Ontario legislator defies order to remove keffiyeh in chamber
TORONTO — An Ontario legislator refused to take off her keffiyeh in the Queen’s Park legislative chamber on Thursday, prompting an order for her removal and her subsequent refusal to budge.
Sarah Jama, who sits as an independent for HamiltonCentre after being booted from the NDP caucus last year, wore a keffiyeh draped over her shoulders during question period.
It was the second time this week Jama wore the scarf inside the legislature and she said she will continue to wear it.
A keffiyeh is a checkered scarf typically worn in Arab cultures that has come to symbolize solidarity with Palestinians.
Speaker Ted Arnott banned the scarf in March after a complaint, saying it was being worn to make a political statement, contrary to the rules of the assembly. All four party leaders, including Premier Doug Ford, have called on the speaker to reverse the ban.
Ford’s Progressive Conservatives had effectively silenced Jama in the fall when they censured her over comments she made about the Israel-Hamas war.
On Thursday, Arnott “named” Jama, which meant she was not allowed to vote on matters at the legislature, or participate in any committees or table motions.
“You must leave the chamber,” Arnott said.
Jama did not move. The clerk and the sergeant-at-arms both spoke with Jama, but no one tried to remove her with force.
Arnott said later that he was not willing to go that far. “There was no way for me to have her removed short of physical force,” Arnott said. “I wasn’t prepared to do that or order it.”
Jama, who has Palestinian family, said: “The repression against Palestinians and the anti-Palestinian racism in this place needs to continue to be called out.”
NDP Leader Marit Stiles has twice tried to get the legislature to pass a unanimous consent motion to overturn the Speaker’s ban on keffiyehs.
But they were shot down after a few Progressive Conservative members refused to consent to the motion.
Stiles said the keffiyeh is cultural attire and once again called on the government “to do the right thing.”
Liberal parliamentary leader John Fraser moved another motion on Thursday calling on the government to move its own motion to do away with the ban. Again, several Conservatives refused to agree.
Fraser said the government has to bring the matter to a vote, rather than opposition parties moving unanimous consent motions that will invariably fail.