Former Government Senator Calvin Smith has condemned the recent firing of Sean O'Connell from the Bermuda College and warned that such an erosion of freedom jeopardises democracy.

In a letter to the Editor, Mr. Smith said: "I am in total disagreement with the dismissal of Mr. O'Connell on the basis that he was overheard making remarks that were thought to be racially insensitive in the Bermuda College faculty lounge."

In an interview with The Royal Gazette, Mr. Smith said the case concerned him only in that it showed a disturbing trend towards the erosion of free speech.

"It is not fair in a country with a high level of education and understanding that people will be afraid to speak," he said. And he warned: "This is how dictators take over."

While strong on the fact that he does not condone racially insensitive statements being made in public, Mr. Smith said that privately people should be allowed more freedom.

He said that very few people in Bermuda would be able to hold onto their jobs if they were held accountable for private conversations they had had. "The things that I have heard said and have said myself about white people in Bermuda, why, I think very few people in Bermuda would have jobs," he said. "And it's not just what we say about race it's also what we say about friends and family."

In his letter, Mr. Smith said: "I believe that Bermudians are already too hypersensitive about racial comments."

And he expressed concern that the Bermuda College's decision to dismiss Mr. O'Connell will lead to widespread case of "telling tales" on the Island and said: "We can't live like that, no way man."

Mr. Smith said that one of the most important features of free speech is that you soon learn if the view you have expressed is a mistaken one, or has merit.

"If people are in agreement with what you have said, then you can bring pressure to bear to effect that change, but if your view is not well received then you can abandon it," he said.

Mr. Smith added that this is the reason he has "never knocked The Royal Gazette for articles it has printed". He recalled how after a Senate debate, where he said that Government should look to discuss the decriminalisation of marijuana; he was summoned to appear before former Premier Jennifer Smith and then several Government committees, to explain himself.

Still surprised by the kerfuffle those comments caused, Mr. Smith expressed disappointment as well as concern that while countries like Canada and England had talked about it, and the US was looking to legalise it in certain instances, "here in Bermuda we couldn't even discuss it."

He warned that when people are afraid to speak, they take their views "underground where there is no one to contradict them and so they flourish".

Mr. O'Connell was fired by The Bermuda College ror 'racially sensitive' statements he is alleged to have made in a private conversation.

The Bermuda Public Services Union is against the College's decision and BPSU President Ed Ball said the union is moving to get the matter heard.