Joel Harden

Last updated

2022–2025
Joel Harden
Harden, Joel - Ottawa Centre - ONDP (3).png
Harden in 2019
Member of the Ontario Provincial Parliament
for Ottawa Centre
In office
June 7, 2018 –January 28, 2025		Opposition Critic for Transit and Active Transportation
Website Constituency website
Campaign website

Joel Davison Harden (born January 14, 1972) is a Canadian politician who represented Ottawa Centre in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 2018 to 2025. A member of the Ontario New Democratic Party (NDP), Harden served as the party's critic for transit and active transportation. He is also a candidate for the federal NDP in the riding of Ottawa Centre in the 2025 Canadian federal election. [2]

Contents

Background

Early life and education

Harden grew up in Vankleek Hill, Ontario. [3] [4] [5] He holds an undergraduate degree in sociology and political studies from Queen's University. [6] He later attended York University, where he earned a master's degree in 1997 and a doctorate in political science in 2006. [7] [8]

Career

Harden was a researcher at the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) students organization. He was an instructor at the Department of Law and Legal Studies at Carleton University and teaching assistant professor at Brock University and has also taught at Nipissing University and McMaster University.[ citation needed ]

From 1998 to 2000, he was the chairman of the Ontario section of the CFS. [9] From 2005 to 2010, he was senior researcher at the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) and was director of the labour education department at the CLC from 2010 to 2012. [9] [10] [ unreliable source? ]

Political career

Harden was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in the 2018 provincial election. [11]

In August 2018, Harden was appointed Official Opposition Critic for Accessibility & Persons with Disabilities; Pensions; Seniors' Affairs. [12] Harden's parliamentary roles include sitting on the Standing Committee on Social Policy. [10]

He is a self-described democratic socialist. [13] Harden supports the BDS movement. [14]

Federal politics

Harden filed papers in March 2024 to seek the federal NDP's nomination to run as the party's candidate in Ottawa Centre in the 2025 Canadian federal election. [2] He won the contested nomination race on January 11, 2025 against Canadian Labour Congress national director of human rights, Vicky Smallman. [15]

Controversies

Support for Khalida Jarrar

In 2019, Harden called on the Canadian federal government to demand that Israel immediately release Khalida Jarrar, a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), which Canada and other countries had designated as a terrorist organization. [16] Jarrar was also a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, and had been arrested by Israeli security forces on suspicion of "involvement in terror activity." [16] Harden tweeted that he was “Saddened, sickened and disgusted by the continued abuse of Khalida Jarrar, my parliamentary colleague, by Israeli occupation forces.” [16]

Comments on Israel and Palestine

In November 2022, Harden was criticized for his statements in an interview related to Israel and Palestine. Among other things, Harden said that the: "single greatest origin of violence in the Middle East is unquestionably the state of Israel." [17] He ultimately issued a brief written apology for perpetuating anti-Semitic tropes. [18] In the interview, Harden also took a pro-Palestinian position and said: "I think it's important to remain steadfast against all supremacist ideologies, all forms of prejudice and racism. When I'm at Palestinian solidarity demonstrations, if I hear people making antisemitic remarks, I take a point of pulling that person aside and saying "you're not helping." [19] The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs posted on social media that Harden's videos: "can only be called antisemitism and misinformation about Israel." [20] Peter Tabuns, the interim leader of the Ontario New Democratic Party and the leader of the Opposition, said "I welcome his commitment to further education about antisemitism. Antisemitism has no place in our party." [20]

Noise law infraction

In January 2024, after Harden and eight others were fined for—in contravention of Ottawa noise laws—using a megaphone at a pro-Palestine protest. The law says: "no person shall operate ... any sound reproduction device on any ... public place." [21] Canadian politician Lisa MacLeod responded to him, writing: "You're a professional protester who doesn't support the rights of protesters who don't share your views. You associate with antisemites. You pick and choose who has human rights. And clearly you decide who gets to protest loudly downtown and who doesn't." [22] For its part, Ottawa By-law Services director Roger Chapman said:

