Softened, sidelined, sent off

And fine print for LRTs and LTC

ABOVE THE FOLD

Monday had all the makings of a classic day in the Ford government. There was fresh housing beef with the feds, another battle over the keffiyeh and some more bold one-liners from the Premier.

Here’s what you need to know about a doozy of a week so far (and it’s only Tuesday!):

KEFFIYEH BAN, TAKE 4 — Speaker TED ARNOTT was forced to soften his hot-potato ban on the traditional Arab scarf he deemed too political for the Legislature. The keffiyeh is still banned on the chamber floor, but the rest of the precinct is A-OK.

Cue desk-banging: Arnott’s partial backtrack on the rule — which he said has become politically supercharged and “fostered division and discord” — came moments before NDPers KRISTYN WONG-TAM and JOEL HARDEN donned the keffiyeh in protest, then walked out after getting a warning from the Speaker — but not before crossing the floor to have words with PC House Leader PAUL CALANDRA.

They then waited in solidarity as Independent SARAH JAMA was full-on named by…