An independent MP from Ontario was expelled from the House on Monday for wearing a keffiyeh, while two provincial NDP elected officials left the premises in solidarity.
Their departure came minutes after the Speaker of the Ontario Legislative Assembly relaxed the rules surrounding the wearing of headdresses at Queen’s Park.
Monday morning, MP Sarah Jama, who sits as an independent, was expelled because she was still wearing the keffiyeh. The former Ontario NDP MP has already defied the rules prohibiting her from wearing a headscarf.
Open in full screen mode
Independent MP Sarah Jama has repeatedly worn a Palestinian keffiyeh at Queen’s Park since the start of 2024 and was kicked out of the House.
Photo: The Canadian Press / Christopher Katsarov
Later, two New Democrat elected officials, Kristyn Wong-Tam and Joel Harden, also put on a keffiyeh and then left as a sign of solidarity (see the video at the top of this article).
However, earlier in the day, Assembly Speaker Ted Arnott, who had banned the wearing of headdresses in the Legislative Assembly due to political connotations, indicated that employees, deputies and visitors wearing will be authorized to enter the building.
They will not, however, be able to bring it to the House.
The keffiyeh is not authorized in the room or in the galleries for the moment without unanimous agreement
declared the President of the Legislative Assembly at the opening of the debates.
The president justifies his decision by his examination of the unofficial rules in force for decades
has Queen’s Parkwhich prohibit MPs from using clothing to convey a political message.
I concluded that right now, wearing a keffiyeh was about making a visible political statement.
This Ontario situation is an exception in Canada, although it has not occurred in most provinces. In the Knesset, Israel, the keffiyeh is permitted and was worn in 2014.
With information from Mathieu Simard and Jérémie Bergeron
