Guy Earle Unveils His Basis for Appeal--Sheer Ignorance

Comedian Guy Earle thinks he has a winner here:

Earle says in a petition filed with the B.C. Supreme Court that the province's Human Rights Code shouldn't apply to arts performances and asks the court to strike down the law.

"I can see no reasoning or law that says that the (Human Rights) Code has authority to restrict the content of a performer's expression," Earle writes in an affidavit filed with the court last week.

"I couldn't have known that I was subject to Section 8 of the code and that I did not have the protection guaranteed to all Canadians under the Charter or that I would be held up in the national media as a convicted homophobe."

Dunno about that. I'm pretty sure that such an assertion falls under the heading of "ignorance of the law is no defence." And I have to say that a big part of our national problem re censorship and Canada's aggrievment industry is that people like Earle--people who make their living via free speech--have not bothered to learn about how they, like all Canadians, are "subject" to these daffy "codes". And they have failed to do so for the simple reason that, like most Canadians, they haven't been paying attention, and because, until now, "human rights" hate speech complaints have zeroed in on those whose political views people such as Earle deplore (i.e. those belonging to the "lunatic fringe" on the Right).

The lesson here: ignorance is only blissful if it doesn't trip you up.

Update: Kathy Shaidle detects the scent of "home-made lawyering." She advises Earle to get a real attorney, and pronto.