The Supreme Court ruled in Mike Ward’s favor this week, in his more than decade-old case against Jeremy Gabriel, saying he did not violate the charter. This decision was widely shared, but mostly in favor of Mike Ward.
More precisely, according to Radio Canada, the humorist’s jokes would not have violated Jeremy Gabriel’s right to dignity.
Radio Canada Indicates: ” Mike Ward chose not to make fun of Jeremy Gabriel on the basis of his disability, but on the basis of his notoriety. For them, Mike Ward’s jokes cannot therefore be considered discrimination under the Quebec Charter of Rights and Freedoms. »
In a ruling issued Friday morning, the five majority justices wrote: Controversial comments exploit, rightly or wrongly, discomfort for the purpose of entertainment, but they do little more than that. »
We will remember that in the said joke, Mike Ward mocked young Jeremy, who sang before Pope Benedict XVI at the age of nine.
In 2016, a human rights court ordered Mike Ward to pay $35,000 in damages to Jeremy Gabriel, for discrimination, and $7,000 to his mother. The comedian has appealed this decision. In 2019, the Court of Appeal confirmed the first ruling to withdraw the obligation to pay an amount to the mother. All along, Mike Ward always refused to pay. He then decided to summon the state’s highest legal body to win his case.
Thus, this judicial saga ends after more than 10 years.
