The Speaker of Ontario’s legislature says politicians, staff and visitors will be allowed to enter the building while wearing a keffiyeh, but he is upholding his ban on the scarf inside the legislative chamber.
Sarah Jama, who sits as an independent after being booted from the NDP caucus last year, put on a keffiyeh as question period started today, in defiance of the ban, and was asked to leave.
Members of the NDP caucus, Joel Harden and Kristyn Wong-Tam, also put on scarves and left in solidarity with Jama.
A keffiyeh is a checkered scarf typically worn in Arab cultures that has come to symbolize solidarity with Palestinians, and Speaker Ted Arnott says he concluded that it is being worn to make an overt political statement, which is against the rules of the legislature.
Ontario House Speaker Ted Arnott says people will be allowed to enter the Queen’s Park legislative building while wearing a keffiyeh, but the scarf remains forbidden inside the chamber. MPP Sarah Jama put on a keffiyeh as Monday’s question period started and was asked to leave. Members of the NDP caucus, Joel Harden and Kristyn Wong-Tam, also put on scarves and left in solidarity with Jama.
Arnott said the issue has become politicized and fostered division since his initial ruling, so before the start of question period Monday he said the ban will not apply to people entering the legislative precinct, only within the chamber.
He noted that if a member asks for and receives unanimous consent to wear a keffiyeh in the legislature from all members of provincial parliament, it will be allowed.
