Reconciling Unity and Diversity in the Modern Era: Tolerance and Intolerance
Remarks of the Rt. Hon. Beverley McLachlin, P.C. Chief Justice of Canada
At the Aga Khan Museum, Toronto, Ontario, May 28, 2015
Tolerance: the willingness to allow the existence of opinions or behavior that one does not agree with. (Oxford English Dictionary) Canada is a diverse, multi-cultural state. With that comes a plethora of diverse religions, opinions and behaviors.
History shows there are two ways societies can deal with diversity of opinion and behavior. The first is to confine, minimize or eject those who have different views and behaviors. This is the response of segregation and the ghetto; of marginalizing discrimination; in extreme cases, of exile and genocide.
The second approach is to adopt an attitude of tolerance – a willingness to live with people who are different from us – what Jean-Paul Sartre called “the other” – and to co-exist with the opinions and behaviors one does not agree with.
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