Joel Harden MPP / Député, Ottawa Centre

I met with a group of parents recently, and they told me more youth are in mental health crisis, or nearing a state of crisis. Youth mental health was in a challenging state before the COVID-19 pan... More

Last week, after Sgt. Eric Mueller was killed in nearby Bourget, I asked for your thoughts about how we keep each other safe. This is the tenth police officer killed on duty since September 2022 in... More

As I wrote this column, I received news of a tragedy in Bourget, Ontario.  Bourget is a 40 minute drive east from downtown Ottawa. It’s not far from where I grew up in Vankleek Hill. Like my hometo... More

Ottawa is a city where many work hard for human rights. We saw it this week. First, let’s salute the over 155,000 members of the Public Service Alliance of Canada – at Treasury Board and Revenue Ca... More

On May 4th, 2023 I sent a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau about the extradition order for Hassan Diab. You can read the letter below or download the PDF here: More

Politics can be a cynical and vicious business, but it still offers hope for change. Why? Because I’ve seen how politics can help people. I saw it firsthand as a graduate student in the 1990s as To... More

On April 26th, 2023 I, alongside MPP Chandra Pasma, sent a letter to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing asking the government about Ottawa's inadequate share of the Homelessness Preventi... More

Tomorrow is Earth Day. It’s a time when we reflect on environmental advocacy, and commit to protecting the planet we love, of which human beings are only one part. Indigenous leaders urge us to bui... More

As I reflect on the last two weeks, my mind turns to issues of community safety. Transit workers and riders feeling unsafe with escalating levels of violence. Seniors and others stranded on trains ... More

More