Hamilton Centre needs ‘fighter at Queen’s Park,’ says Sarah Jama

Sarah Jama has wasted little time in announcing her hope to become Hamilton Centre's next MPP.

Jama aims to do that under the NDP banner now that the party's longtime representative in the riding is exiting provincial politics.

I believe we need a fighter at Queen's Park," the 28-year-old said Tuesday.

Andrea Horwath is resigning as Hamilton Centre MPP to take a stab at the mayor's chair in the Oct. 24 municipal election.

Horwath, who was first elected to provincial politics in 2004, has cemented the riding as solid NDP territory.

The riding association hasn't yet established a date for a nomination meeting, a party official said.

But whoever is selected will run in a byelection that Premier Doug Ford must call within six months of Hamilton Centre becoming officially vacant.

The last thing" the NDP caucus wants is to lose the seat of former party leader Horwath, said David Christopherson, a retired New Democrat MP.

For a whole host of reasons, the NDP is going to throw the kitchen sink at this byelection."

In the June 2 provincial election, Horwath captured more than 57 per cent of the vote in Hamilton Centre. Sarah Bokhari of the Tories finished in second with 16 per cent and Ekaterini Dimakis of the Liberals in third with 13 per cent.

Dimakis said Tuesday she's preparing to run again for the Liberals when a byelection is called.

Under NDP policy, when an MPP retires, an equity-deserving" candidate - which could be a Black person, a member of the LGBTQ community, a woman or someone with a disability - must fill the void.

In recent years, Jama has become a familiar face in activist circles, including as co-founder of the Disability Justice Network of Ontario and an organizer with the Hamilton Encampment Support Network, which has offered support to people who are homeless.

As far as the party, she has also put in time with the provincial and federal NDP riding associations alike.

Jama noted, as a young Black woman who has lived most of her life on social assistance, she has pushed for racial, climate, disability and housing justice.

I think I bring the lived experience needed to help the party understand from an intersectional perspective what is needed in order to build a future that includes some of the most marginalized in our communities."

On Tuesday, Horwath and her NDP colleagues said they would leave the nomination up to the riding association.

I'm excited to think there are a lot of fantastic people that will fit that role and do an amazing job for the people of Hamilton Centre," said MPP Monique Taylor (Hamilton Mountain).

Teviah Moro is a reporter at The Spectator. tmoro@thespec.com