EDMONTON — The Edmonton Police Service has declined to comment on its social media post from Friday encouraging individuals to report "hate comments," amid public and political backlash from people questioning the service's priorities. EPS’s post contained a caption that read, "You typed it. Someone lived it. Online hate isn't 'just a comment.' It hurts real people and harms real communities. Hate has no home here..."The accompanying video contained examples of "hate comments," multiple of which were aimed at immigrants, and encouraged individuals to report such comments online to EPS.On Tuesday, the Western Standard contacted the EPS and requested a comment from the service regarding the post, details about the decision to make and subsequently delete the post, information about their "Stop hate" campaign, and statistics involving "hate incident" enforcement.An EPS spokesperson responded to the request on Wednesday and said the agency "will not be commenting at this time." The Western Standard has filed an access to information request for details about the post, and "hate incident" statistics in Edmonton. .Individuals reacted with frustration shortly after EPS made the post on Friday, questioning why the agency was spending resources on policing "mean comments." "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 a social media post. Alberta's Public Safety and Emergency Services Minister, Mike Ellis, echoed a similar comment in a social media post on Tuesday and said he intends to write to Alberta's law enforcement agencies to ensure they are focused on the proper priorities. "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,'" wrote Ellis. The Alberta NDP's shadow minister over public safety and emergency services, David Shepherd, took an alternative approach and backed the EPS in response to Ellis's comments. Shepherd said the UCP government should focus on properly supporting law enforcement through a addaquetly funded judicial system..Though EPS policing "hate incidents” and their "See hate. Report hate." campaign 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. Premier Danielle Smith, who is a self-proclaimed constitutionalist, addressed those concerns in an X post on Tuesday and echoed her government's directive for law enforcement not to police people's free speech. "Free Speech is a foundational Alberta value," wrote Smith. "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."
