Joel Harden

Last updated

2022–present
Joel Harden
MPP
Harden, Joel - Ottawa Centre - ONDP (3).png
Member of the Ontario Provincial Parliament
for Ottawa Centre
Assumed office
June 7, 2018		Opposition Critic for Transit and Active Transportation
Website Constituency website
Campaign website

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

Contents

Background

Early life and education

Joel Davison Harden was born on January 14, 1972, [3] [4] and grew up in Vankleek Hill, Ontario. [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

Prior to being elected, Harden was a researcher at the Canadian Federation of Students. He has also been 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, McMaster University and the Labour College of Canada. From 2005 to 2010, he was senior researcher at the Canadian Labour Congress and was director of the labour education department at the Canadian Labour Congress from 2010 to 2012. [9] [10] During his time as the Director of Education at the Canadian Labour Congress Harden designed the campaign that won an expansion of the Canada Pension Plan. [10] From 1998 to 2000, he was the chairman of the Ontario section of the Canadian Federation of Students. [9]

Political career

Harden was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in the 2018 provincial election. [11] He is a self-described democratic socialist. [12]

On August 23, 2018, Harden was appointed Official Opposition Critic for Accessibility & Persons with Disabilities; Pensions; Seniors' Affairs. [13] Harden's parliamentary roles include sitting on the Standing Committee on Social Policy. [10]

Harden is a supporter of the BDS movement. [14] In November 2022, Harden was criticized for an interview in which he spoke about hateful language in activism related to Israel and Palestine. Harden ultimately issued a brief written apology for perpetuating anti-Semitic tropes. [15] In the interview, Harden takes 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." [16]

In June 2023, Harden alleged that he was punched whilst counter-protesting during an anti-"gender ideology" protest outside of a school. [17]

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 next federal election expected in 2025. [18]

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 2023-05-18.
  • "Statistical Summary by Electoral District" (PDF). Elections Ontario. 2022. Archived from the original on 2023-05-21.
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 [19]

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References

  1. ↑ "Search For Contributions". Elections Canada. Retrieved 2021-06-22.
  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". 5 April 2018.
  6. ↑ "NDP MPP Joel Harden Speaking to CCU at 50th Anniversary Convention - Confederation of Canadian Unions (CCU)". ccu-csc.ca. Retrieved 2023-06-28.
  7. ↑ "Ten York University alumni win in 2022 Ontario election | Alumni and Friends - Division of Advancement" . Retrieved 2023-06-28.
  8. ↑ "Five things you should know about Joel Harden - Kitchissippi times". kitchissippi.com. 2018-06-28. Retrieved 2023-06-28.
  9. 1 2 "Joel Harden: Educator, activist, and writer".
  10. 1 2 3 "Media Kit". Joel Harden, MPP for Ottawa Centre. Retrieved 2021-04-02.
  11. ↑ "NDP Joel Harden elected in Ottawa Centre". CBC News Ottawa, June 7, 2018.
  12. ↑ "High-profile Liberal incumbent Naqvi gets rolled by NDP's Harden in Ottawa Centre".
  13. ↑ https://www.ontariondp.ca/sites/default/files/18-0820critic20portfolios-3.pdf [ bare URL PDF ]
  14. ↑ "Interview: Joel Harden on running for ONDP nomination in Ottawa-Centre". socialist.ca. Sep 2, 2017. Retrieved Aug 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. ↑ "Ottawa New Democrat MPP apologizes for 2021 comments that 'perpetrated an antisemitic stereotype'". Ottawa. 2022-11-20. Retrieved 2022-11-25.
  16. ↑ Larson, Peter. "OFIP Interview with Joel Harden". Peter Larson. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
  17. ↑ Fox, Liam (June 9, 2023). "Ottawa protest over 'gender ideology' met with hundreds of counter-protesters". Canadian Press . Retrieved June 15, 2023.
  18. ↑ "MPP Joel Harden, Catherine McKenney eyeing possible showdown for Ottawa federal seat". CTV News. March 16, 2024. Retrieved March 17, 2024.
  19. ↑ "Summary of Valid Votes Cast for each Candidate" (PDF). Elections Ontario. p. 6. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
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