On the eve of an early provincial election that Conservative Premier Doug Ford says will be called next week, Hamilton Centre NDPers are demanding the Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles reverse the removal of Hamilton Centre MPP Sarah Jama from the NDP caucus.
In a statement issued this afternoon, the Executive Committee of the Hamilton Centre Riding Association states that they communicated to Stiles that they want to hold a local candidate nomination process.
“The riding Executive appealed today one last time to the Party to take a principled stand that clears the way to a fair and democratic nomination process in Hamilton Centre.”
“We look forward to this matter to be fully resolved no later than Monday, January 27 at noon.”
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They [the executive] “support Sarah’s request to be allowed to contest the nomination” because “What we adamantly support and have been fighting for is a fair, democratic process by which the members of the riding association are able to choose the nominee who they think will best represent our riding.”
The NDP constitution does not allow the Leader to appoint candidates, however, when the Ontario election is officially called on Wednesday, the constitution’s rules will be suspended.
In recent days, Hamilton Centre MP Matthew Green shared a letter he sent to Stiles asking, “What’s the hold-up?” in permitting Jama to seek the nomination.
The Hamilton Centre provincial NDP riding association executive says they will hold a press conference on Tuesday at 10 a.m.
Note: The NDP riding association vice president contacted TPR to state that the executive body is neutral on who should gain the nomination. An earlier version of this story said the Executive supported Jama being the nominee.
The NDP riding association Executive emphasizes they are neutral as a body and only seek to permit Jama to be allowed to contest the nomination.
“We do not want to create the incorrect impression that The Executive, as a body, supports one candidate in particular. What we adamantly support and have been fighting for is a fair, democratic process by which the members of the riding association are able to choose the nominee who they think will best represent our riding.”
Production Details
v. 1.2.0
Published: January 24, 2025
Last updated: January 25, 2025
Author: Joey Coleman
Update Record
v. 1.0.0 original version
v. 1.1.0 struck a sentence and added statement from NDP riding association.
v. 1.2.0 added more clarity regarding the riding associations position.
If Jama is put back into office under the NDP banner, and the first thing she does is issues a statement saying that the Ontario NDP is full of racists and fascists, nobody can claim to be surprised.