Posted with permission from the Hamilton Spectator.
Scrappy riding, tough politicians put city on map
By Wade Hemsworth
The Hamilton Spectator
(Mar 30, 2007)
East Hamilton may be alive and well, but Hamilton East is living its last days.
The political riding that came to define all of Hamilton to the outside world through its tough, colourful federal and provincial politicians, is about to be consigned to the scrap heap of history.
Hamilton East has been the city's political star factory, producing such memorable figures as Sam Lawrence, John Munro, Quinto Martini, Sheila Copps, Dominic Agostino, Bob Mackenzie and, almost, Lincoln Alexander.
(Almost, because Alexander was wooed by the Conservatives there, only to be rejected because he was black and couldn't win, according to his recent memoir. He switched ridings to run in Hamilton West.)
After more than 100 years, Hamilton East's storied and decidedly left- leaning political history began its final chapter when the plates of the electoral earth shifted, first federally and now provincially.
Boundary realignment has split Hamilton East in two, giving part to Stoney Creek, where the name lives on -- if a little weakly -- as Hamilton East-Stoney Creek. The rest of the riding has been hived off and grafted to the amorphous Hamilton Centre.
Last night, Andrea Horwath, the last East Hamilton member of any parliament -- federal or provincial -- officially became a candidate in Hamilton Centre, marking one of the final stages of a long ending.
Federally, Hamilton East died four years ago at age 100, having been born after the federal riding of Hamilton was abolished in 1903. At that time, the city was simply split into Hamilton East and Hamilton West. Conservative Samuel Barker was the first Hamilton East MP and died in 1915 after being elected to his fourth term. Sydney Chilton, another Hamilton lawyer, carried the Conservative tradition to 1931.
It was an impressive run for the Tories, but Hamilton East was not destined to be remembered for its Conservatives, with one notable exception: The party produced Canada's first Italian MP, Quinto Martini. Elected in 1957, he was Hamilton East's last Conservative.
Liberal warhorse John Munro carried the riding in 1962 and held it until 1984, when Sheila Copps took up the torch and held it to the end.
Copps, the last MP ever for Hamilton East, was ultimately unable to survive the realignment when she lost a bitterly contested nomination battle to Tony Valeri, who had held the neighbouring riding of Stoney Creek.
If the Liberals had dominated Hamilton East federally, the New Democrats and their forerunner, the CCF, owned it provincially.
In 1934, during the depths of the Depression, Hamilton East voters dumped the Conservatives and elected the CCF's Sam Lawrence to represent them at Queen's Park.
Though Lawrence served just one term, he went on to a greater political legacy as mayor of Hamilton, from 1944 to 1949, famously siding with the strikers in the Stelco strike of 1946 and becoming the namesake of the escarpment park that looks over the lower city.
Of the 73 years since Lawrence's election to the provincial legislature, Hamilton East has belonged to the New Democrats for 44.
And for nearly half that time, it was union activist Bob Mackenzie who held it from 1975 to 1995, serving four years as labour minister in Bob Rae's government.
Dominic Agostino, the fiery but media-friendly Sheila Copps protege who graduated from Hamilton city council to take the seat for the Liberals, served nine years before his untimely death.
In May, 2004, Horwath won the byelection that would turn out to be the last election ever held for the seat.
Hamilton East, born Liberal in the provincial election of 1894, will go out under the NDP flag when her term expires with the election of Oct. 10.
whemsworth@thespec.com
905-526-3254
Scrappy riding, tough politicians put city on map
By Wade Hemsworth
The Hamilton Spectator
(Mar 30, 2007)
East Hamilton may be alive and well, but Hamilton East is living its last days.
The political riding that came to define all of Hamilton to the outside world through its tough, colourful federal and provincial politicians, is about to be consigned to the scrap heap of history.
Hamilton East has been the city's political star factory, producing such memorable figures as Sam Lawrence, John Munro, Quinto Martini, Sheila Copps, Dominic Agostino, Bob Mackenzie and, almost, Lincoln Alexander.
(Almost, because Alexander was wooed by the Conservatives there, only to be rejected because he was black and couldn't win, according to his recent memoir. He switched ridings to run in Hamilton West.)
After more than 100 years, Hamilton East's storied and decidedly left- leaning political history began its final chapter when the plates of the electoral earth shifted, first federally and now provincially.
Boundary realignment has split Hamilton East in two, giving part to Stoney Creek, where the name lives on -- if a little weakly -- as Hamilton East-Stoney Creek. The rest of the riding has been hived off and grafted to the amorphous Hamilton Centre.
Last night, Andrea Horwath, the last East Hamilton member of any parliament -- federal or provincial -- officially became a candidate in Hamilton Centre, marking one of the final stages of a long ending.
Federally, Hamilton East died four years ago at age 100, having been born after the federal riding of Hamilton was abolished in 1903. At that time, the city was simply split into Hamilton East and Hamilton West. Conservative Samuel Barker was the first Hamilton East MP and died in 1915 after being elected to his fourth term. Sydney Chilton, another Hamilton lawyer, carried the Conservative tradition to 1931.
It was an impressive run for the Tories, but Hamilton East was not destined to be remembered for its Conservatives, with one notable exception: The party produced Canada's first Italian MP, Quinto Martini. Elected in 1957, he was Hamilton East's last Conservative.
Liberal warhorse John Munro carried the riding in 1962 and held it until 1984, when Sheila Copps took up the torch and held it to the end.
Copps, the last MP ever for Hamilton East, was ultimately unable to survive the realignment when she lost a bitterly contested nomination battle to Tony Valeri, who had held the neighbouring riding of Stoney Creek.
If the Liberals had dominated Hamilton East federally, the New Democrats and their forerunner, the CCF, owned it provincially.
In 1934, during the depths of the Depression, Hamilton East voters dumped the Conservatives and elected the CCF's Sam Lawrence to represent them at Queen's Park.
Though Lawrence served just one term, he went on to a greater political legacy as mayor of Hamilton, from 1944 to 1949, famously siding with the strikers in the Stelco strike of 1946 and becoming the namesake of the escarpment park that looks over the lower city.
Of the 73 years since Lawrence's election to the provincial legislature, Hamilton East has belonged to the New Democrats for 44.
And for nearly half that time, it was union activist Bob Mackenzie who held it from 1975 to 1995, serving four years as labour minister in Bob Rae's government.
Dominic Agostino, the fiery but media-friendly Sheila Copps protege who graduated from Hamilton city council to take the seat for the Liberals, served nine years before his untimely death.
In May, 2004, Horwath won the byelection that would turn out to be the last election ever held for the seat.
Hamilton East, born Liberal in the provincial election of 1894, will go out under the NDP flag when her term expires with the election of Oct. 10.
whemsworth@thespec.com
905-526-3254