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Gill termed the AFDI ad “dog-whistle politics” and “a ruse to further what appears to be one of its true objectives, which is to target Muslims.”

But just because the ad was a hateful ruse, did the city have the right to take it down?

Yes, Gill said.

The AFDI signed its contract knowing the city and Pattison were bound by the Canadian Code of Advertising Standards, which prohibits deceptive and misleading advertising and advertising that demeans, denigrates or disparages identifiable groups.

The city, he argued, has a legitimate interest in operating a safe, welcoming public transit system.

Freedom of speech in Canada, Gill posited, is not absolute. Section 27 of the charter, he noted, says all other charter rights must be “interpreted in a manner consistent with the preservation and enhancement of the multicultural heritage of Canadians.” That, he concluded, put a limit on the AFDI’s free speech rights.

Gill’s latter argument makes me squirm a bit. Multiculturalism is indeed a core Canadian value, but it ought not to trump free speech. Certainly, we ought to be free to write and say things that critique multiculturalism without fear of government interference.

But the right to say outrageous things while standing on a street corner, or writing a blog, isn’t the same as the right to buy advertising space on city buses, which serve all Edmontonians. Those buses belong to you and me. And we have a right and a moral duty to refuse to rent to foreign hate-mongers, who seek to transplant their venom here.

Pattison and ETS should never have accepted ads from a high-profile extremist group in the first place. It was moral hypocrisy, cowardly double-dealing, for ETS to take the AFDI’s cash with a promise to leave the advertisements up unless there were complaints. For that, we truly owe AFDI an apology.

But our integrity is not for sale. Let’s support, instead, local groups that help all victims of domestic violence, Muslim and otherwise. Let’s make this city safer for everyone.

psimons@postmedia.com

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