HAMILTON – Sarah Jama has won the by-election in Hamilton Centre and will be heading to Queen’s Park as the newest member of Marit Stiles’ Ontario NDP team.

Faisal Hassan, NDP MPP for York South-Weston, [introduced] a private member’s bill today that, if passed, would officially recognize June 25 to July 1 as Somali Heritage Week in Ontario.

Official Opposition NDP Leader Andrea Horwath tabled a motion for debate in the Ontario legislature that explicitly condemns Quebec’s Bill 21 and calls on Doug Ford to take action.

On October 6, Ontario’s New Democratic Party celebrated Ontario’s second annual Islamic Heritage Month by hosting an education and discussion day for Muslim youth at Queen’s Park. Nearly 70 high school students from two GTA schools came to learn more about how provincial politics work, and to have a chance to discuss current issues with NDP politicians and staff, including Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath.

Update (September 29, 2016) Despite setbacks this week, Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath and MPP Teresa Armstrong will not give up the fight to designate October as Islamic Heritage Month in Ontario. 

“We have to take action on rising Islamophobia and hate-motivated crime in our Province,” noted Horwath. “Celebrating Islamic culture, history and the contributions of people of Islamic heritage to our society is an important step that the Ontario NDP will continue to fight for, despite the Liberal government this week not allowing Unanimous Consent on Bill 23.”