The Hamilton Police Association (HPA) is condemning Hamilton-Centre NDP MPP Sarah Jama for attending a far-left No Pride In Policing Coalition march focused on abolishing law enforcement.
In a statement to True North, HPA spokesperson Jaimi Bannon said, “every Ontario family deserves to feel safe in their homes and in their communities. They have made it loud and clear that they support and want more investment in police and public safety.”
The union says, “talk of abolishing police is both irresponsible and dangerous.”
“Who wants to live in a world where the police have been abolished? We have come to expect no better from MPP Sara Jama and her dangerous rhetoric.”
As previously reported by True North, the far-left “abolitionist and antifascist pride” march held on June 25 in Toronto was not only demanding the abolishment of police and prisons, but also several other radical policies.
The organizer’s 25 demands included the legalization of prostitution, allowing drug users to be able to donate blood, supporting safe supply and drug injection sites, protecting drag shows for kids, a $20 per hour minimum wage and making Toronto “a real Sanctuary City.”
The demands also called for the reintroduction of mask mandates. Posters for the rally noted that masks were mandatory, despite the march taking place outdoors.
Further, the group called for marchers to support “the Palestinian Struggle Against Israeli Apartheid and Settler Colonialism,” and “the global Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel.”
“Defend Palestine defenders from attacks by pro-Israel lobby groups, universities, and school boards.”
Jama’s decision to attend the anti-police and anti-Israel rally was also condemned by Jewish advocacy group B’nai Brith Canada, with its CEO Michael Mostyn accusing Jama of being a radical in an email to The Hamilton Independent.
“Sarah Jama is a radical who continues to take positions that are contrary to the aims of her party, the legislature as a whole, and the sanctity and security of her constituents. She continues to unnecessarily conflate domestic issues with those of Israel/Palestine,” said Mostyn.
Ontario’s Solicitor General Michael Kerzner also criticized Jama. He told The Hamilton Independent that her attendance at the rally is an example of the Ontario NDP showing their “true colours.”
Kerzner said the Ford PCs “condemn in the strongest terms the NDP’s calls to defund and abolish the police, and their continued embrace of rampant antisemitism.”
“Marit Stiles must be clear: Is the Ontario NDP’s official policy to abolish the police? How much more antisemitism will she continue to tolerate within her party?”
The No Pride In Policing Coalition describes itself as “a group of queer and trans people formed to support BLM-TO and now focused on defunding and abolishing the police.”
The group says their “abolitionist and antifascist pride” march seeks to bring attention to “continuing racist and colonialist police violence and the right-wing and fascists attacking drag queens, trans, queer, Black and Indigenous people.”
Neither Jama’s office nor Ontario NDP leader Marit Stiles responded to True North’s request for comment in time for publication.
