This Time, Do What You KNOW Is Right - Vote HILL

It's time. Time to get out vote with your whole being. Let your feet take to you the polling station, your hands accept the ballots and your eyes read the choices. Use your brain to review your choices one more time and your heart to do the right thing. With your whole self, vote NDP. This is not a reluctant choice, like the liberals or the conservatives are having to make, this is a joyful choice.

You know, I know, we all know that the party that represents us, the party who cares about working families and ordinary people, the only party we can count on to do the right thing - is the NDP. Our right choice is Andrew Hill.

Wednesday, do something to feel good about. Vote joyfully, fully and knowing that you have made a statement about what is important to you. This time the choice is clear.

NDP - the party with the Momentum!

Across the province and throughout Simcoe North you can feel it! The New Democrats are the party with the momentum. The NDP is the only party for working families and the only party committed to fairness for all. Andrew Hill and leader Howard Hampton have kept the focus on the real issues of the campaign, not the fake school funding distraction.

In mere hours now, we all have a choice. We can choose fairness, families and and a better Ontario by choosing NDP. Or we can keep what we have - poverty, plant layoffs and long waits for health services. You know the right thing to do. We all do. This time vote fairness. Get Orange - Vote Andrew Hill and Ontario's New Democrats.

Hampton fights back!

Fed up with the lack of media coverage of the real issues in this campaign, NDP leader Howie Hampton told it like it is today in Hamilton. Read more about this event and the real reasons to vote carefully on October 10th. Click to read the Star article: http://www.thestar.com/OntarioElection/article/263762

Fairness for Seniors

They raised us to believe in fair dealing with our family members, with our neighbours, with our classmates, with shopkeepers, with fellow employees.

In 1996 Conservatives cancelled 2.25 hours of hands-on daily care for each long-term care resident.

Dalton McGuinty broke his promise to restore that care.

“The McGuinty Liberals have basically written off seniors in long-term care by denying them the support they need to live vibrant, active lives,” says Andrew. “After a lifetime of building our province and caring for their families, our seniors deserve better.”

Underfunding and understaffing means basics like bathing, repositioning, referrals to medical care and even feeding, are left undone because there is just not enough care time. This shortfall has serious health and quality of life implications for both long-term-care residents and over-stretched staff.

Andrew Hill says, “It is time to play fair with seniors.” “Seniors need inflation protection for pension plans.” “Ontario seniors need home care, support for care givers, and more long-term care beds.”

“NDP will guarantee 3 ½ hours a day of hands on care per resident in long term care homes.”

VOTE NDP TO MAKE SURE DALTON MCGUINTY DOESN’T LET DOWN LOWEST-PAID WORKERS AGAIN

Andrew Hill and Ontario NDP Leader Howard Hampton are committed to raising the minimum wage to $10 an hour immediately to help lift over a million workers, including a disproportionate number of women and New Canadians, above the poverty line and help the economy.

“Dalton McGuinty let down hard-working families when he pushed through a $40,000 pay raise for himself, but told minimum wage workers they would have to wait three years to earn $10 an hour. McGuinty’s $40,000 pay raise is the same amount an average Ontario man earns in an entire year. The pay hike is 54 per cent more than the $25,600 earned by the average Ontario woman,” said Hampton.

For the 237,000 Ontario workers who work hard for minimum wage, and for the 1.2 million Ontarians who earn less than $10 an hour, the NDP’s fair wages plan will mean their hard work will be rewarded with the chance to earn a decent living and get ahead.

“I earn minimum wage" states Andrew, "and our familiy is like many others in the province. A Fair minimum wage is good for workers and for the businesses where people who earn minimum wage spend their money." Hampton adds "It’s practical and sensible. It’s the right thing to do”.

Studies across North America show that raising the minimum wage actually enhances local economies. Many small business owners in Toronto are active supporters of the NDP’s $10 an hour minimum wage campaign. They want to pay their workers a fair wage and know that local businesses benefit when people in their communities have more money in their pockets.

“You can count on the NDP to fight for a fair deal for you and your family. The best way to make sure Dalton McGuinty doesn’t let down lowest-paid workers again is to vote NDP,”

As part of their campaign commitments, the NDP will roll back Dalton McGuinty’s extravagant $40,000 pay hike. Since the Liberal and Conservative MPPs pushed through the pay hike, New Democratic MPPs have donated their raises to charity.

