As a secular atheist, I'd prefer that the state be very careful about banning speech.
Agreed. This "big thing" is just the umpteenth attempt to bring the Culture War to Canada, and seems to have all the same miscreant bigots lined up on side, on cue.
If I may share a parable from my commute this morning: I was on the streetcar with an obviously crazy person and a bunch of people who, if crazy, were less obvious about it. The crazy person was wearing headphones and muttering to herself, but after a while she started talking louder and then, to nobody in particular, yelled "This is the last time I'll tell you: If you don't stop that god damn whistling I'm going to take you out!"
A guy sitting a few rows forward then decided to start whistling. Crazy person stood up and started screaming at whistling guy. Whistling guy told her to shut up and mind her own business. Crazy person tried to spit on whistler and instead hit two people in between. People moved between whistler and crazy person to prevent physical altercation, and crazy person ran to the rear doors and started screaming for the driver to stop, and banging her head against and pushing on the doors, causing the alarm bell to ring, until we arrived at the next stop. Crazy person then stood on the sidewalk calling whistler to come off the streetcar and fight. When the streetcar started moving, crazy person took a final charge at the streetcar and smacked the window next to whistler.
As we pulled away, the crazy person was the subject of derisive comments from a few passengers and the driver, but then whistler finally admitted that maybe he shouldn't have started whistling, as he didn't know crazy person would do what she did.
My point is this: crazy people are going to do crazy things, and sometimes they will attempt to goad others into participating in their craziness. Even though the non-crazies are within their rights to engage the crazies head-on, it is counterproductive to do so. One should be wary of joining McVety and Banerjee and other assorted crazy bigots to play in their sandbox of craziness. Unless non-crazies have a solution to craziness, non-crazies cannot win and can only lose in such an engagement.
I'm not sure where to draw the line in pointing out craziness vs. ignoring it.