Matthew Green
MP
Member of Parliament
for Hamilton Centre
Assumed office
October 21, 2019
Preceded byDavid Christopherson
Hamilton, Ontario City Councillor
In office
December 1, 2014 – December 1, 2018
Preceded byBob Morrow
Succeeded byNrinder Nann
ConstituencyWard 3 (Hamilton Centre)
Personal details
Born (1980-09-10) September 10, 1980
Hamilton, Ontario
Political partyNew Democratic Party
ResidenceHamilton, Ontario[1]

Matthew Green MP (born September 10, 1980)[2][3] is a Canadian politician who was elected to represent the riding of Hamilton Centre in the House of Commons of Canada in the 2019 Canadian federal election, and re-elected in 2021.

Early life

Green was born and raised in Hamilton,[4] the son of Raymond Green and Susan Scharf-Green.[5] He received a degree in political science from Acadia University. He later attended McMaster University in Hamilton.

Career

First elected to the Hamilton City Council in 2014, he led the way for the city to become the first in Ontario to license and regulate payday lending.[6] In 2018, he became the executive director of the Hamilton Centre for Civic Inclusion (HCCI), a non-profit organization that promotes racial equality.[7]

Green has stated that the example set by Lincoln Alexander, the first Black Canadian MP and a former Hamilton politician, helped inspire him to get into politics. Green joined the NDP in 2017 after being inspired by Jagmeet Singh's stance against racial profiling.[8]

Prior to his election to the House of Commons, he was the first Black Canadian to serve on the Hamilton City Council, where he represented Ward 3 from 2014 to 2018.[9][8] Ideologically, Green identifies as a "Stanley Knowles New Democrat".[10]

In 43rd Canadian Parliament

One of Green's claims to fame is that he is the first Black Canadian to represent Hamilton in Parliament since Lincoln Alexander.[8]

As an MP, Green has been an outspoken opponent of police brutality, and has endorsed a nationwide ban on the use of tear gas.[11]

In 44th Canadian Parliament

Green was re-elected on 20 September 2021 in the 2021 Canadian federal election to a hung parliament,[12] its 44th Canadian Parliament.

In a July 2021 interview with American socialist magazine Jacobin, given jointly with his NDP colleague Leah Gazan, Green endorsed a national wealth tax.[10]

In March 2022, NDP leader Jagmeet Singh nominated Green to serve on the Special Joint Committee on the Declaration of Emergency which had the mission to investigate the Freedom Convoy.[13][14][15]

On the DECD Committee

Early in the life of the DECD committee, Green said that committee members "have a 'responsibility' to work together" in light of the disagreement of the Conservative Official Opposition over the constitution of the committee. It consisted of seven MPs and four senators. On 6 March 2022 co-chair Green was "interested in looking at the actions of police (or the lack of them), the role played by 'dark money' raised through" the GoFundMe and GiveSendGo crowdfunding platforms,[14] even though the latter issue had been thoroughly debunked three days earlier when the FINA committee interviewed two executives from GoFundMe who testified that 86 per cent of the donors to the original GoFundMe campaign were Canadian, and 88 per cent of the donated funds to the original campaign were from Canadians.[16]

Controversy

In April 2016, Green was involved in an incident in which he was questioned on the street by Constable Andrew Pfeifer of the Hamilton Police Service. Green filed a complaint with the Hamilton Police Service and, as a result, the officer was charged with discreditable conduct after an independent investigation by the Office of the Independent Police Review Director. Green also filed a human rights complaint.[17] The officer was later found not guilty by a tribunal, with the hearing officer stating, "I lack the necessary confidence in Mr. Green's credibility to accept his evidence".[18]

In November 2023, Green caused controversy when he spoke at a Toronto rally in support of Palestine. The rally was organized by Toronto4Palestine, a group that handed out candy in celebration on the day of the Hamas attack on Israel.[19] In his speech, Green equated hostages held by Hamas with prisoners in Israeli custody.[19] Green was joined on stage by two men covering their faces with keffiyehs, as well as Fred Hahn, the head of CUPE, who has been criticized for labelling the Hamas attack on Israel as an act of resistance.[19]

