OrilliaMatters welcomes letters to the editor at [email protected] or via the website. Please include your full name, daytime phone number and address (for verification of authorship, not publication). The following letter is in response to a letter regarding appropriate attire, published April 25.
I read the letter you published about Rick Lockman’s view. It is a point of view and a context I do not share.
The real issue is, I assume, the etiquette of the provincial legislature in Toronto and what MPPs wear.
Well, in my view, it matters a lot what you wear, and the English expression, “When in Rome, do as the Romans do,” more than applies. It is a house and forum for all constituents to be represented. Thus, if I put on a hat, scarf, jewelry or other dress, I do send a message.
The current issue is the headgear that used to be worn by Yasser Arafat during his time as leader of Palestinians. The symbol developed as a sign of confrontation, violence, and use of force.
A legislature is not such a forum, and by highlighting such symbols in that venue, confrontation is generated.
When I show up there representing my riding dressed in jeans, or in the extreme, wrapped in an American flag or, God forbid, a Nazi emblem, I send a message.
I think the basic rule of some kind of neutral business attire is a good one, as it refocuses the locale to its purpose for open, frank and fair exchange of different points of view arbitrated by an official Speaker.
Any stronger symbolism should belong to the outside for demonstrations and other expression of belongings, even though the individuals made a choice to be in Canada and stand on guard for Canadian principles.
Roland Orlie
Brechin