It's important to note that enforcement during demonstrations is a result of escalated actions by the participants, which may pose nuisance and public safety issues. As the activities of protesters escalated and became more frequent, including the defacement of property, the use of sound reproduction devices, smoke bombs, fireworks, and threats towards our officers, BLRS took action to address these concerns. Initially, warnings were issued to individuals regarding the operation of these sound production devices ... when the activity persisted, fines of $490 were issued. [23]

Electoral record

2022 Ontario general election : Ottawa Centre
PartyCandidateVotes%±%Expenditures
New Democratic Joel Harden 30,31154.34+8.26$134,177
Liberal Katie Gibbs 12,59622.58−10.20$103,394
Progressive Conservative Scott Healey8,77315.73−0.31$45,558
Green Shelby Bertrand2,7184.87+1.35$11,136
New Blue Glen Armstrong7981.43 $1,325
None of the Above Marc Adornato2330.42−0.26$0
Communist Stuart Ryan1530.27+0.10$0
Independent Thomas Borcsok820.15 $378
People's FrontRaymond Samuels590.11 $285
Independent Josh Rachlis580.10 $0
Total valid votes/expense limit55,78199.52+0.44$154,648
Total rejected, unmarked, and declined ballots2660.48-0.44
Turnout56,04750.74-10.46
Eligible voters109,977
New Democratic hold Swing +9.23
Source(s)
  • "Summary of Valid Votes Cast for Each Candidate" (PDF). Elections Ontario. 2022. Archived from the original on May 18, 2023.
  • "Statistical Summary by Electoral District" (PDF). Elections Ontario. 2022. Archived from the original on May 21, 2023.
2018 Ontario general election : Ottawa Centre
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
New Democratic Joel Harden 29,67546.08+25.69
Liberal Yasir Naqvi 21,11132.78-18.89
Progressive Conservative Colleen McCleery10,32716.03-2.08
Green Cherie Wong2,2663.52-4.22
None of the Above Marc Adornato4370.68
Libertarian Bruce A. Faulkner3850.60-0.96
Communist Stuart Ryan1100.17-0.35
Canadians' Choice James Sears 920.14
Total valid votes64,403100.0 
New Democratic gain from Liberal Swing +22.29
Source: Elections Ontario [24]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Kormos</span> Canadian politician (1952–2013)

Peter Kormos was a politician in Welland, Ontario, Canada. A lawyer by profession, he was first elected as an Ontario New Democratic Party (ONDP) Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in the Welland constituency in a 1988 provincial by-election. He replaced veteran NDP legislator Mel Swart. Kormos was re-elected in every subsequent Ontario general election until his retirement from provincial politics in 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Independent Jewish Voices Canada</span> Advocacy organization

Independent Jewish Voices Canada (IJV) is a Canadian Jewish advocacy organization. The organization was founded in 2008 as a result of a national conference called on behalf of the Alliance of Concerned Jewish Canadians. Though the membership is not public, in a letter written to a local municipality in 2022, they claim to have over 1,000 members across Canada of the approximately 335,000 Canadian Jews.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cheri DiNovo</span> Canadian politician (born c. 1951)

Cheri DiNovo is a United Church of Canada minister and former politician in Ontario, Canada. She served at the Emmanuel-Howard Park congregation in Toronto before entering politics and, since January 2018, is the minister for the Trinity-St. Paul's Centre for Faith, Justice and the Arts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yasir Naqvi</span> Canadian politician

Yasir Abbas Naqvi is a Canadian politician who has served as the member of Parliament (MP) for Ottawa Centre since the 2021 federal election, sitting as a Liberal. Prior to his election to the House of Commons, Naqvi was active in Ontario provincial politics, serving as the first visible-minority attorney general of Ontario (2016–2018), minister of community safety and correctional services (2014–2016), and minister of labour (2013–2014). He represented Ottawa Centre in the Legislative Assembly. On 3 June 2023, Naqvi announced his candidacy for the 2023 Ontario Liberal Party Leadership Election in which he lost to Bonnie Crombie finishing in third.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2011 Ontario general election</span>

The 2011 Ontario general election was held on October 6, 2011, to elect members of the 40th Legislative Assembly of Ontario. The Ontario Liberal Party was elected to a minority government, with the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario serving as the Official Opposition and the Ontario New Democratic Party (NDP) serving as the third party. In the final result, Premier McGuinty's party fell one seat short of winning a majority government.