Put Families First - Post Secondary Education

Andrew Hill and the NDP want post secondary education to be affordable for working families. The NDP stands for fair access to post secondary education. Fairness means parents and students should NOT have to face crippling debt after graduation.

Ontario’s NDP Position
The NDP wants fairness in post secondary education by:

• Eliminating classroom fees on apprenticeship programs.
• Bringing tuition fees DOWN. Working families should no longer face tuition costs well above the national average.

In Manitoba, the NDP government froze tuition fees 8 years ago. The result has been a:

• 33% increase in enrolment and a
• highly skilled work force.

That’s the kind of leadership Ontario requires to face the challenges of the 21st century’s knowledge economy.

Hampton makes life more affordable by re-listing health services

Elliot Lake, ON – During a campaign stop at the Algo Inn, Ontario NDP Leader Howard Hampton and Algoma-Manitoulin Candidate Peter Denley met with community members to detail the NDP’s plan to re-list health care services and make life more affordable for families.

“The NDP will put physiotherapy, chiropractic care, and eye exams back in the public health care system. Taking them out was privatization and it was unfair. Our party is committed to protecting public health care and making life more affordable for Ontario families,” said Hampton.

Arguing that de-listing is a form of privatization, Hampton said he would end the practice which forces patients to pay out-of-pocket for much-needed health care services that help prevent further illness and help manage chronic disease.

“It’s not right that we have people who are forced to spend large sums of money to keep going for physiotherapy or chiropractic care. If you’re on a fixed income and can’t afford to pay for these services, you have to suffer,” said Hampton.

“We’re going to fix this by investing $100 million to re-list physiotherapy, chiropractic care, and eye exams. We’re also investing $230 million a year to expand and improve home care within the public health care system. We’re committing $400 for front-line health care professionals like nurses, doctors and others. Finally, we will bring back a minimum standard of 3 ½ hours of personal care for seniors in long-term care homes,” he said.

While McGuinty could find the money for expensive privatization experiments and a $40,000 salary increase for himself, he de-listed these preventive services that save the health system a significant amount of money because illnesses are detected early.

MMP - Vote for Election Reform

MMP - One ballot, two votes. Ontario politics is being driven by an old system, fiercely protected by an old guard. On October 10, we have a historic opportunity to choose a new and better voting system - for a new kind of politics, based on voter equality and fair election results.

Under our antiquated first-past-the-post (FPTP) system, a party can win 40% of the votes, but capture 60% of the seats and 100% of the power. That’s why most major democracies scrapped FPTP last century.

The proposed MMP system will provide a better democracy with:

more choice
fairer election results
stronger representation

Learn more about it. http://www.voteformmp.ca/ http://www.citizensassembly.gov.on.ca/

Fair Dealing with First Nations.

Andrew's thoughts on Fairness and First Nations:

My wife Jen and I bring up our three kids, Tom, Jodie and Jack, to play fair.

On our street we expect our neighbours to treat us fairly, and they do. We expect a fair deal at the gas pumps, in the supermarket, at Home Depot, and downtown.

It is time we started talking straight talk, and being good neighbours with our First Nations Peoples. And give them Fair Dealing.

Stop the Stalling.
• There are 33 Ontario First Nations with boil water advisories.
• There are hundreds of land claims including the Coldwater and Narrows Reserve dating from 1836. Still not settled fairly!
• There is the whole appalling Dudley George and Ipperwash incident perpetrated by a renegade Mike Harris government.
• There are growing frustrations evident in eastern and southern Ontario in fighting off developers and uranium miners.

NDP is committed to FAIRNESS!

Did you watch the debate tonight?

Howard Hampton clearly identified the defining question of this campaign. It is all about FAIRNESS. Is it fair that a single mother gets deeper in debt while banks and insurance companies make BILLIONS in profits? Is it fair that hard working low income Ontarians must wait another three years for a fair minimum wage while McGuinty gives himself a $40,000 pay raise? Is it fair that hardworking students cannot afford to attend college or university because tuition is quickly becoming out of reach of average families while corporations continue to get generous tax breaks?

Touching tales of McGuinty’s childhood with 9 siblings won’t help feed the children who tonight will go to bed without enough in their bellies or without a glass of clean water at the bedside.

