Sarah Jama — an independent Ontario legislator — says wearing a keffiyeh in Ontario’s Legislature despite a ban is the least she can do to show solidarity with the thousands of Palestinians who have died in the Israel-Hamas war and the thousands more who continue to face a humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
That’s why she says she refused to take the scarf off her shoulder while at Queen’s Park yesterday, prompting an order for her removal from the chamber, but she refused that too.
Speaker Ted Arnott later prohibited Jama from voting on matters at the Legislature, participating in any committees or tabling motions.
Question period at Queen’s Park is expected to resume today with the ban on the checkered scarf still in place