‘I was just wearing a T-shirt that was important to me and my family,’ says Espen Forest

TORONTO – A northern Ontario MPP submitted a formal complaint to Queen’s Park’s house speaker on Thursday after security wouldn’t allow observers into the gallery wearing an “Every Child Matters” T-shirt, and in another case, a sewn patch of the Transgender pride flag.

Thunder Bay-Superior North NDP MPP Lise Vaugeois sent speaker Donna Skelly a letter requesting clarity on whether the message arising from the discovery of First Nations child grave sites on the grounds of former residential schools should be interpreted as a political protest.

“Every Child Matters is a statement that should not be discouraged, in fact, it is a powerful message of support for those missing and murdered Indigenous children,” Vaugeois wrote, citing similar messaging that is displayed in Queen’s Park’s public reception rooms.

“If you could make a definitive ruling on these forms of representation to clear up any misunderstanding, it would be greatly appreciated.”

Queen’s Park policy is to ban all “political statements” inside the provincial legislature.Last June, security removed several protesters from the gallery following the majority-Progressive Conservative government passing its controversial Bill 5 mining law. Later that summer, security initially interpreted wilderness firefighters wearing their uniforms in the gallery as a political protest but the speaker resolved it and they were allowed to observe.

In 2024, former MPP Sarah Jama was removed and banned from the legislature when she refused to remove her keffiyeh. Jama argued at the time that the ban on political statements is “racist” because it targets deeply meaningful cultural clothing, such as the keffiyeh.This week, the Premier’s Office ordered the outdoor statues to be wrapped and protected from vandalism in anticipation of protests. Police have been monitoring those demonstrations on horseback. Elected members wear “Every Child Matters” shirts in the Legislature every September 30 to recognize the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation.

Vaugeois, who has an “Every Child Matters” flag hanging in her office, was writing on behalf of Espen Forest and their partner Emma Johnston.

As a former member of the Legislative Page program, Forest was familiar with decorum expectations in the gallery, but it didn’t occur to them that their T-shirt message was interpretable as political.They were surprised when security guards summoned a supervisor, who pointed to the policy that disallowed visible “materials with political or offensive slogans, including clothing.” Security provided them with a white T-shirt to wear over top of their “Every Child Matters” shirt.

Forest is non-Indigenous but they participate in ceremony, and they have an aunt who is First Nations, as well as two cousins who are Inuit.

“I didn’t wear it with any intention of making a political statement,” they said. “I was just wearing a T-shirt that was important to me and my family. But if you think about what it actually means, if they gave me a white T-shirt and I wrote, ‘Children deserve to live,’ on it, would that be allowed?”

The pair were attending Question Period due to their interest in announced cuts to the Ontario Student Assistance Program. Forest, who is a member of the NDP, echoed Vaugeois’ call for the speaker to lead security on what messages constitute political protest.

“The fact that it’s just left to the discretion of whoever’s there to determine whether or not that’s a political or offensive slogan, I feel like operating on that basis is not only unfair to members of the public who are trying to be here, but it’s also legally unfounded in terms of uniformity and making sure things stay consistent,” they said.

Ricochet Media/Local Journalism Initiative