Ontario Legislature’s keffiyeh ban continues, despite Ford and opposition leaders asking for reversal – CBC.ca Achi-News

Keffiyehs remain banned in the Ontario Legislature after a unanimous consent motion that would have allowed the scarf to be worn failed to pass in Queen’s Park on Thursday.

That vote, introduced by NDP Leader Marit Stiles, failed, even though Premier Doug Ford and the provincial opposition leaders all indicated they wanted to see the ban overturned. Full agreement from all MPPs is needed for a motion like this to pass, and there was a “no” after it was read into the record.

In an email Wednesday, Speaker Ted Arnott said the legislature had previously restricted the wearing of clothing intended to make an “overt political statement” because it maintained a “standard practice of decorum.”

“The Speaker cannot be aware of the meaning of each symbol or pattern but when items are brought to my attention, there is a responsibility to respond. After extensive research, I came to the conclusion that the wearing of keffiyehs at this time in our Assembly is intended to be a political statement. Therefore, as Speaker, I cannot authorize the wearing of keffiyehs based on our long-standing conventions,” Arnott said in an email.

Speaking in Queen’s Park on Thursday, Arnott said he would reconsider the ban with the unanimous consent of MPPs.

“If the house believes that wearing the keffiyeh in this house, at this time, is not a political statement, we will certainly and unequivocally accept the definite will of the house without any doubts or unlesss,” he said.

Keffiyehs are a scarf commonly worn among Arabs, but have special significance for the Palestinian people. They have been a frequent sight among pro-Palestinian protesters calling for an end to the violence in Gaza as the Israel-Hamas war continues.

Premier is calling for a reversal

Ford said Thursday he is hopeful Arnott will reverse the ban, but did not say whether he would instruct his caucus to support the NDP’s proposal.

In a statement issued Wednesday, Ford said the decision was made by the speaker and no one else.

“I do not support his decision as it unnecessarily divides the people of our state. I call on the speaker to immediately reverse his decision,” Ford said.

PC Party MPP Robin Martin, who represents Eglinton-Lawrence, voted against the unanimous consent motion Thursday and told reporters she believed the speaker’s initial ruling was the correct one.

“We have to follow the rules of the legislature, otherwise we politicize the whole debate inside the legislature, and that’s not what it’s about. What it means is that we come there and use our words to persuade, not articles of clothing.”

When asked if she had challenged a directive from the premier, Martin said, “It has nothing to do with the premier, it is the decision of the speaker of the legislative assembly.”

Stiles told reporters on Thursday that she was happy that Ford was on her side on this issue, but added that she was disappointed that the proposal did not pass.

“The premiership needs to talk to its people and make sure they are doing the right thing,” he said.

Stiles first urged Arnott to reconsider the ban in a letter on April 12. He said concerns about the directive first came to light after members of his staff exposed them, but they became apparent after Sarah Jama , Hamilton Center Independent MPP, posted about the issue on X, formerly Twitter.

Jama was removed from the NDP caucus for his social media comments on the Israel-Hamas war shortly after Oct. 7.

Jama has said she believes she was kicked out of the party because she called for a cease-fire in Gaza “too early” and because she called Israel an “apartheid state.”

Arnott told reporters on Thursday that he began exploring a ban on the Keffiyeh after one MPP made a complaint about another MPP, who he believed to be Jama, wearing one.

Liberals are also calling for a reversal

Ontario Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie also called for the ban to be overturned Wednesday night.

“Here in Ontario, we are home to a diverse group of people from so many backgrounds. This is a time when leaders should be looking for ways to bring people together, not divide us further. I urge Speaker Arnott to immediately reconsider this move to ban the keffiyeh,” Crombie said.

Stiles said MPPs have worn kilts, kirpans, vyshyvankas and chubas in the legislature, saying that such items of clothing not only have national and cultural associations, but are also sometimes seen as “political symbols they need to be stopped.”

He said indigenous and non-indigenous members were also dressed in traditional regalia and these items cannot be separated from their historical and political significance.

“Wearing these important cultural and national clothing items in our Assembly is something we should be proud of. It is part of the story of who we are as a state,” he said.

“The Palestinians are part of that story, and the keffiyeh is a traditional clothing item that is significant not only to them but to many members of the Arab and Muslim communities. That includes members of my staff who have been asked to remove their keffiyehs in order to come to work. This is unacceptable.”

Stiles added that the House of Commons and other provincial legislatures allow keffiyehs to be worn in their chambers and that the ban makes Ontario an “outsider.”

Suppression of cultural symbols involved in genocide: MPP

Jama on X said the ban was not “surprising” but “nevertheless worrying” in a country with a legacy of colonialism. “Part of committing genocide is the forcible suppression of cultural identity and cultural symbols,” he said in part.

“To see those in power in this country at all levels of government, from the federal all the way down to school boards, assisting the Israeli colonial regime with these tactics in oppressing Palestine proves that reconciliation is nothing world but a word when it is spoken by the powers of the state. ,” she said.

Amira Elghawaby, Canada’s Special Representative on Combating Islamophobia, said on X that it was “extremely ironic” that keffiyehs were banned in the Ontario legislature on the 42nd anniversary of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

“This is wrong and dangerous as we have already seen violence and exclusion affect Canadians, including Muslims of Palestinian descent, who choose to wear these traditional Palestinian clothes,” said Elghawaby.

Arnott said the keffiyeh was not considered “a form of protest” in the legislature before statements and debates that took place in the House last fall.

“These items are not absolute and they are not judged in a vacuum,” he said.

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