Apr. 24, 2004. 01:36 AM

Public debate before vote

Other parties agree to NDP's proposal for Hamilton East issues forum

By Paul Morse
The Hamilton Spectator

Liberal candidate Ralph Agostino, the Progressive Conservatives' Tara Crugnale and Raymond Dartsch of the Green Party have accepted NDP candidate Andrea Horwath's challenge to publicly debate issues in the fight to win the Hamilton East provincial byelection.

With NDP leader Howard Hampton at her side yesterday, Horwath said the May 13 byelection will show Premier Dalton McGuinty that voters are displeased with the Liberals' first six months in office.

The byelection was called after longtime Liberal MPP Dominic Agostino died of liver cancer on March 24.

Liberals quickly nominated Agostino's brother, Ralph, a Catholic board school trustee.

"It's a short campaign ... People recognize that this is the chance to send that report card to Queen's Park," Horwath argued.

She blasted the Liberal government for calling the byelection before it brings down its first budget.

She added that Hamilton has specifically asked the province for $19.5 million to help with its budget crunch but has yet to receive a definite answer.

"The unfortunate thing is that the provincial budget is not coming down until five days after this byelection and that's an awful shame," she said.

"The voters of Hamilton East won't even know whether or not the government is going to meet any of its commitments and not specifically the ones to Hamilton."

Hampton accused the Liberals of reneging on promises made in the provincial election last October.

"Hamilton is one of those cities that suffered badly from downloading," brought in by the previous Tory government, he said.

"The Liberal government said it's going to contribute two cents a litre of the gas tax to cities like Hamilton so that you can pay for things like public transport and start to deal with some of the downloading.

"That promise has been broken."

Hampton said everything the Liberals floated about the upcoming budget, including selling off the LCBO, TVOntario, all kinds of user fees and the so-called fat tax on meals under $4, are overwhelmingly harmful to people in Hamilton East.

"Those kinds of things will hit families on low and modest incomes very, very hard," he said.

The NDP stands to gain official party status at Queen's Park and over $1 million more in funding if Horwath wins.

Hampton said McGuinty has been silent on pension security, a priority in Hamilton with Stelco's future in question.

"So far, both the Liberals in Ottawa and in Queen's Park have been missing in action.

"It's as if they don't have the word pension in their vocabulary," he said.

But Liberal candidate Agostino argued Hamilton East voters have to realize McGuinty's Liberals have only been in power for six months.

"We've already hired nurses, hired meat and water inspectors and given money to hospitals and schools," he said.

Agostino said that for the NDP, this byelection is about regaining official party status.

"It means Howard Hampton getting a $30,000 pay raise plus a driver, over a million dollars in funding, and that money is going to come from the taxpayers."

pmorse@thespec.com 905-526-3434