Supremes to hear Mike Ward’s appeal
Mike Ward, ordered last year to pay $35K in damages to Jérémy Gabriel for mocking him in his comedy routine, will have his appeal heard by the Supreme Court. He’ll be standing on freedom of speech; the Quebec Human Rights Tribunal backed up by the Court of Appeal held that Ward had violated Gabriel’s rights. It’s an important decision: can we be penalized for saying things that are in poor taste?
david182 02:55 on 2020-07-31 Permalink
If you know me in real life, you know how utterly unimpressed I am with Canadian stare decisis. But this is one where we can be pretty certain that the Supreme Court of Canada will come down with a strong precedent restricting speech.
Andrew Stewart 11:28 on 2020-07-31 Permalink
Actually, I hope the Supreme Court of Canada sides with Mike Ward. If Mike Ward’s comedy has offend people, they have the right to not attend his shows.The fact that Mr. Ward make a joke about Mr. Gabriel was treating him like a normal person and not like a special interest group. Mr. Gabriel had the right to also walk out of the show. When we sue like this, we start to become like the States with litigious lawsuits. I think anyone should read 1984 by George Orwell to understand the themes about dangers of censorship.
Andrew Stewart 11:59 on 2020-07-31 Permalink
I agree with you with the statement, can we penalized someone for saying something in poor taste? The other interest note, was Mr. Gabriel was 12-13 years old at the time of attending this show. His parents or legal guardian should have done their due diligence on what type of show Mr. Ward. We don’t bring our 12-13 year children to a rate R film and then when the child has nightmares, litigious sue the movie studio or even the theater.
Em 12:38 on 2020-07-31 Permalink
Andrew: Gabriel’s mother was also originally awarded money (though I believe that part was reversed on appeal), so she was very much a part of this.
david291 19:17 on 2020-07-31 Permalink
Actually, this is very much unlike the US, where essentially the only actionable speech of this kind is slander. Canada is charting its own distinct course with this type of restriction on speech.
Andrew Stewart 11:45 on 2020-08-04 Permalink
While I understand your intention, my hopes are Canada charts it is distinct course where they are not restricting speech. By have more speech, you are more likely to de-radicalize and depolarized extreme points of views and meet in the middle. “the strongest weapon against hateful speech is not repression, it is more speech—the voices of tolerance that rally against bigotry and blasphemy, and lift up the values of understanding and mutual respect.”