Balarama Holness

Balarama Holness (born July 20, 1983), also known as Steven Holness, is a Canadian politician and former professional football safety. He was originally signed by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers as an undrafted free agent in 2008. He won a Grey Cup Championship with the Montreal Alouettes in 2010. He played CIS Football at Ottawa.

Family and early life Holness was born in Montreal to a Québécois mother and a Jamaican father. Andrew Michael Holness, the current Prime Minister of Jamaica is his first cousin. His mother's Hinduism resulted in the name Balarama and a childhood at an ashram in West Virginia.

Political career While studying law at McGill University, he ran for borough mayor of Montréal-Nord for Projet Montréal in the 2017 Montreal municipal election but lost to Christine Black. After the 2017 election, Holness launched a petition calling for the city to hold a public consultation on systemic racism and discrimination. Founder of a social justice lobby group "Montreal in Action," Holness was profiled on November 21, 2020, by the CTV Television Network as "an inspirational view of a man confronting systemic racism."

On May 20, 2021, he announced his candidacy for mayor of Montreal in the 2021 Montreal municipal election as a candidate of the Mouvement Montréal party. Holness finished in third place with 7.23% of votes and Mouvement Montréal failed to elect any of its candidates.

On June 7, 2022, Holness announced the creation of the party Bloc Montreal, being a part of the 2022 Quebec general election. It was founded after Quebec Liberal Party leader Dominique Anglade offered to work with the Coalition Avenir Québec government on certain legislation. Bloc Montreal finished with only 0.2% of votes, and it failed to elect any of its candidates, including Holness himself. The party dissolved in early 2026, with Holness endorsing the Quebec Liberal Party of Charles Milliard.

Electoral record

Provincial

Municipal