Since at least September, there’s been an open question as to whether the Ontario New Democratic Party might bring Independent Hamilton MPP Sarah Jama back into the fold.
Today, party leader Marit Stiles said the NDP is planning to run a candidate in Jama’s Hamilton-Centre riding, but, “as far as I know — and I’m the leader — it won’t be her.”
CBC Hamilton asked Stiles to clarify whether or not party leaders decided not to nominate Jama, but did not receive a response before publication.
Jama did not respond to a request for comment before publication either.
WATCH | Ontario NDP leader Marit Stiles responds to question about bringing Sarah Jama back
Ontario NDP leader Marit Stiles says Hamilton Centre MPP Sara Jama, currently sitting as an Independent after being kicked out of the NDP, won’t be her party’s candidate in the next provincial election.
Stiles spoke with host David Common on CBC Radio’s Metro Morning on Tuesday. He asked her about Jama, who Stiles expelled in October 2023 following statements Jama made about the Israel-Hamas war.
At the time, Stiles said the MPP had “undertaken a number of unilateral actions that have undermined our collective work and broken the trust of her colleagues.”
In September, CBC Hamilton reported that the Ontario NDP executive had resolved to study “electoral scenarios” in Hamilton Centre, which would include nominating Jama as its candidate, endorsing her as an Independent candidate, not running any NDP candidate in Hamilton Centre and running a candidate against her.
CBC Hamilton asked a party spokesperson if that work is complete and what the result was, but did not receive a response.
On Tuesday, Stiles said the party is going to run a candidate in Hamilton Centre “like we do in every riding.”
She previously described the study in Hamilton Centre as “not really anything out of the ordinary.”
Jama previously told CBC Hamilton she was leaving the “door open” to returning to the NDP if invited. She said she was planning to run independently but believed she and the NDP “have more in common than we do differences.”
“It’s my belief that we’re stronger together than we are divided.”
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Ontario’s legislature has resumed sitting in the midst of intense speculation that Premier Doug Ford will call an early election. Metro Morning host David Common spoke with NDP Leader Marit Stiles about her party’s plans for the next few weeks.
Tom Baker and David Mivasair, president and vice-president, respectively, of the Ontario NDP Hamilton Centre riding association executive, have told CBC Hamilton they would support Jama’s return.
“It’s really eroding support for the NDP to not have Sarah active in the party,” Mivasair said in September, adding the association’s “most enthusiastic members and activists” left when she did.
On Tuesday, he said the party is not sharing the results of its study with the riding association or its executive. However, he told CBC Hamilton, Stiles seems to have made it clear that Jama is not coming back. He also understands her as saying that decision is hers, and “not to be made by the people who live in the riding.”
Mivasair said 600 people joined the party when Jama was nominated, and that’s being “brushed aside” without a dialogue.
“What [Jama] represents and what she does is what more people want,” and it will be hard to run someone against her, he added.
Although the association’s executive supports nominating Jama, Mivasair said they’re committed to the NDP and will have to see what happens during the nomination process.
