The hill NDPers are dying on

And a familiar face is back in the backrooms

ABOVE THE FOLD

The keffiyeh continues to dominate provincial politics.

Despite Speaker TED ARNOTT easing up on his ban on the keffiyeh in the chamber, the traditional Arab scarf continues to be a lightning rod at Queen’s Park — which is a long ways away from the conflict in the Middle East.

“I actually miss talking about the Greenbelt stuff every day,” one senior PC government staffer confided to me this week.

I can commiserate. Alas! Here’s the latest:

The PCs aren’t the only ones dealing with a caucus rift on the matter — New Democrats are divided, too. Things came to a head Wednesday when MPP JILL ANDREW donned the keffiyeh, defied the Speaker’s warning, and was promptly named and booted from the chamber floor by the Sergeant-At-Arms.

Andrew’s scene stole MARIT STILES’s thunder — the Oppo NDP Leader was smack dab in the middle of grilling the Ford government about Ontario’s doctor shortage.

It also comes after a heated caucus meeting during which, my sources confirm, the keffiyeh w…