Only one leader in tonight’s debate has the vision, the courage and the compassion to bring fairness back to Ontario. Howard Hampton is that leader. With the help of an outstanding roster of candidates like Andrew Hill all that is needed is the right vote on October 10th. This time vote fairness. Vote NDP.

Fair Wages

For the 237,000 Ontario workers who work hard for minimum wage, and for the 1.2 million Ontarians who earn less than $10 an hour, the NDP’s fair wages plan will mean hard work rewarded with the chance to earn a decent living and get ahead. These workers are disproportionately women and New Canadians. Many of them are raising children while trying to make ends meet and living below the poverty line, even though they’re working full-time hours or two or three jobs just to make ends meet.

"My wife Jen and I have three kids, Tom, Jodie and Jack. We live on a typical street in a typical bungalow and have a typical mortgage. We work hard to make ends meet. Like most Ontarians we don’t ask for more than our fair share. We want quality health care, good public schools for our kids, affordable power to heat and run our home," agrees Andrew Hill.

There are thousands of families in Simcoe North in the same boat. And there are thousands working for minimum wage. I agree with Howard Hampton’s call for a $10 minimum wage.

Why is a Newmarket male worth three times a working woman in Midland?

• 237,000 people in Ontario work in minimum wage jobs.
• 1.2 million work for less than $10 an hour
• The average Ontario woman earns $25,600
• Women in Midland earn $21,000, in Peneteng $23,700, in Orillia $24,000
• The average Newmarket male earns over $60,000; the average full-time Orillia male earns $39,800. What must we do, eat less?
• Many work two jobs to pay the bills and knock down their student loans.

Unlike McGuinty Liberals who want to make working families wait three years for a $10 mininum wage – if you believe their promises - the NDP will raise the minimum wage to $10 an hour immediately. We’ll follow that with increases to match inflation. Making hard-working families wait three more years for a fair minimum wage means three more years of Ontarians struggling to get by.

Our plan is good for the economy. It's good for workers. It's good for small business where people who earn minimum wage spend their money. It's practical and sensible. It’s the right thing to do. On October 10th do the right thing. Vote Andrew Hill; vote NDP.

STOP FORCING PARENTS TO FUNDRAISE FOR SCHOOL ESSENTIALS

Ontario NDP Leader Howard Hampton says every child has a right to an excellent school, properly staffed with the programs they need to learn. Today Hampton announced the NDP’s latest key commitment – to stop forcing parents to fundraise for school essentials.

“Hardworking families shouldn’t have to face the burden of raising hundreds of millions of dollars to pay for essential services in their children’s schools,” Hampton said. “All kids should have equal access to the education and the support they need. It shouldn’t depend on the size of a parent’s wallet and their children’s ability to sell chocolate bars.”

“The broken school funding formula is forcing school boards to make more cuts every year to balance their budgets and our children’s education is suffering. Classes are overcrowded, special education and ESL classes are being cut, the number of teachers and teaching assistants are being reduced, arts, sports and after school programs are being cancelled,” said Hampton.

Simcoe North candidate, Andrew Hil,l knows the challenges facing parents, especially now that all three of his young children are in school. It is clear enough for all to understand. If schools cannot pay for essentials then the funding formula is broken. What is broken needs to be fixed now, not reviewed in three or five years.

Hampton said that by breaking his promise to fix the funding formula, Dalton McGuinty has dumped millions of dollars in costs on to parents. Parents fundraised $515 million in 2005-06 to pay for essentials, including teacher salaries, educational assistants, textbooks, science labs and gyms!

“Dalton McGuinty got it wrong when he broke his promise to fix the school funding formula. New Democrats will get it right and make sure that all kids have an equal start and get the education they deserve,” said Hampton.

Watch the Leaders' Debate on Thursday

Liberal Leader Dalton McGuinty, Conservative Leader John Tory and NDP Leader Howard Hampton will answer questions both from a moderator and from Ontario voters. The debate is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. on Sept. 20 and will be moderated by journalist Steve Paikin of TVO.

The program will be broadcast in high definition and shown on at least seven major broadcast outlets in Ontario: CBC-TV, CTV Television, Global Television, Citytv, CP24, TVO and CPAC. It will also be streamed live by most of the broadcast outlets on their websites.

