Episode 4. Balarama Holness: Winning Is Overrated
Black on the Ballot
Balarama Holness’ personal path to politics is unique. From growing up in an ashram, to a career as a professional football player, to running for mayor and founding a provincial political party. He became political, not necessarily to win, but to use the system to force change. How? In this conversation with host Nana aba Duncan, Balarama Holness talks about running for office and his conviction that, in politics, winning isn’t everything.
In 2020, a New York Times headline described Balarama Holness as “the man striving to be the ‘Canadian Obama.’” Like Barack Obama, Balarama’s political career is rooted in community engagement, activism, and changing the system from within.
This episode features:
Balarama Holness, candidate for Montréal-Nord borough mayor (2017), mayoral candidate for Montréal (2021), and provincial candidate for Bloc Montréal (2022)
Alvin Curling, Member of Ontario’s Provincial Parliament (1985-2005), speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario (2003-2005), and Canada’s ambassador to the Dominican Republic (2005-2006)
This episode includes an audio clip from CTV’s W5.
Resources for this episode:
Read the research that supports this podcast:
New report on being Black in Canadian politics
On Black Canadians’ voter turnout:
Statistics Canada’s data on voter turnout by racial background
On abuse in local politics:
Samara Centre for Democracy’s SAMbot Municipal Report
Follow us on Instagram @black.on.the.ballot
This podcast is part of Black Canadians in Electoral Politics, a research partnership between Carleton University and Operation Black Vote Canada. To learn more, visit our website. To support the important work being done by Operation Black Vote Canada, consider making a donation.
Funding for the podcast comes from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, Carleton University, the Canada Research Chairs Program, and the University of Toronto Scarborough. In-kind support was provided to Carleton University by the Samara Centre for Democracy. The podcast was produced by Media Girlfriends.