Canada’s New Democratic Party has proven that it does not have “the courage to do what’s right” which is a slogan on their website after removing the party’s Hamilton MPP Sarah Jama from caucus near the end of October.
This removal follows the snowball effect of Jama’s Oct. 10 statement posted on X calling for the “end all occupation of Palestine land and end apartheid.”
After backlash from Ontario Premier Doug Ford and corrective action by Ontario NDP leader Marit Stiles,. Jama said on X on Oct. 11 “I unequivocally condemn terrorism by Hamas on thousands of Israeli civilians. I also believe that Israel’s bombardment and siege on civilians in Gaza, as was also noted by the United Nations, is wrong.
Why, then, was she removed from caucus?
In their statement on the issue, the NDP said Jama had been removed due to taking a “number of unilateral actions that have undermined our collective work and broken the trust of our colleagues.”
However, on their website, the NDP states that if elected, they will be a “force for peace” that do not “fuel conflict and human rights abuses abroad.”
Is this not what Jama was doing? In a follow-up tweet to her apology on Oct. 11, Jama added “I stand by the position of our federal party.” The outcry and subsequent removal of Jama from caucus in response to her statement seems like an over–reaction when other Canadian politicians have called for ceasefires themselves.
Kitchener Green MP Mike Morrice called for a ceasefire by signing a petition to the Government of Canada on Feb. 26. Waterloo Liberal MP Bardish Chagger did the same.
On May 31, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau himself said the country has been “calling for an immediate ceasefire, an urgent increase in unhindered humanitarian assistance, and the release of all hostages” in a post on X.
None of these individuals have been removed from their positions due to their calls for a ceasefire. The removal of Jama from caucus stands against Canada’s parliamentary privilege itself, where individuals are permitted to speak freely in the “most important of the privileges enjoyed by members of Parliament.” according to the House of Commons’ official website.
Now, it can be argued that Jama took her call to social media. But under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, every Canadian has freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression. This includes freedom of the press and “other media of communication.”
Jama’s removal is unfair and breaks these given rights.
This all leads me to believe that perhaps in forthcoming years, we’ll see even more authoritarian restrictions on what we can and can’t post on social media in this country — sort of like what Bill C-18 has already started.
