Sharif Haji is a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta representing the riding of Edmonton-Decore succeeding outgoing MLA Chris Nielsen.[1] Haji is of Somali descent.[2] As of June 21, 2024, he serves as the Official Opposition critic for Immigration and Accreditation.[3] He is the first black Muslim and person of East African descent to be elected to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta.[4]
Sharif Haji is married to Hamdi Mubarak, a Somali-Canadian refugee, and together they have three children.
Education
Haji holds an undergraduate degree from the University of South Africa, as well as a master’s degree in public health, with specialization on global health from the University of Alberta.[4]
Career
Before joining the Legislative Assembly, Sharif Haji served as Executive Director of the Africa Centre (2019–2023) and held various roles in the Alberta government (2014–2019), including manager of Alberta’s provincial affordable housing strategy, and Alberta’s primary health care strategy, and as a policy analyst. He also worked as a programs coordinator for the Edmonton Multicultural Coalition and co-founded the Federation of African Canadian Economics and has served on several boards, including the Centre for Race and Culture and the United Way - Alberta Capital Region's community impact councils.[4]
Haji also received the Queen Elizabeth II platinum jubilee medal in 2023.[5]
Electoral history
| 2023 Alberta general election: Edmonton-Decore | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| New Democratic | Sharif Haji | 8,109 | 52.79 | +5.25 | ||||
| United Conservative | Sayid Ahmed | 6,326 | 41.18 | +1.31 | ||||
| Alberta Party | Brent Tyson | 631 | 4.11 | -6.86 | ||||
| Liberal | Donald Slater | 295 | 1.92 | – | ||||
| Total | 15,361 | 99.26 | – | |||||
| Rejected and declined | 114 | 0.74 | ||||||
| Turnout | 15,475 | 47.04 | ||||||
| Eligible voters | 32,898 | |||||||
| New Democratic hold | Swing | +1.97 | ||||||
Source(s)
Source: Elections Alberta[6] | ||||||||
References
- ^ "Alberta election 2023 results: Edmonton-Decore | Globalnews.ca". Global News. Retrieved 2023-05-30.
- ^ "Sharif Haji becomes the first Somali-Canadian elected to Alberta's parliament". Hiiraan onlin. Retrieved 2023-05-31.
- ^ "NDP announces shadow cabinet for largest Official Opposition in Alberta history | Globalnews.ca". Global News. Retrieved 2025-03-14.
- ^ a b c "Sharif Haji". Alberta's NDP. Retrieved 2025-03-13.
- ^ "Member Information". www.assembly.ab.ca. Retrieved 2025-03-13.
- ^ "30 - Edmonton-Decore". officialresults.elections.ab.ca. Elections Alberta. Retrieved June 8, 2023.
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