Electoral record

2021 Canadian federal election: Hamilton Centre
Party Candidate Votes%±%
New DemocraticMatthew Green20,10548.7+2.54
LiberalMargaret Bennett10,94126.5-2.17
ConservativeFabian Grenning6,20915.0+0.63
People'sKevin Barber2,6376.4+4.51
GreenAvra Caroline Weinstein1,1052.7-4.94
CommunistNigel Cheriyan1840.4–
IndependentNathalie Xian Yi Yan990.2+0.01
Total valid votes/expense limit 44,12299.09
Total rejected ballots 3510.84-0.07
Turnout 41,63156.39-2.69
Eligible voters 73,832
New Democratic hold Swing +2.66
Source: Elections Canada[20]
2019 Canadian federal election: Hamilton Centre
Party Candidate Votes%±%Expenditures
New DemocraticMatthew Green20,36846.16+0.60$71,015.33
LiberalJasper Kujavsky12,65128.67-4.72$79,469.65
ConservativeMonica Ciriello6,34114.37-0.28$13,186.90
GreenJason Lopez3,3707.64+3.31none listed
People'sMelina Mamone8331.89–none listed
Christian HeritageGary Duyzer1820.41–none listed
IndependentTony Lemma1580.36–$2,716.24
IndependentEdward Graydon1340.30–none listed
IndependentNathalie Xian Yi Yan850.19–none listed
Total valid votes/expense limit 44,12299.09
Total rejected ballots 4050.91+0.26
Turnout 44,52759.08-0.34
Eligible voters 75,371
New Democratic hold Swing +2.66
Source: Elections Canada[21][22]
Candidates for the October 27, 2014 Hamilton, Ontario Ward Three Councillor Election
Candidate Popular vote Expenditures
Votes  % ±%
Matthew Green 2,852 40.72% – $31,380.20
Ralph Agostino 1,229 17.55% – $22,900.91
Drina Omazic 825 11.78% – $27,000.76
Mark DiMillo 525 7.50% −2.63% n/a1
Sean Gibson 361 5.15% −8.53% n/a1
Tim Simmons 334 4.77% – $15,087.14
Bob Assadourian 330 4.71% – $26,412.29
Brian Kelly 172 2.46% – $5,670.73
Maria Anastasiou 93 1.33% – n/a1
Byron Wayne Millette 73 1.04% – n/a1
Eva John 55 0.79% – n/a1
Carlos Pinho 51 0.73% – n/a1
Victor Mejia 42 0.60% – n/a1
Bernie Szajkowski 41 0.59% – $0
Jol Hess 21 0.30% – n/a1
Total votes 7,113 29.59% −1.41
Registered voters 24,035 100%
1 These candidates did not submit official Financial Statements and are, therefore, ineligible to run in the
2018 Municipal election
Note: All Hamilton Municipal Elections are officially non-partisan.
Note: Candidate campaign colours are based on the prominent colour used in campaign items (signs, literature, etc.)
and are used as a visual differentiation between candidates.
Sources: City of Hamilton, "Nominated Candidates" Archived 2010-08-20 at the Wayback Machine

References

  1. ↑ "Official Voting Results". Elections Canada. Retrieved January 23, 2021.
  2. ↑ Craggs, Samantha (July 17, 2018). "Matthew Green to run for NDP in Hamilton Centre, aims to replace MP David Christopherson". CBC News. Retrieved October 22, 2019.
  3. ↑ @MatthewGreenNDP (September 9, 2020). "Thanks for all the (early) 40th Birthday love. It was *almost* a year to the day that I hosted @theJagmeetSingh for my @HamCentreNDP campaign office launch on Sept. 10th 2019 (my birthday) So his shout out tonight on my live steam was in advance of my Birthday on Thursday" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  4. ↑ Riding profile: Hamilton Centre, a longtime NDP riding, has 7 candidates CBC News
  5. ↑ Hamilton's first Black City Councillor Matthew Green is now a Member of Parliament Ron Fanfair
  6. ↑ "What School Did You Go To?" (PDF). Policy Alternatives. 2018.
  7. ↑ Craggs, Samantha (September 26, 2018). "Matthew Green becomes new executive director for civic inclusion centre". Canadian Broadcasting Company.
  8. 1 2 3 "Hamilton's first Black City Councillor Matthew Green is now a Member of Parliament". Ron Fanfair. Retrieved 2021-10-09.
  9. ↑ "Green keeps Hamilton's urban heartland NDP orange". Hamilton Spectator. October 22, 2019. Retrieved October 22, 2019.
  10. 1 2 "Two MPs Reflect on Sixty Years of Canada's New Democratic Party". jacobinmag.com. Retrieved 2021-10-11.
  11. ↑ Jun 11, Jolson Lim Published on; 2020 3:53pm (2020-06-11). "NDP MP Green sponsors petition calling for nationwide ban on use of tear gas". iPolitics. Retrieved 2021-10-09.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  12. ↑ Tasker, John Paul (20 September 2021). "Canadians have re-elected a Liberal minority government". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
  13. ↑ "Committees DEDC Special Joint Committee on the Declaration of Emergency". Parliament of Canada. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
  14. 1 2 Wherry, Aaron (6 March 2022). "The committee reviewing Trudeau's use of the Emergencies Act faces a daunting task". CBC.
  15. ↑ Boutilier, Alex (24 March 2022). "Committee examining Liberals' emergency powers debates scope of inquiry". Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
  16. ↑ Turnbull, Sarah (2022-03-03). "GoFundMe head testifies over Freedom Convoy fundraising, says most donors were Canadian". CTVNews. Retrieved 2022-03-22.
  17. ↑ "Was officer OK to question Matthew Green? Lawyers clash over role of race in police stop". CBC News. November 16, 2017. Retrieved December 8, 2023.
  18. ↑ "Tribunal rejects black councillor's claim Hamilton police stop was racial profiling". CBC News. 2018-04-26. Retrieved 2023-12-08.
  19. 1 2 3 "First Reading: NDP MP shares a Toronto dais with speaker echoing Hamas demands". National Post. November 14, 2023. Retrieved November 15, 2023.
  20. ↑ "September 20, 2021 General Election Election Results". Elections Canada. Retrieved December 5, 2021.
  21. ↑ "List of confirmed candidates". Elections Canada. Retrieved October 4, 2019.
  22. ↑ "Official Voting Results". Elections Canada. Retrieved August 14, 2021.
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