The 2009 Ontario New Democratic Party leadership election was held in Hamilton, from March 6 to 8, 2009 to elect a successor to Howard Hampton as leader of the Ontario New Democratic Party (NDP). On June 15, 2008, Hampton informed the party's provincial council that he would not stand for re-election as leader at the next party convention in a year's time. While a leadership vote was held at each biennial convention of the Ontario NDP until and including the last regular convention in 2007, there is normally not a contested vote unless there is a vacancy, therefore, the 2009 vote was the party's first leadership convention since Hampton was elected in 1996 to succeed Bob Rae.

The Left Caucus was an Ontario-based left-wing pressure group within the New Democratic Party of Canada and the Ontario New Democratic Party from the late 1970s to early 1990s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2017 New Democratic Party leadership election</span> Party election in Canada

The 2017 New Democratic Party leadership election was won by Jagmeet Singh. The election was triggered by Tom Mulcair having lost a vote on leadership review at the party's federal convention held in Edmonton, Alberta, on April 10, 2016, which resulted in a majority of delegates voting in favor of holding a new leadership election. Mulcair declined to partake in the subsequent leadership election and stated that he would remain leader until the party chose a replacement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jagmeet Singh</span> Canadian politician (born 1979)

Jagmeet Singh Jimmy Dhaliwal is a Canadian politician who has served as the leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP) since 2017. Singh has sat as the member of Parliament (MP) for Burnaby South since 2019. He was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in 2011, representing Bramalea—Gore—Malton until his entry into federal politics. A practising Sikh of Punjabi descent, Singh is an Indo-Canadian, making him the first Sikh to be elected to lead a major federal political party in Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions</span> Palestinian-led movement demanding international sanctions against Israel

Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) is a nonviolent Palestinian-led movement promoting boycotts, divestments, and economic sanctions against Israel. Its objective is to pressure Israel to meet what the BDS movement describes as Israel's obligations under international law, defined as withdrawal from the occupied territories, removal of the separation barrier in the West Bank, full equality for Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel, and "respecting, protecting, and promoting the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties". The movement is organized and coordinated by the Palestinian BDS National Committee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2018 Ottawa municipal election</span>

The 2018 Ottawa municipal election was a municipal election that was held on October 22, 2018, to elect the mayor of Ottawa, Ottawa City Council and the Ottawa-Carleton Public and Catholic School Boards. The election was held on the same day as elections in every other municipality in Ontario.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marit Stiles</span> Canadian politician (born 1969)

Marit Stiles is a Canadian politician who has been the leader of the Ontario New Democratic Party (NDP) and the leader of the Official Opposition since February 4, 2023. She has represented the Toronto riding of Davenport in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario since June 7, 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Goldie Ghamari</span> Canadian politician

Golsa "Goldie" Ghamari is a Canadian politician who represented the riding of Carleton in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 2018 until 2025. Before entering politics, Ghamari was a lawyer who specialized in international trade law.

Matthew Green is a Canadian politician who was elected to represent the riding of Hamilton Centre in the House of Commons of Canada in the 2019 Canadian federal election, and re-elected in 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Melissa Lantsman</span> Canadian politician (born 1984)

Melissa Lantsman is a Canadian politician and former public relations executive who serves as the member of Parliament (MP) for Thornhill since 2021. A member of the Conservative Party, she is the party's co-deputy leader and the co-deputy leader of the Official Opposition, serving with Tim Uppal. Lantsman is the first openly gay and first Jewish woman ever elected as a Conservative MP. Upon Pierre Poilievre's election as Conservative Leader, he named Lantsman one of two deputy leaders along with Uppal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2022 Ottawa municipal election</span>

The 2022 Ottawa municipal election was held on Monday, October 24, 2022, to elect a mayor, city councillors, and trustees to the English and French public school boards and the English and French Catholic school boards in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chandra Pasma</span> Canadian politician

Chandra Pasma is a Canadian politician, who was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in the 2022 provincial election. She represents the district of Ottawa West—Nepean as a member of the Ontario New Democratic Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sarah Jama</span> Canadian politician and activist

Sarah Jama is a Canadian politician and disability justice activist who has served as the member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) for Hamilton Centre in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario since March 2023.

