Quebec MNA caught up in another clothing row
Dorion faces complaints over sweatshirt
On Thursday, Catherine Dorion, a member of the National Assembly for Québec solidaire, was pressured out of the provincial legislature. The reason? Her colleagues believed she was improperly dressed.
According to the Presse Canadienne, Dorion entered the assembly’s Blue Room, where the debates are held, wearing an orange hooded sweatshirt. When she arrived, some MNAs from other parties filed complaints about the hoodie to Speaker Francois Paradis. A Québec solidaire spokesperson said when Dorion was made aware of the complaints — which claimed that her outfit breached decorum — she chose to leave the chamber.
Deputy Speaker Chantal Soucy told reporters that “we have a decorum to respect, we reminded her of it several times. It was time to draw a line,” the Presse Canadienne reports. “She was not wearing clothing worthy of an MNA within the Blue Room.”
This isn’t the first (or even the second) time Dorion has been reprimanded for her clothing. On Oct. 31, she posted a photo on her Facebook account that showed her sitting on a desk in the Red Room, where official ceremonies are usually held, in heels and a skirt, with the caption “Happy Halloween.”
The Liberals filed a complaint to Paradis about the photo, claiming that she was not respecting the decorum of the National Assembly and requesting that he investigate.
Dorion, a 37-year-old mother of two first elected in 2018, said she was “shocked and hurt” by the complaint.
Last year, Paradis said the National Assembly’s dress code will have to be reviewed, in part because of Dorion’s clothing choices. That time, it was for wearing Doc Martens boots.
She told reporters that modernizing the dress code would encourage younger citizens to become more interested in politics.
Paradis said the dress code review would be "essential and healthy.”
National Post, with files from the Presse Canadienne