NDP Leader Howard Hampton says he’s proud of the NDP’s good work fighting for working families during this past legislative session, but expressed his disappointment that an out of touch Dalton McGuinty continues to break promises and let down Ontario's working families.

“We started this year with a mandate from voters in York South Weston to stand up for working families: and that’s what we’ve done,” said Hampton. "While Dalton McGuinty gave himself a pay raise and an early vacation, we stood up for good jobs and a commitment to Kyoto.”

The NDP Leader thanked NDP MPPs for proposing positive, practical alternatives this session and condemned the McGuinty Liberals for blocking them:
o A Job Protection Plan that would protect the thousands of good-paying manufacturing jobs at risk in Dalton McGuinty’s Ontario
o Licensing landlords and regulating gas prices so families are protected from bad landlords and gas gougers.
o A ban on fundraising for school essentials and a tuition freeze to protect families worried about the threat of a two-tier education system for their children.
o A commitment to meet Kyoto targets and eliminate toxics through a community right-to-know law.

For Hampton, the session’s biggest disappointment is the secrecy and deception surrounding Dalton McGuinty’s government accountability for public money.

“This session saw a government that is addicted to secrecy and besieged with scandal. Dalton McGuinty secretly gave year-end slush funds were given to Liberal-friendly multicultural organizations without the trouble of an application form or due process. Unscrupulous lottery retailers defrauding thousands of everyday families of their lottery winnings and the McGuinty government refusal to
provide flight logs on the use of the government planes, review of flights, and access for the public on costs. That’s something that should concern every Ontarian,” Hampton said.

" Through all of this, New Democrats held Dalton McGuinty accountable, because Ontario’s working families want a government that puts their day-to-day struggles first," said Hampton.