Horwath leadership under scrutiny as Ontario NDP meets

(Updated)
Andrea Horwath’s job as NDP leader is up for review at this weekend’s Ontario NDP Convention. Despite her leadership being challenged, the 52-year-old says she’s excited for her party to get together.

Horwath needs a confidence vote of at least 70 percent to stay on as leader.

The last time her position at the party’s helm was challenged, she earned an approval vote of just over 76%.

Horwath has been under fire since the June election when the Liberal majority win took away the balance of power the NDP held in the previous minority government. She’s been accused of abandoning core party values and moving to the right. The vote is Saturday. there are no open challengers to her leadership but but some party members say they’re ready for change.

Barry Weisleder, NDP Socialist Caucus: “It was a dreadful campaign and the leadership of Andrea Horwath and her brain trust had no mandate to veer to the right of the Liberal party to wage a campaign that was basically oriented towards conservative voters and the business class – instead of advocating penny change on minor reductions in the HST on fuel charges and on auto charges. What we really needed was a new ambitious plan to deal with a lack of affordable to deal with transportation, gridlock, to deal with increasing poverty and the growing gap between the rich and the rest of us. And that of course necessitated a turn towards a serious increase in progressive taxation. It was an election for the wrong time, and it was an election that was triggered too late.”

At the convention, party members will also hear more about the goals and plans for the next campaign platform.