The 2023 Ontario New Democratic Party leadership election was held in Toronto, on February 4, 2023. The leadership election was called after ONDP leader Andrea Horwath announced her resignation on June 2, 2022, in her concession speech on the night of the 2022 Ontario general election, in which the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario won a second consecutive majority government under Doug Ford.

The 2025 Ontario general election will take place on February 27, 2025, to elect the 44th Parliament of Ontario. On January 24, 2025, Premier Doug Ford confirmed that he would be asking the Lieutenant Governor to dissolve the legislature and call for a snap election.

References

  1. ↑ "Search For Contributions". Elections Canada. Retrieved June 22, 2021.
  2. 1 2 "MPP Joel Harden, Catherine McKenney eyeing possible showdown for Ottawa federal seat". CTV News. March 16, 2024. Retrieved March 17, 2024.
  3. ↑ "Tuition blocking education dreams". Ottawa Citizen. August 17, 1998. p. A5. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
  4. ↑ @nilikm (January 14, 2022). "Join us at 7pm tonight (Jan 14). It's @JoelHardenONDP's 50th bday party!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  5. ↑ "Joel Harden – Bringing a much-needed grassroots perspective to politics". April 5, 2018.
  6. ↑ "NDP MPP Joel Harden Speaking to CCU at 50th Anniversary Convention - Confederation of Canadian Unions (CCU)". ccu-csc.ca. Retrieved June 28, 2023.
  7. ↑ "Ten York University alumni win in 2022 Ontario election | Alumni and Friends - Division of Advancement" . Retrieved June 28, 2023.
  8. ↑ "Five things you should know about Joel Harden - Kitchissippi times". kitchissippi.com. June 28, 2018. Retrieved June 28, 2023.
  9. 1 2 "Joel Harden: Educator, activist, and writer". Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved June 8, 2018.
  10. 1 2 "Media Kit". Joel Harden, MPP for Ottawa Centre. Archived from the original on January 27, 2021. Retrieved April 2, 2021.
  11. ↑ "NDP Joel Harden elected in Ottawa Centre". CBC News Ottawa, June 7, 2018.
  12. ↑ "NDP Caucus Critic Portfolios"
  13. ↑ "High-profile Liberal incumbent Naqvi gets rolled by NDP's Harden in Ottawa Centre".
  14. ↑ "Interview: Joel Harden on running for ONDP nomination in Ottawa-Centre". socialist.ca. September 2, 2017. Retrieved August 14, 2020. I said, "if I'm asked a question about what I think about BDS for example, I'm not going to pretend that that's somebody I'm not. I'm going to say, on a personal level I support BDS." It's because I believe in justice for the Palestinian people, and I believe in justice for Arabs and Jews in the region.
  15. ↑ Eltherington, William (January 12, 2025). "MPP Joel Harden to be federal NDP candidate for Ottawa Centre". CTV News Ottawa . Retrieved January 12, 2025.
  16. 1 2 3 "NDP MPP criticizes Israel for arrest of PFLP member," The Canadian Jewish News.
  17. ↑ "OFIP interview with Joel Harden, MPP, Ottawa Centre," Peter larson (video).
  18. ↑ "Ottawa New Democrat MPP apologizes for 2021 comments that 'perpetrated an antisemitic stereotype'". Ottawa CTV News. November 21, 2022. Retrieved November 25, 2022.
  19. ↑ Larson, Peter. "OFIP Interview with Joel Harden". Peter Larson. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
  20. 1 2 Tyler Dawson (November 20, 2022). "Ontario NDP MPP Joel Harden apologizes for antisemitic remarks; The remarks, which Harden made in a discussion with Peter Larson, an Ontario blogger, hit social media Saturday and ignited immediate controversy," National Post.
  21. ↑ "Noise bylaw tickets issued again during 12th weekend of pro-Palestinian rallies in Ottawa," Ottawa Citizen.
  22. ↑ "Politician who decried convoy complains about pro-Palestine protesters getting ticketed," True North.
  23. ↑ "Ottawa bylaw hands out nine noise fines to pro-Palestine protesters, including Ottawa MPP," CTV News.
  24. ↑ "Summary of Valid Votes Cast for each Candidate" (PDF). Elections Ontario. p. 6. Retrieved January 20, 2019.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.