I grew up on Prince Edward Island and I remember Joe Ghiz, who was our premier. He was the first premier of non-European descent. He was the subject of a racist slur in the legislative assembly. Something I thought was interesting about that was that there was some discussion about hierarchy. He was the premier, yet he was being demeaned by a racist slur.
As I was trying to find the news reports of that incident, I happened upon a statement that Mr. Ghiz had made at the time he was running in that election and he was being asked whether race was playing a role. One thing that he said I thought was quite relevant to your deliberations. He said, “Bigotry is part of the human condition. It is the ugly weed of democracy. It can never be allowed to spread unchecked in a society based on tolerance and respect for human rights and equality.”
So he, as premier, as someone who clearly felt that freedom of speech in the legislative assembly was crucial, was also of the view that tolerance and human rights are key and must be protected, as much as freedom of speech must be protected.