Why free speech in Canada might suddenly be in peril
Ward v. Quebec, a 2021 Supreme Court decision, is considered a remarkably close call for Canadian free speech law. Quebec comedian Mike Ward had been fined $35,000 by the Québec Human Rights Tribunal for a set that made fun of disabled child singer Jérémy Gabriel. The case became a watershed moment because you had a court punishing a Canadian for telling an offensive joke. That is, until a 5-4 decision by the Supreme Court quashed it; Canada got within one vote of basically greenlighting the state censorship of comedy routines. Well, that fifth vote just resigned.
