摘要：On 7 February 1994, Maclean's magazine ran a story on "one of Canada's most successful immigrants," British Columbia's lieutenant-governor, David See-Chai Lam. Mr. Lam, it is noted, has made considerable effort to increase understanding between Canadians and new arrivals by arguing that Canadians should celebrate rather than tolerate cultural diversity. He says "tolerance is a slightly negative word ...it's like saying, 'You smell, but I can hold my breath.'" Implicit in Mr. Lam's statement is a recognition that to "tolerate" and to be "tolerated" involves an unequal relationship. To tolerate, as Mirabeau and Thomas Paine put it, implies that the tolerator has the authority or the power to not tolerate.
