Ontario independent MPP Sarah Jama says she will continue wearing a keffiyeh in the legislature despite being told to leave the chamber Thursday for defying a ban on the Arab headdress.
The black and white checkered scarf, typically worn in Arab cultures and often used to symbolize solidarity with Palestinians, has been at the centre of a tense debate inside Queen’s Park since Speaker Ted Arnott branded it a political symbol and banned it this spring.
He said it came under the same strict rules that stop MPPs from using clothing or props to make a “political statement.”
Ontario Premier Doug Ford, along with the Ontario NDP, Liberals and Greens, has called on Arnott to reverse his ban.
Ford initially tried to get his MPPs to fall in behind his position and overturn the ban by allowing a unanimous consent motion from the Ontario NDP to pass by the NDP last Thursday. At least one MPP, however, defied him and voted to stop the motion from passing.
On Tuesday, the premier was forced to relent and allow his caucus a free vote. More PC MPPs spoke out against a subsequent motion once they were allowed to vote freely and the ban remained in place.
After the vote, Ford told reporters it was a “very sensitive topic” for some in his caucus.
Even with the ban in place, Jama has worn a keffiyeh inside the chamber. On Tuesday, Arnott said he did not intervene when the independent MPP defied the ban because she sat far away from his position, and he wasn’t able to clearly determine what she had on.
On Thursday, Jama was asked by the Speaker to either remove the clothing item or leave the chamber. She refused to do either and was named, which means she had to leave the floor of the legislature and could not return for the rest of the day.
“I must warn the member for Hamilton Centre. Sarah Jama, you are named. You must leave the chamber,” Arnott said. “As a result of being named, the member, for the remainder of the day, is ineligible to vote on matters before the assembly; attend and participate in any committee proceedings; use the media studio; and table notices of motion, written questions and petitions.”
Jama did not leave the chamber when she was told to, although she said she was not been able to participate in a vote after question period.
Arnott said that when Jama refused to leave the chamber, he decided not to forcibly remove her.
“There was no way for me to have her removed, short of physical force,” he said. “I wasn’t prepared to do that or order it.”
Jama told reporters she felt the rules were “arbitrarily applied” in the house and said she wore the keffiyeh before the conflict between Israel and Hamas. She said wearing it is “the least” that can be done to draw attention to humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip.
Jama said she will continue to wear the keffiyeh inside the legislature.
“Absolutely, I’ll be back,” she said. “I’ll definitely continue as I’m here to continue to wear it.”
Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles and members of the Liberal and Green caucuses are calling for the government to overturn the ban and allow the keffiyeh to be worn in the chamber and on the grounds of the legislative assembly.
On Thursday, the Ontario Federation of Labour also labelled the ban as “racist and discriminatory” in a statement.
Legislators are not sitting next week, beginning April 29, and will return to the house on Monday, May 6.
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