Vote Out Poverty: A Rally for Social Justice in Ontario

Make Poverty History and the Ontario Coalition for Social Justice present... Vote Out Poverty: A Rally for Social Justice in Ontario.

Monday, Oct 1, 2007 - 7:30 pm at Massey Hall, 178 Victoria St.,Toronto

Hosted by MARY WALSH with a special appearance by GEORGE STROUMBOULOPOULOS, Keynote address by STEPHEN LEWIS, Music bySUSAN AGLUKARK, THE HIDDEN CAMERAS, THE NYLONS and more...

Invited Special Guests:

• Dalton McGuinty - Premier and Leader of the Liberal Party of Ontario- Pending
• Howard Hampton - Leader of the New Democratic Party of Ontario - Confirmed
• John Tory - Leader of the Conservative Party of Ontario - Declined

Ticket Prices:
In keeping with the spirit of this event, which is poverty and inequality, we are charging one hour's wage for people to attend. Please see the website for more details: VoteOutPoverty.ca

Campaign Office Opens in Orillia!

Andrew is joined by his family for the official opening of the Simcoe North NDP campaign office.

Commited to our Children and the Environment

Today’s families have the right to know when there are dangerous chemicals in their water, in their air, in their workplaces, their backyard, or even their children’s toys. That’s why the NDP is committed to establishing a Right-to-Know law that would make sure families know when they are being exposed to toxins in their day-to-day lives.

Everyday Ontarians are exposed to a soup of dangerous toxic chemicals at home, at work, in our neighbourhoods, and in our rivers and lakes – some of which are known to be cancer causing. Unfortunately, most families are in the dark about hazardous chemicals in their backyard since companies don’t have to tell communities what toxins they’re pumping into our environment.

The New Democrats will bring back the bill introduced last year and killed by the McGuinty Liberals. We’ll require manufacturers to label products that have known or suspected toxins and establish a ‘pollution inventory’ so working families know what pollution exists in their community. We’d also make sure fire departments would be informed of every hazardous substance in local businesses so that they would know whether dangerous chemicals were going into the air in case of fire.

Community Right to Know laws work. By forcing companies to disclose their toxins, the NDP’s Right to Know law would force industries to clean up their act. Consumer product manufacturers will be motivated to change the way products are made, preventing hidden toxins and carcinogens coming into our homes and workplaces in the products we use every day. It’s part of the NDP’s comprehensive reform of toxics policy and legislation in Ontario in order to reduce the release of toxics into the environment and exposure to toxics in the workplace.

Today’s families deserve to know when they are exposed to danger. Dalton McGuinty got it wrong when he shut down the legislature and killed the NDP’s Right-to-Know bill. New Democrats will make it right with a law that ensures families know what toxins and other environmental hazards are in our food, air, ground and water.

NDP's Commitment to Working Families with Special Needs

Howard Hampton, Andrew Hill and Ontario's New Democrats understand the challenges that families face, especially those with children who have special needs. That is why Howard Hampton's pledge to provide funding for essential autism services reflects the importance that the NDP places upon families.

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On Saturday, Ontario NDP Leader Howard Hampton joined NDP York-Simcoe Candidate Nancy Morrison and other families at a local playground to announce the NDP’s plan to support families with autism. During the last election, McGuinty wrote a letter to Morrison promising to provide autism services to Ontario children who need it. McGuinty broke his promise. As of March 31, 2007, 1,100 children were languishing on waiting lists for autism services. That's an increase of 1,200 per cent from when the McGuinty Liberals took office.McGuinty even wasted $2.4 million of public money fighting parents in the courts for the right to break his promise.

“Dalton McGuinty wasted $2.4 million dragging families through the courts instead of addressing the pressing need for autism services for today’s working families. That much money could have funded special treatment for 50 children with autism for a year,” said Hampton.

“McGuinty’s priority was to give himself a $40,000 raise and slush fund money to his friends. New Democrats will stand up for a fair deal for today’s working families.” Like other working families in Simcoe North, Andrew and his wife Jen know that Ontario's New Democrats are the best choice for their family.

Andrew with Jen and their children.

