In a press release published Tuesday morning, the Commission considered it necessary to refocus its treatment on complaints related to discrimination.

Last October, the Supreme Court ruled that the Human Rights Tribunal did not have the necessary jurisdiction to adjudicate Mr. Gabriel’s complaint because it was a matter of defamation. By extension, the same logic applies to complaints handled by the Commission.

Too broad interpretation

What the Supreme Court said was that the Tribunal and the Commission’s interpretation of these provisions was too broad. [les articles 4 et 10 de la Charte québécoise des droits et libertés des personnes] and we must tighten and refocus our jurisdiction and the investigations we conduct into this type of fileexplained the president of the Commission, Philippe-André Tessier, in an interview with The Canadian Press.

” Our jurisdiction re -focuses on comments, cases where there are only comments and where there are no other discriminatory acts. “

We want to let the population know that this type of case, we can no longer process them, so people should clearly consult a lawyer to see what options are available to them to go to a common court. law.he explained.

We can no longer, so we have to close. Therefore, we individually inform each of the people who submitted files to us for ithe pointed out.

Mr. could not determine. Tessier the number of files to be closed, the review is still underway, but nevertheless he indicated that there ten. Obviously, if there is any doubt, people should not hesitate to file a complaint with us, and we will reviewHe added.

Mike Ward’s attorney, Me Julius Gray, for his part interpreted this announcement by the fact that this means that there have been cases where they have opened investigations and where, now, they are obliged to acknowledge that it does not hold.

According to the nation’s highest court, comedian Mike Ward’s comments about Jérémy Gabriel on a show a few years ago did not meet the standard of discrimination demanded. The judgment argued that discrimination within the meaning of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms cannot be used to obtain relief in a defamation case.

It is not enough to be hurt

Me Gray explained that the majority decision was established that a person cannot say that a person has been discriminated against because one has been insulted or hurt or treated subjectively in an offensive manner. Insufficient.

Discrimination is something even more important: it requires the removal of something. In other words, it is clear that if you don’t have a service somewhere, if you can’t rent an apartment, if you don’t have a job, if you are prevented from performing your duties at your job, there is discrimination. But just being hurt is not enoughhe repeated.

The Commission upheld the complaint of Jérémy Gabriel and his mother against the Quebec comedian, but it explains that the principles established by the Supreme Court in the Ward redefine its jurisdiction in cases where the alleged discrimination is based solely on sections 4 and 10 of the Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms.

Ang Human Rights and Youth Rights CommissionCDPDJ It is determined that from now on, to be the subject of a complaint to the Commission, comments targeting the basis of discrimination must also lead to discriminatory treatment in the exercise of one of the rights set out in the other articles of the Charter.

The Commission maintains that comments targeting grounds of discrimination, such as disability in the case of Jérémy Gabriel, remain unacceptable in its eyes in an inclusive and open society.

A long legal legend

In 2016, the Quebec Human Rights Tribunal ordered Mike Ward to pay Jérémy Gabriel $ 35,000 and $ 7,000 to his mother, Sylvie Gabriel, in moral and punitive damages, ruling that they were both victims of discrimination.

Mike Ward appealed the case, but the Court of Appeal upheld the decision and upheld the payment of $ 35,000 to Jérémy Gabriel. However, the court reversed the obligation to pay the amount to his mother.

After suffering a setback in the Supreme Court, Jérémy Gabriel and his mother both filed separate lawsuits against Mike Ward, representing a total of $ 372,600. Julius Gray treats these lawsuits as an abuse of process.