the speaker of the ontario legislature is correct to ban the keffiyeh during debates. it is customary in british-canadian culture that political symbols not be worn during debates. i applaud the speaker for enforcing british canadian cultural values within british canadian political institutions. foreigners should be expected to follow our rules and conform to our culture, not the other way around.

that said, i also understand that this decision is being made within the context of certain laws being passed in quebec, which, as is so often the case, is ahead of the rest of the country. i have been making the argument for many years that the hijab is a political symbol and should be banned from the public sector workforce for that precise, exact reason. while it would not exactly by a ballot issue for me, i would like to see ontario adopt some of the laws that quebec has recently adopted regarding religious symbols in the workplace. perhaps this is a first step towards that desired and inevitable (and correct, in a secular society) end point.