Andrew's Nomination Speech

Good Evening Ladies & Gentlemen

My name is Andrew Hill and I want to be your New Democrat candidate for the upcoming October Election. I have a lot of energy and enthusiasm, but more importantly, I really care about the current state of the province. I have a number of issues I’m going to address before I sit down but first I’m going to talk about myself so you can get to know me a little more.

I am married to Jen, your most recent Federal candidate and we have three children together. Tom is now 9 and starting grade 4, Jody at 7 is in grade 3 and Jack at 6 is going full time this year in grade 1. I was born and raised in Orillia and I have lived here all my life with few exceptions. I currently work as a server at a local eatery, and have worked in many local restaurants, serving, managing and occasionally cooking. I also spent a number of years at Casino Rama dealing and then supervising table games. After years of trying to get union representation to no avail, and after having our third child, Jen and I decided she would work full time again and I would find a part-time job and become the main caregiver for our kids.

I have spent the last five or six years running the household, working part-time, investing our retirement savings, and helping Jen run her home improvement business.

I have always been interested in politics and my involvement has really increased since we started a family. It is increasingly harder to raise kids, hold a job and pay your bills in Ontario. Schools rely on fundraising for everything from field trips to library books. Hospital wait times are longer. I took my son to the clinic just a couple of weeks ago to find out that it no longer opens on Sundays and there we were at the hospital emergency department wasting valuable resources for a minor problem that couldn’t really wait until Monday, yet required a Doctor’s prescription. Hundreds of thousands of people have no family Doctor, further stressing Emergency departments.

Despite increases to the Provincial minimum wage, millions are expected to care for their families at pay levels comparable to poverty levels. Young parents are expected to stay at home to look after their children and fork over more than half their incomes for basic rent or work for peanuts and try to find reasonably priced child care. Single parent families are struggling twice as hard, with no relief in sight.

I believe that our First Nation citizens should be consulted on a more trustworthy footing. It seems to me that after the Bob Rae government, the rules were changed by the following governments to their advantage.

The HRC must remain in Orillia. We cannot throw away that work experience.

Power costs are higher than ever since deregulation. The threat of blackouts comes with every hot day. The coal plants keep producing huge amounts of smog and carbon dioxide, and yet without these there wouldn’t be enough power to meet the demand. Our own nuclear generation plants have been sold or leased to private companies so we can have the privilege of paying even more for power in the near future, and don’t forget the 3 million of our own dollars that went to the former CEO of Ontario Hydro as severance.

Just last week, Otaco closed its doors, and workers are left with nothing and nowhere to turn, some having worked for more than 30 years. And the reason for no severance pay is the number of workers at the time of the closure was less than 50. That’s ludicrous! These people in some cases gave a lifetime to the company. The labour laws are not protecting labourers, they’re providing loopholes for underhanded management practices while more manufacturing jobs leave the country.

This election is not about being a New Democrat, or how long you’ve been a member. It’s about building the organization, finding new members, and working towards electing New Democrat MPPs here and across the province. It’s about being a New Democrat NOW!

Welcome to the Andrew Hill Campaign

Here we go! The writ has been dropped and a new candidate eagerly hits the ground running in Simcoe North. Andrew Hill was elected candidate for the Simcoe North New Democrats at a well attended and enthusiastic gathering in an Orillia Park on September 11th.

Join us as we follow Andrew's campaign from now until October 10th - and then on to Queen's Park!

In the news today:

NDP KEY COMMITMENT: $450 HEALTH TAX REBATE FOR WORKING FAMILIES

Ontario NDP Leader Howard Hampton says he will bring balance to Ontario’s tax system with a Fair Tax Plan that will put money back in the pockets of 75 per cent of working families while protecting health services. In the first of a series of six key commitments, Hampton announced that the NDP would provide a Health Tax Rebate of up to $450 per person and $900 per two-income family.

“This campaign is about a fair deal for working families. As a first step, the NDP will fix what Dalton McGuinty got wrong when he broke his promise and dumped his unfair Health Tax on working families,” said Hampton.

The NDP will phase in the elimination of the unfair McGuinty Health Tax for 1.5 million workers earning under $48,000 and put $450 back into the pockets of individuals earning between $48,000 and $80,000. The NDP’s health tax rebate is part of a Fair Tax Plan, a balanced approach that gives families a much-needed break while protecting health care by making sure banks, insurance companies and the wealthiest individuals pay their fair share.