Dear Mayor Leonard:

You were recently reported in The Province (see enclosure) as having stated that you would not have rented library space to me in Saanich for my fund-raising speech.

As you probably know — or perhaps you don’t — I am taking the provincial government to court, its misnamed “Human Rights “ Code being blatantly unconstitutional.

Judging from your remarks, freedom of speech and press and the freedom to use public facilities paid for by the public are of little importance. I find that astonishing.

Elected politicians are, or should be, concerned with maintaining law and order, which includes freedom of assembly. But if the Province report is to be believed, you had nothing to say about the Communist, Trotskyite and NDP rabble who attempted to prevent my speaking in the library.

The logic of your position is that any left-wing mob can indulge in the violent suppression of the free exchange of ideas.You do not want “trouble.” So rather than instructing the police to see that order is maintained, you would prevent entirely peaceable people from gathering in peaceful assembly.

You were also quoted as stating that you don’t want to listen to what I have to say, even though, clearly, you don’t know what I am saying. But you must have heard what the rabble outside of the library were saying, and by your silence you seem ready to accept their screams of “Nazi” and “hatemonger.”

For your interest, I enclose a copy of a column in the North Shore News of Sunday, June 13, which will provide you with a few examples of what I am saying. And in truth, my speech dealt entirely with the unwarranted curbs on free speech in this province and country.

One can assume, I think, that the B.C. Press Council is unbiased, and you will see from the statement it made following the contemptible “human rights” decision in my case that it takes a much different stance from yours.

One more thing: Const. Harry Schambart is quoted in the Province article as saying that police attended the “protest” but received no complaints. Where did he get that from? I myself complained to the single police offIcer who arrived when the violence had subsided.