Ontario NDP leader is promising to step up his party’s efforts to overturn the ban on wearing Marit Styles Sheet Inside Queen’s Park when MLAs return in early May.
In a video posted on social media, Styles said that if Ontario Premier Doug Ford did not pressure him to lift the ban on Arab headdresses, he and his entire entourage would disregard the rules.
Speaker Ted Arnott this spring banned the keffiyeh, a black-and-white checkered scarf commonly worn in Arab cultures and often a symbol of solidarity with Palestinians.
Arnott ruled that this was a “political statement” and therefore breached the strict rules that prevent MPPs from using props or clothing to send a message while sitting indoors.
Ford and Styles, along with the Greens and Liberals, have said they oppose the ban. However, some members of the Progressive Conservative caucus have moved against the Prime Minister to maintain probation on the keffiyeh.
After initially trying, and failing, to get his MPPs to follow his lead, the Prime Minister allowed them to vote freely on the issue. Justifying his decision to reporters, Ford said that the issue was a “very sensitive topic” for members of his caucus.
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Styles said in her video that she was giving Ford an ultimatum: figure out how to reverse the ban by May 6, when members return to Queen’s Park, or face opposition from the opposition benches.
“We have decided to give the government until May 6 to reverse this unjust rule or we and the community are expected to continue violating the ban,” Stiles said. “Doug Ford, now is the time for you to do the right thing. “Now is the time to reverse the keffiyeh ban and it is time for us to come together as a community and fight anti-Palestinian racism, hatred and division.”
Styles did not explain in the video how the party would violate the ban. The NDP did not respond to a request for comment at the time of publication.
Ford’s office said his previous comments on the ban – which he called “divisive” – still stand.
The keffiyeh has been a major point of tension at Queen’s Park since Ford and other party leaders voiced their opposition to the speaker’s ban in mid-April.
Independent MPP Sarah Jama refused to leave the chamber and was barred from voting or attending committees for the entire day on Thursday because she flouted the ban by wearing the clothes.
A demonstration was also held outside Ford’s Etobicoke office on Friday on this issue.
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