Posted on 05/01/2017 2:11:54 PM PDT by nickcarraway
The controversy over Lorne Grabher's personalized licence plate, which reads "GRABHER," could be settled in court now that a group of lawyers has decided to sue the Nova Scotia government.
The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms said Thursday it plans to file a court application later this month, saying the government officials were wrong to withdraw the man's plate when they deemed it offensive to women.
"We had hoped for a reasonable ... response which would be to reinstate the plate," said John Carpay, president of the Calgary-based lawyers group. "Instead we received a letter from the Nova Scotia government, which essentially invites us to sue them."
Carpay says his group, which is dedicated to defending constitutional freedoms, wanted to take on Grabher's case because it concerns free speech.
"If we have a right to free speech, then we do not have a right to be free from offence -- you can't have both."
He said the unusual case appears to be part of a wider trend.
"Canadians are becoming increasingly less tolerant of free expression," he said. "You have more and more people who believe that they have a legal right to go through life without seeing or without hearing things they find to be offensive."
Last October, an anonymous person filed a complaint with Nova Scotia government, saying Grabher's licence plate was offensive to women.
However, Grabher has said he feels discriminated against. The plate had been used by his family for 20 years without incident.
"You're supposed to be brought up to respect yourself and respect where you came from," Grabher said in an interview Thursday. "If they have this right to take that away from you, then you have no respect for yourself."
Last month, Transport Department spokesman Brian Taylor said while the department understands Grabher is a surname with German roots, this context isn't available to the general public who view the plate.
The personalized plate program, introduced in 1989, allows the province to refuse plates deemed offensive, socially unacceptable or in bad taste.
Grabher said his public image has been tarnished by the government's move.
"I'm not a woman hater and I don't promote violence against women. That's what they got me labelled as."
Carpay said he expects to be in court later this summer or in the fall.
Was he going to put that license plate on a van?
The judge finally ruled that he can keep the license plate as long as he displays empathy to and solidairity with the plight of western women by attatching one of those nifty pink hats from the womens marches to it
“If we have a right to free speech,
then we do not have a right to be free from offense,
you can’t have both.”
-
Well said.
this context isn’t available to the general public who view the plate.
= = =
Canada put the “Canada’s Ocean Playground” on the plate.
They put on the offensive context.
While it doesn't relate to the story, this is a good opportunity to post a picture of cute Australian tennis pro Julia Grabher.
Mr. Grabher says “if the government has the right” shows he has a poor understanding of rights & powers. Since he’s from Canuckistan, I guess he gets a pass. I think he’s pissing in the breeze going to court but wish him the best.
Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms gurantees freedom of expression BUT the boundaries of that freedom have yet to be completely defined by litigation.
For example, criticizing a person of community in public on the basis of race , religion, language or ethnicity is defined as hate speech in Canada. So the freedom of expression is much more narrow than freedom of Speech in the United States.
I would no bet that Mr. Grabbher will win his case.By US standards he would.
You must remember, all of her “majesty’s” subjects have no rights at all, rather they are subject to the whim and fancy of the queen.
Any nation of the British Crown/commonwealth is exactly in that circumstance- subjects all...
One has to wonder at the timing... did this only become an issue after NBC decided to team up with the Democrats to release old old footage of private citizen Donald Trump with Access Hollywood Billy Bush?
I’m not a big fan of government restricting speech but,IMO,a good argument could be made against this plate.
Bull cookies. This has nothing to do with "Canadians becoming increasingly anything...." It has everything to do with some stupid idiot spouting off the "I'm so offended" line and a media and a legal system which are only too willing to give her the platform and the megaphone.
Well, I'm offended by anybody and anything who says that they are offended. There.... what are you going to do about that? Should I believe that I have a 'legal right to go through my life without seeing or hearing anything that I find to be offensive? Unbelievable how some people think....
Funny story (at least it was for me)... years ago I was doing some consulting work and had a meeting with the maintenance manager in a hospital. I had looked at the name several times going in and came to the conclusion that the pronunciation of it couldn't possibly be at be like the way it was spelled out. Anyway, I handed the name to the receptionist and said I had a meeting with this guy and so she said "ok, let me try to reach him." She called up his phone but he obviously wasn't picking up so she said "I guess I'll have to page him". With that and as casually as I say good morning, she picked up the microphone and everywhere in the hospital heard "Fukeye You..... your 10 am appointment is here at reception." I don't know what nationality this fellow was but I was thinking... if there ever was a good reason for someone to do a name change, I think this fellow had it.
Well, that’s his name, and if his name is offensive, then the state should force him to change his name.
You can take your “good argument” and toss it! When a government has the audacity to take away a person’s LEGAL NAME, it can take away everything! There are MANY na es that an be “offensive” to snowflakes, but that is just too bad. Throw out the hate speech agenda which is just another agenda like global warming, designed to strip our liberties!
Well said!
Grabher is his surname and the article says the plate has been in his family for years.
The argument against this plate lies in fallow ground. For what reason? If one person can complain and have the government take away something that's been fine with them for over 20 years, then the problem is not with the plate being offensive.
The problem lies with the person who complained and the weak government official who can't make an adult decision for lack of common sense. I know, I know. It's the government, so there is no common sense. But still...
There is nothing offensive about one's name. To say otherwise, is stretching it to say the very least. Let Mr. Grabher keep his license plate and inform the person who complained of their decision. Let that person go through the court system if they feel so offended by it. Why force the innocent citizen to pay legal costs for something that wasn't doing anybody any harm, except in the mind of this one complainer?
Canada is not for me, eh?
The problem here, as always, is the freakin’ LAWYERS.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.