Sarah Jama’s Plan As An Independent MPP

 

“I’m putting my head down and I plan to run regardless of having a party or not.”

On Oct. 10, 2023, three days into Israel’s brutal war on Gaza that followed a Hamas-led attack on Israel, Ontario MPP Sarah Jama published a statement calling for an immediate ceasefire. The statement also condemned Israel’s decades-long occupation of Palestine, Israel’s system of apartheid and its systematic violations of Palestinian human rights.

The next day, Jama apologized for “the pain that many Jewish and Israeli Canadians, including my own constituents, must be feeling,” and condemned both Hamas’ actions and Israel’s massive bombing campaign, which to date has killed more than 29,000 Palestinians and resulted in allegations of genocide being brought against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Jama said in October that “there is no military solution to this conflict.”

On Oct. 23, 2023, the Doug Ford government voted to censure Jama, after she refused to verbally apologize for and delete her original statement, and she was also kicked out of the Ontario NDP Caucus.

Since then, Jama has been sitting as an independent MPP. In the following interview, The Maple spoke to Jama about her plans for the new legislative session as an independent, her thoughts about the NDP, and the possibility of creating spaces for left-wing politics that exist independently of the party.  (more...)

Sarah Jama’s Plan As An Independent MPP