Parliament for the province of Ontario.

Howard Hampton's wife, Shelley Martel, was an MPP until 2007, representing Nickel Belt.

Howard Hampton was born in Fort Frances, Ontario to a blue collar family, George and Elsie Howard Hampton.

Howard Hampton was a good student, but athletically gifted and politically active.

Howard Hampton first joined the NDP when he was a teenager.

Howard 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.

Howard Hampton later obtained a degree in education from the University of Toronto and a law degree from the University of Ottawa.

Howard Hampton worked as a lawyer for the Canadian Labour Congress, and for the provincial NDP government of Allan Blakeney in Saskatchewan.

Howard 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.

Howard Hampton ran for the riding again in the 1985 provincial election, and lost to Progressive Conservative candidate Jack Pierce by 278 votes.

Howard Hampton was elected to Queen's Park on his third attempt, in the provincial election of 1987.

Howard Hampton was re-elected in the 1990 provincial election, in which the NDP won a majority government.

Howard 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.

However, Walkom has noted that Howard Hampton supported Rae's decision to impose a Social Contract of wage restraints and cost-saving measures on Ontario public servants.

The NDP was defeated in the provincial election of 1995, and Howard Hampton was re-elected over Progressive Conservative Lynn Beyak by only 205 votes.

Howard Hampton himself faced a challenging re-election; the Harris government had reduced the number of ridings in Ontario from 130 to 103, and Howard Hampton faced off against Frank Miclash, the Liberal MPP for the adjoining Kenora riding, in the amalgamated riding of Kenora-Rainy River.

Howard Hampton endorsed Bill Blaikie in the latter's unsuccessful bid for the federal New Democratic Party leadership in 2002.

Howard Hampton quickly distinguished himself as an advocate of maintaining public ownership of the utility, and published a book on the subject, Public Power, in 2003.

However, Howard Hampton retained his seat and the party increased its share of the popular vote by 2 per cent.

Howard Hampton launched the Ontario NDP's 2007 provincial election campaign at the party's Fresh Ideas New Energy January 2007 policy convention.

Howard 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.

Howard Hampton remained an MPP for the remainder of his parliamentary mandate, but did not run in the 2011 election.

In November 2014, Howard Hampton was appointed as a consultant to federal NDP leader Thomas Mulcair on the Northern Ontario Ring of Fire mining development.

Howard Hampton finished second behind the Liberal candidate, former MP and cabinet minister Bob Nault, pushing Rickford into third place.