I wish to take a moment to address the House on a matter of some importance.

On April 12, I received a letter from the leader of His Majesty’s loyal opposition. Since her letter to me has apparently been released to the media, I will not read it now, but I will instead summarize the request that she made of me. She asked that I permit the wearing of the kaffiyeh in the assembly.

I replied in writing to the Leader of the Opposition on April 16, and I hope she has seen my reply, but I have placed a copy on her desk in the event that she has not.

I will take a moment now to reiterate one of the points in my letter.

As always, any member may seek the unanimous consent of the House to wear clothing, buttons, ribbons etc. which may fall outside the established rules or customs of the House. If a member sought unanimous consent to wear a kaffiyeh, and if the House were to grant such consent, I would obviously accept the decision of the House.

Since I sent that reply, the leader of the Green Party has made a similar request to me in writing—that I permit the wearing of the kaffiyeh in the assembly. And last night, the Premier and the leader of the Liberal Party both made the same public request via social media, addressed to me.

As Speaker, I am the servant of this House. While I made my decision in this regard after considerable research and reflection, if the House believes that the wearing of the kaffiyeh in this House at the present time is not a political statement, I would certainly and unequivocally accept the express will of the House, with no ifs, ands or buts. Again, I would be willing to entertain such a point of order at any time and put the question to the House forthwith.

The Leader of the Opposition on a point of order.