It seems like only yesterday that Canadians were up in arms about the issue of freedom of expression. All it took to . . .
get the Joe and Jane Sixpacks clambering to the barricades was an elderly blowhard who dresses like a pimp with brain damage spouting off about how immigrants don’t support the troops.
These mobs of snowflakes were outraged that they wouldn’t be able to see this national embarrassment use his hockey show to voice tirades against Francophone “wimps” and support for pointless conflicts like the Iraq war. Rest assured, this 85-year-old is still employable, his fans will just have to tune into his podcast and not a national broadcaster. Crisis averted.
These newly minted “free-speech” warriors were conspicuously silent this week however, when it was announced that a Quebec superior court had ordered comedian Mike Ward to pay out $35,000 in damages for jokes that he told. Perhaps they don’t follow the media in Quebec, perhaps their excessive bellyaching was just performative outrage triggered by a fear of change and a longing for “the way things used to be.”
Either way, the silence was deafening.
The case in question is a highly emotional one. Back between 2010 and 2013, Ward, a comedian known for his caustic jokes about taboo subjects, performed a bit where he makes fun of a child with a facial deformity, Jérémy Gabriel.
The young tween Gabriel was a moderately well-known singer at the time, having shared a stage with Céline Dion and performed for the Pope. He also has Treacher Collins Syndrome, a genetic disorder characterized by a smaller jaw and other facial irregularities. Ward’s jokes centred around Gabriel’s life expectancy and called him ugly, among other things.
This isn’t the only time Ward has been in hot water for his performances. He received death threats in 2008 for joking that Revenu Québec had abducted a young girl that was missing at the time and later turned up murdered. Tasteless to be sure, but entirely on-brand for an edgy performer.
Gabriel and his mother took their case not to court, where it would have been rejected almost immediately, but to the Quebec Human Rights Commission, which first ordered Ward to pay $35,000 to Gabriel and another $7,000 to the boy’s mother.
Ward and his lawyer appealed the decision, and last week the Quebec Superior court released a 2-1 decision upholding part of the tribunal’s judgment: he would only have to pay out the $35,000 to Gabriel. Ward and his attorney Julius Grey have announced that they will appeal the decision to the Supreme Court of Canada.
This piece is not to defend Ward’s comments, but rather defending his freedom of expression to tell offensive jokes in the context of his performance. Moreover, it’s to combat the idea that a quasi-judicial commission should be able to fine people for being rude.
As Superior Court Judge Manon Savard wrote in her dissenting opinion, despite the fact that Ward’s words were “shocking and disparaging”, they weren’t discriminatory in character and “don’t seek to instill in his audience the belief that because of his disability, Gabriel’s dignity is less valuable” (translated and paraphrased). Ward singled out Gabriel for criticism, not because he was disabled, but because he was a public figure that was experiencing his 15 minutes of fame.
Ward isn’t at fault for the teenage bullies that populate every high school and caused severe mental anguish to Gabriel (though he certainly gave them plenty of ammunition). He also isn’t at fault for all the online trolls who recently forced Gabriel off of social media with their vitriol. Being in the public eye is difficult for anyone, let alone a young teen with disabilities, and perhaps Gabriel’s mother was naive to think that no one would take shots at her boy.
What’s key is that this case has the potential to be precedent-setting. If comedians can be fined for mocking the disabled, what’s to stop the Catholic Church from deeming jokes about pedophile priests “discriminatory”? We’ve already had several cases in Canada where Islamists took issue with newspapers publishing depictions of the prophet Muhammad, which luckily were eventually dismissed.
Rude and cruel people will always exist. While the Charter protects people’s freedom, it doesn’t ensure that everyone has a right to never be the butt of a joke.
Caleb Nickerson
