Black human rights activist is a candidate in today’s byelection in Hamilton Centre

Sarah Jama

Ten candidates, including a member of the Black community, are contesting the Hamilton Centre byelection on Thursday March 16.

Black activist Sarah Jama is the candidate for the New Democratic Party.

The winner of the byelection will replace former Ontario NDP party leader Andrea Howarth who stepped down as MPP for Hamilton Centre.

Horwath 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, and that she is 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.”

Political observers say that Jama has a good chance of winning the Hamilton Centre seat despite recent accusations of antisemitism levelled against her.

B’nai Brith, the Jewish human rights organization, issued a statement on Monday calling Jama “a radical activist who has been associated with groups that have frequently targeted Israel,” including the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement, and urged Ontario NDP leader Marit Stiles to drop her as a candidate.

Jama has said that she is against “antisemitism in our communities.

“But I’m for human rights, and that includes the rights of everybody, whether it’s Black people … Indigenous people in our communities and Palestinian people.”

Stiles said that “Sarah Jama is a well-known human rights activist who has always stood up against hate, antisemitism and racism and I look forward to welcoming her at Queen’s Park.”

Jama who was born prematurely with cerebral palsy, was acclaimed the NDP candidate last November after running unopposed for the nomination.