EDMONTON — In light of the Edmonton Police Service's recent social media post calling on individuals to report "hateful comments," Alberta's Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Services, Mike Ellis, says law enforcement should be focused on stopping crime, not "hurt feelings." "We are committed to supporting and respecting everyone's right to free speech," wrote Ellis in an X post on Tuesday. "We have a duty to uphold these rights and freedoms, regardless of an individual's religious or political beliefs.""Alberta's government does not condone hate speech or violence, but we believe law enforcement should be focused on stopping violent crime, not policing opinions or ‘hurt feelings.".Ellis’s comments come as individuals react to a EPS social media post from Friday, in which the service said "Online hate isn't 'just a comment,'" and called on individuals to report such remarks. EPS later deleted the post.The situation raised attention to EPS's "hate motivated incident" category, which the service describes as "a non-criminal action committed against a person or property, motivated in whole or in part by the suspect’s hate, bias or prejudice towards an identifiable group, defined by real or perceived colour, race religion, national or ethnic origin, age sex, sexual identity, gender identity or expression, or any other similar factor.”Individuals have raised concerns about public funding being allocated to policing "hate incidents." "Police resources should be focused on investigating real crime and protecting public safety, not inventing new standard or creating confusion about the line between offensive speech and criminal conduct," wrote lawyer Eva Chipiuk in an X post on Saturday. Ellis echoed Chipiuk's sentiment, stating that he intends to write Alberta's law enforcement agencies and ensure that their priorities are centred on violent crime, theft, illegal drugs and vandalism. .Though EPS policing "hate incidents” is not new, the situation has sparked concerns among Albertans who, in light of the recently passed Bill C-9, the federal Combating Hate Act, fear that their freedom of speech is under threat. The post contained a video featuring supposed "hate" comments, multiple of which were aimed at immigrants, such as, "Send them back home!" "In a free and democratic society, offensive or unpopular opinions should not become the subject of police reports simply because someone disagrees with them," Chipiuk wrote. "We must educate people, elevate the conversation, and encourage respectful dialogue, but that responsibility begins with those in positions of leadership and public trust.".Premier Danielle Smith chimed in on the situation and echoed Ellis's reassurance about the UCP's commitment to protecting free speech. "Free Speech is a foundational Alberta value," wrote Smith in an X post on Tuesday. "We don’t believe in policing unpopular or religious-based statements even if they are controversial. That’s a slippery slope other countries have fallen into and we can’t go down that road."
