Covid 19 conspiracies dump

[Irreligious Atheist]

And, his example was about a B.C. Human Rights Tribunal case.

Those tribunals are problematic, as they have no jurisprudence, and depend on the leanings of the judges.

Plus, the example was from 2011 when Section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act was still in effect (a provision that stifled free speech in favor of anyone who felt hated or offended) - and was repealed in 2014.

Ok. Here's a more recent example then. 2021 article from the bbc. Thankfully, the comedian was vindicated by the supreme court (although a 5-4 slit decision and extremely close, and who's to say this doesn't go the other way with a different supreme court in the future?), but you don't think it's crazy that he was ordered by Quebec to pay thousands of dollars in the first place (in 2016, and the decision upheld in 2019), for a joke, and to be forced to take the matter to the supreme court?  https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-55959133

The repercussions of that show have been followed for almost a decade in Quebec and will culminate on 15 February, when the lengthy legal battle over a joke Ward told about Gabriel in that act will be heard by Canada's Supreme Court.

The tribunal found he had "exceeded the limits of freedom of expression" and that his joke was discriminatory on the basis of disability.

He appealed, and in a 2019 split decision, the Court of Appeal mostly upheld the tribunal's ruling, as well as C$35,000 ($27,500; £20,000) awarded to Gabriel in moral and punitive damages.

The court's "intention is not to restrict creativity or censor artists' opinions", said the ruling, but "comedians, like any citizen, are responsible for the consequences of their words when they cross certain lines".
Ward had already decided that if he lost, he'd seek to take the fight to Canada's top court.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/mike-ward-scc-j%C3%A9r%C3%A9my-gabriel-1.6229032