Canada’s federal government is planning legislation to prohibit taped racial and religious hate messages over the telephone, Justice Minister Ronald Basford told parliament in Ottawa yesterday. He said the messages were produced mostly in the Toronto area by a group called “Western Guard.” He said they breed “racial prejudice and bigotry, arousing anxiety among racial minorities and undermine confidence in the protection they should be afforded under law.”
Basford said the hate messages were aimed against Blacks, Asian groups and Jews. “This is a delicate area in which to legislate,” he said, but he assured parliament that his proposals would deal with the problem properly while “protecting freedom of speech in a free society.” The proposed legislation will be part of what the government hopes will amount to a comprehensive anti-discrimination code. Ontario Attorney General Roy McMurty has been asking for such federal legislation for a year.
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