Activist Sarah Jama set to replace Horwath as NDP face in Hamilton Centre

Barring any 11th hour surprises, Sarah Jama will be the new face of the New Democratic Party for the provincial riding of Hamilton Centre in a few weeks.

Jama is the only approved candidate set to be on the ballot at a riding nomination meeting on Nov. 3. She is set to replace longtime riding MPP and former NDP leader Andrea Horwath who stepped down to run for mayor in Hamilton.

There are definitely big shoes to fill here. But I'm really excited to have the chance to focus on talking about health care and the impacts on people who are living here in Hamilton as well as housing and homelessness," Jama said Monday. And talking about taking the fight to Doug Ford."

Another candidate withdrew from the race, leaving Jama's candidacy unchallenged. Notices to riding members have been sent out for the Nov. 3 meeting.

Nothing is official until that meeting," she said.

Although untested as a candidate, the 28-year-old Jama has been behind the scenes in several political campaigns.

She has worked on federal NDP MP Matthew Green's campaign as a volunteer organizer, and co-managed the campaign of Hamilton Ward 3 incumbent Nrinder Nann in 2018.

The co-founder and executive director of the Disability Justice Network of Ontario, Jama worked as a vaccine ambassador" to help the racialized community in Hamilton get access to COVID-19 vaccinations during the pandemic.

She has also been part of the movement to reallocate some of the local police budget to affordable housing initiatives.

In November 2020, she helped organize a protest outside city hall to press the issue, setting up tents for an enclave called Freedom Camp."

She got a $100,000 ticket for violating provincial pandemic gathering regulations. She ripped it up.

The charges have since been dropped.

Jama said she intends to bring the same dedication to causes to Queen's Park. But while she appears to be set to be acclaimed on Nov. 3, her first political challenge will be to win a byelection to get a seat at Queen's Park.

Premier Doug Ford has yet to call the byelection. By law, he has to call it within six months of a seat becoming vacant.

Horwath, who left her provincial post June 2, represented the riding since it was formed in a redistribution in 2007.

Jama said she intends to follow Horwath's legacy of being a voice for working-class people at Queen's Park, but said she is very focused on also being a voice for those who feel unrepresented in provincial politics.

She said the historically low voter turnout in the last provincial election - in Hamilton Centre a mere 37 per cent of eligible voters cast a ballot in the spring, compared to 49 per cent in the 2018 election - was a manifestation of voters feeling disconnected from the political process.

What I'm hearing from people on the ground is that they have been disenfranchised and as a result, the voter turnout has been low. They feel no matter how they vote, no one is going to represent their interests," she said. I want to change that."

Jama said this includes people with disabilities who often feel like they are on the outside looking in on political debates in Ontario.

Jama, who lives with cerebral palsy and grew up living on disability payments, has been advocating for disabled Ontarians through the Disability Justice Network of Ontario.

But she says more can be done through the legislature.

CORRECTION: Sarah Jama has cerebral palsy. This story has been corrected from a previous version.

Grant LaFleche is an investigative reporter with The Spectator. Reach him via email: glafleche@torstar.ca