Joel Harden MPP / Député, Ottawa Centre

Government of Ontario

Weekly Email Update

MPP Update #234: Affronts to our civil liberties must be challenged

What can be done when public policy harms us? That was the theme at Queen’s Park this week. On Monday, I noted my serious concern with recent arrests of Palestinian human rights advocates in Ottawa... More

MPP Update #232: Love is louder (than all this noise)

We are living in a reactionary political moment.  A storm of online disinformation is attempting to pit us against each other. We are urged to reject those deemed unworthy, meddlesome, or less huma... More

MPP Update #231: Remembrance Day in the shadow of Trumpism

This week is Veterans’ Week, and next Monday is Remembrance Day. It’s an important time for our community, our province, and our country. We will appreciate those who serve and have served. We will... More

MPP Update #230: Your $200 cheque can help immigrant women in Ottawa

I hope this message finds you well after a haunted Halloween evening. On a personal note, it was nice to return home from Queen’s Park in time to appreciate spooky decorations, costumes, and sugar-... More

MPP Update #229: Bike lanes save lives

It felt like the Twilight Zone at Queen’s Park this week. That reference may be lost on some readers, so I’ll explain further.  The Twilight Zone was a sci-fi television show created by Rod Serling... More

MPP Update #228: Support Soul Space, and rise up strong for street health workers

Last week I talked about helping the helpers, but I left something out.  I didn’t ask you to support efforts where frontline workers are helping each other.  That leads me to Soul Space Ottawa, an ... More

MPP Update #227: This Thanksgiving, let’s commit to helping the helpers.

It’s Thanksgiving weekend, and a special time to celebrate many harvests. One is the obvious harvest of food, and valuing the hard-working hands — from farm to fork — that make our meals possible. ... More

MPP Update #226: Road safety is never an accident

How do we ensure safe streets? That’s on my mind after last week’s column, where I asked you to write Premier Ford about his pointless crusade against bike lanes. Many of you did, and I thank you f... More

MPP Update #225: Tell Premier Ford — protected bike lanes save lives AND reduce traffic

Politics has been abuzz in recent days after Premier Doug Ford waded into the fake culture war of “bikes versus cars”. This pitted road users against each other, making no one safe. That was both w... More

MPP Update #224: We need watermelon politics (green industrial policy) for climate action

Tomorrow Ottawa residents will host a global climate strike, a yearly event inspired by Greta Thunberg’s “Friday’s for Future” movement. It’s a time of much reflection.  For years since August 2018... More