| Balarama Holness | |
| Number: | 36 |
| Position: | Cornerback |
| Birth Date: | 20 July 1983 |
| Birth Place: | Montreal, Quebec |
| Height Ft: | 5 |
| Height In: | 11 |
| Weight Lbs: | 194 |
| Cis: | Ottawa |
| Undraftedyear: | 2008 |
| Pastteams: | |
| Cflstatus: | Non-Import |
| Cfl-Archive: | https://web.archive.org/web/20150628130456/http://www.cfl.ca/roster/show/id/4103 |
Balarama Holness[1] (born July 20, 1983), also known as Steven Holness, is a politician and former Canadian 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.
Holness was born in Montreal to a Québécois mother and a Jamaican father.[2] 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.[2] Aged nine he moved to Boisbriand, where he was required to use the name "Steven",[2] which he maintained in his pro football career. His daughter is named after Marie-Joseph Angélique, a Portuguese-born black slave in New France.[3]
While studying law at McGill University,[4] he ran for borough mayor of Montréal-Nord for Projet Montréal in the 2017 Montreal municipal election but lost to Christine Black.[5] After the 2017 election, Holness launched a petition calling for the city to hold a public consultation on systemic racism and discrimination.[6] 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."[7]
On May 20, 2021, he announced his candidacy for mayor of Montreal in the 2021 Montreal municipal election[8] 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 party Bloc Montreal, being a part of the 2022 Quebec general election. Bloc Montreal finished with only 0.2% of votes and it failed to elect any of its candidates, including Holness himself.
| Party | Candidate | Total Votes | % of total votes | |
| Équipe Denis Coderre | Christine Black | 11,864 | 66% | |
| Projet Montréal | Balarama Holness | 6,038 | 34% | |
| Total | 17902 | 100% | ||
| Source: CBC News, Quebec votes, Municipal 2017 | ||||