Councillors are concerned about yellow vest and alt-right protests taking place at city hall

In over a year yellow vest groups have descended on city hall. The conversation started when some members showed up at Hamilton’s pride event over the weekend.

There were concerns that officials in Hamilton are not doing enough to mitigate hate speech.

Some voiced their frustrations at city hall for allowing the yellow vest protestors to rally and councillors are saying they are now looking into the matter.

McMaster University professor Peter Graefe says the rhetoric has expanded “It’s become mostly a collection space for people who are concerned about the Islamic faith in Canada who want less immigration”.

On their social media pages, Graefe says he has seen hate speech but the debate is when does free speech cross over into hate. Councillors have said that’s why the matter gets challenging because, in society, freedom of speech is a right.