Is hate protected?

The people who value freedom of thought and expression were wrestling with some tough questions this month. Does freedom of speech mean we can say anything to anyone any time we want? Is there a boundary where freedom of speech ends and the promotion of hatred begins, and if there is what should be done if someone crosses the line?

When cartoons featuring the representation of the prophet Muhammad were published in a Danish newspaper they offended the Muslim world, most notably its extreme factions, and dozens of people were killed in an alarming series of violent public protests against the publishers who chose to distribute the material. The concerns were kept at arm's length from our day to day lives here in Canada, but recently an Aboriginal backlash has emerged against an article by Western Standard reporter Ric Dolphin that mirrors the reaction of Muslims, albeit on a much smaller scale. At issue for Aboriginal people is a racial slur against a well-known Metis woman here in Alberta.

Western Standard publisher Ezra Levant decided to publish those Danish cartoons and the offending Dolphin article in back-to-back editions of his magazine. In the case of publishing the cartoons, Levant claimed free speech as his right to do so. In the case of the slur, well, Levant claimed that it was not only his right to publish, but his obligation to out the person who said it.
Dolphin began his article with a negative blast at Alberta Premier Ralph Klein, and then called Klein's Metis wife Colleen "a whatsit." He then quoted one of the premier's old fishing buddies as saying Colleen was keeping her husband from retiring because once they left public life she'd return to being "just another Indian."

"Just another Indian." It's become almost trite to say 'substitute the word Jew or Black or Catholic and see how it sounds,' but we think it's worth repeating here.

Let's refresh your memory about Dolphin, who parted ways with the Calgary Herald after the Alberta Press Council censured him for writing and publishing columns that were demeaning to Native people.

Levant, a former spin-doctor for the Alliance/Reform Party of Canada, showed his pedigree in the aftermath of the Dolphin article. "We're just the messenger," he said, adding that it's news that a friend of Klein's would speak as he did about the premier's wife.

That one only holds up for as long as it takes for an SUV to burn a nickel's worth of gas. You see, the news value is lost when Klein's dear friend reported it under the protection of anonymity. When a reporter resorts to the use of anonymous sources who fear repercussions for speaking out, that reporter must weigh the worth of the information being offered. Sometimes people won't stand behind something they say because they know it's false and are hoping to get away with causing mischief by hiding behind a reporter. If the source says something that is racist and borders on hate, the reporter's job is to challenge the source. Mr. Dolphin seems to have many anonymous sources with racist views. He was censured by the press council for columns where he used an anonymous cab driver, a waitress and a medic to provide insight into the Aboriginal community.

The tone of Dolphin's reference to the source's comments is not one of shock or outrage. The sentiment revealed was not "exposed" as Levant claims. It was parroted. The fact that Dolphin has used unnamed sources before to trot out anti-Indian sentiment undermines Levant's argument.

Perhaps the most alarming aspect of this whole situation is that Levant freely admits that he didn't anticipate the reaction of the Aboriginal community because he didn't see the racial aspect of the comment. Despite his much-professed relationship with the Aboriginal community in Alberta, this to him was just a "spicy" political story.

And this rolls in nicely with our story on what a Ryerson University professor discovered when he researched the coverage of the Ipperwash shooting of Dudley George. "I now know from looking at Ipperwash," John Miller said, "that the stereotyping and unconscious racism towards Native people in this country is worse than towards any other group." Windspeaker will direct a copy of the study to Mr. Levant for his enlightenment.