A prominent figure in the southwest has voiced his opinion regarding the recent Mankota vandalism incident.

David Anderson, MP for Cypress Hills-Grasslands, brought his experience to the issue yesterday morning.

Anderson explains what he feels would be a great way to eliminate these isolated incidents of racial intolerance.

"I think the best way to isolate people who are doing these kinds of things is to tell the stories of the new residents in our communities - the immigrants and refugees who have come here.

Getting their stories out is important so people understand their people as well.

That's probably the best way to isolate people who would do something like what was done in Mankota," he said.

Anderson, who is also the Official Opposition Critic for International Human Rights and Religious Freedom, explains how religious freedom could help eliminate future incidents.

"I think the principals of the religious freedom issues that I'm involved in say that people have the right to believe what they choose and have the right to practice that - and other people don't have the right to interfere with that.

I don't know if this is a religious issue or not but just generally, we should be tolerant of our neighbours and allow them to live in peace and safety - and we would expect to have that applied to us as well," he said.

The RCMP don't believe the spray painted racial terms are a hate crime at this time.