PC MPPs rightfully say no to keffiyehs in legislature as debate rages

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Things must be going well in Ontario right now because the biggest issue being debated is whether you can wear a keffiyeh in the legislature. Speaker Ted Arnott ruled last week that the keffiyeh, a checkered scarf, sometimes black and white and sometimes coloured, is a political symbol and therefore not allowed in the legislature.

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NDP Leader Marit Stiles put forward a motion for the second time in a week asking that the legislature allow the keffiyeh to be worn.

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“I seek unanimous consent that this house acknowledge that the keffiyeh is a culturally significant clothing item to many in Ontario’s Palestinian, Muslim and Arab communities, and should neither be considered an expression of a political message or an accessory likely to cause disorder and should therefore be permitted to be born in this house,” Stiles said as she read her motion just prior to Question Period.

About half a dozen MPPs from the PC side of the aisle called out no and that was the end of the debate. In a unanimous consent motion, any MPP, for any reason can say no and that ends the debate.

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Stiles isn’t being truthful when she says that the keffiyeh isn’t a political symbol. It clearly is. She also knows that political symbols are banned from the legislature, something she acknowledged when speaking to reporters about her motion.

The people who have been organizing the protests that have taken over our streets for the last six months encourage people to wear their keffiyehs to the protest. Those at the protests, like one of the men on the loudspeaker in Ottawa this weekend, call the scarf a political statement.

“They banned the keffiyeh in the Parliament,” the man said as fellow protesters called out “shame.”

“They banned the keffiyeh, the symbol of resistance, the Palestinian symbol of resistance in the Parliament. They are afraid but they cannot ban in in the streets of our country.”

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That’s a pretty blunt statement that the keffiyeh is in fact a political symbol. So, too, is how it is used in posters and artwork for the protest movement to support the Palestinian cause.

In fact, a group of protesters who interrupted and temporarily shut down the legislature during Question Period while waving keffiyehs and yelling “Free Palestine” also made the point that it was a political garment at this point.

Right now, for MPPs to wear a daffodil lapel pin support of the Canadian Cancer Society during their April campaign, special permission is needed, unanimous consent granted, because support for this cause is seen as political. Stiles, Premier Doug Ford and others who have supported allowing the keffiyeh into the legislature have accused others of being divisive but by pushing this, instead of following long standing rules, it’s they who have caused unnecessary division.

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Ford emerged from a long PC Caucus meeting with his MPPs and cabinet ministers shortly after 3 p.m. saying he wouldn’t be punishing any of the MPPs who said no to allowing the keffiyeh.

“No, this is a very sensitive topic here and around the world,” Ford said, adding that on sensitive topics he believes in free votes.

Ford likely didn’t have many options on that front, his caucus is clearly divided on this issue. Those willing to speak about the meeting said it was tense, it was uncomfortable, and it wasn’t clear that the majority were on Ford’s side on this issue.

While only a handful said no to Stiles’ motion, there hasn’t been a rush of PC MPPs rushing to call for allowing the keffiyeh.

The premier has been facing pushback not only from backbench MPPs but also from within his own cabinet. Several cabinet ministers have let it be known they think the premier went too far on this issue.

That doesn’t mean this is the end of the matter, despite Ford seeming to want to move on. The NDP seems determined to bring this back to the legislature again and again, at least until the Milton by-election on May 2.

Global politics, in the Ontario legislature, driven by a local byelection.

Welcome to 2024.

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