Hamilton MPP Sarah Jama is calling for sweeping changes to provide better protection for people who rent their homes, but her proposals appeared to be derailed after she was ejected from the legislature again.
Jama has already been censured in the legislature, and removed from her former party the NDP, for expressions of support for Palestinians.
And now she’s refusing to remove a keffiyeh scarf in the legislature, with the Speaker calling it an inappropriate political gesture.
Earlier, Jama went to Queen’s Park with high hopes.
READ MORE: Hamilton MPP Sarah Jama announces motions targeting ODSP and OW
She says rental conditions are terrible for many people, with numerous examples.
“It rains in my apartment. I have bugs. And I’m now living with wasps and rain,” Pauline Roberts says.
“Water leaks, non-working appliances, pest control issues,” Christina Erie says.
“If you have accessible housing you’ll have fewer falls, fewer ambulance calls, fewer ER visits, fewer hospitalizations,” Kate Chung from the Accessible Housing Network says.
Jama says she has a series of proposals to eliminate rent increases above the provincial guideline, give tenants collective bargaining rights, and to ensure accessible housing.
But they haven’t gone far.
READ MORE: Hamilton MPP Sarah Jama asked to leave Ontario legislature over keffiyeh
Since Jama has been censured by the legislature, she can’t speak in the legislature to move the proposals forward.
The speaker won’t do it for her, so her ideas of rental legislation may go nowhere.
While the legislature is a place to debate ideas, Hamilton MPP Donna Skelly says she doesn’t know what Jama’s ideas are.
“I haven’t seen them and because they haven’t been discussed as long as she continues to defy the speaker we can’t debate them in the house,” Skelly says.
The ACORN housing advocate group says Jama’s proposals are important.
“The motions that MPP Jama tabled this morning we think would be very beneficial,” Stewart Klazinga from ACORN Hamilton says.
“They could go a long way to protecting people from ending up on the street.”
ACORN suggests other parties might want to look at the proposals, although Jama says she’s disappointed no party has come out to support her.
