To the editor:


With respect to Doug Collins' anti-Semitic newspaper columns
("Columnist's writing tests free-speech limits" - May 15):

North Shore News managing editor Timothy Renshaw and the B.C.
legislature both get it wrong.

First, Mr. Collins has a right to free expression, as guaranteed by
the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, no matter how
repugnant his views may be.  Therefore, prosecution for expression
of those views is immoral and unconstitutional.  The B.C. Human
Rights Commission should be ashamed of its attempts to silence
Collins through legal sanctions.

Second, the North Shore News is not obligated, either legally
or morally, to publish Collins' columns.  As an editor, Mr. Renshaw
is perfectly within his rights to cancel Mr. Collins' column.  

Mr. Collins would then be free to proclaim his viewpoint on street
corners, on the Internet, or in a less discriminating newspaper.

Jeffrey Shallit