Watching Speaker Ted Arnott ban the wearing of traditional Palestinian scarves called a keffiyeh has been interesting.
Opinions on the matter flow like wine – some satisfied with Arnott’s decision, others annoyed at this slight and we suspect, a staggering number of people who couldn’t care less. It has resulted in online petitions on Muslim websites to reverse the decision.
The Liberal, NDP, Green and PC leaders have all decried the move, causing Arnott to make the offer of a vote requiring unanimous consent to alter his decision. In the end, it did not pass with unanimous consent and may come back another day.
Arnott, as Speaker, made the ruling after it was brought to his attention that this garment could be considered a political symbol. One wouldn’t have had to look too far to see the scarf present at anti-Israel rallies across the GTA in recent months. That visual has been present at protests since October 7, 2023, turning it into a symbol of sorts.
Those in political circles would be more acutely aware of how this visual may or may not affect colleagues at Queen’s Park. Word is that up in Ottawa, the House of Commons Speaker is also looking closely at the matter after members of the NDP attended meetings wearing the keffiyeh. It has become a symbol within a politically charged atmosphere.
It is easy for all party leaders to grumble about Arnott’s choice – that’s politics and regrettably it becomes particularly cheap around election time. A by-election in Milton is currently underway and the Muslim vote could well swing that riding one way or the other.
Unfortunately, all four leaders of parties in Ontario have chosen to pander to a segment of voters, rather than support their duly elected Speaker of the House.
In speaking with politicians acquainted with the topic, a point of redemption (outside of the partisan nature of things we see on TV) is that members are made to feel welcome and equal. Symbols, props or dress worn to make a political point are to be avoided. Baggage, in effect, needs to be left at the door so the business at hand can be discussed without distraction.
Discretion is in the eye of the beholder. That is why rules are needed, because some people can’t help themselves.
A million bucks
A billion seems like overkill, but we really need to come up with a new measure of currency when paying a compliment.
Just the other day we remarked that someone looked like a million, only to find ourselves wanting to recant the statement for fear it might have sounded like an insult. What’s a million anymore?
The economy continues to play tricks on us all and as we have admitted numerous times, we can’t figure out the price of housing, languishing wages and inflation. None of this makes sense or seems sustainable if we are to have a healthy, growing economy with middle class lifestyles.
But we aren’t that out of it yet, to have noticed the sales pitch that capital gains announcements in the recent budget are targeted at high-earning Canadians. Finance Minister Freeland said something like only 0.13% of Canadians will be affected each year.
As the figures rattled across the news that night it looked like a whole lot of pain for business and property holders with recreation property. In the hours and days since, it has become more obvious that few owners of secondary real estate or investments will escape the increase. Even former Finance Minister Morneau, who was shown the door during COVID, worries about the impact of these policies. He was also one of few cabinet ministers very worried about government spending with its pandemic response.
There is little question something must change with how Ottawa operates. It would appear the Liberals are happy taxing rather than redefining spending habits. By Freeland’s adoption of the tax-the-rich polices of Singh and his NDP mates, Canadians may want to ask for a definition of rich.
With the disparities between economic groups becoming more pronounced as each month passes, we might all be surprised at who qualifies as “rich” these days. Far more are going to feel the bite.
