A judge has given the green light for an appeal by comedian Mike Ward.
Back in July, Ward was ordered by the Quebec Human Rights Tribunal to pay $42,000 for making fun of Jeremy Gabriel for the boy's facial deformities caused by Treacher Collins syndrome.
Gabriel, who's now 19 years old, is a singer who's sung for the Pope and for Celine Dion in the past.
Ward joke about Gabriel was told in performances across the province between 2010 and 2013.
Ward's lawyer, Julius Grey, plans to argue that the judge made factual and legal errors in his ruling, and did not take freedom of expression into account.
"The courts have said over and over again that political freedom is particularly wide and there have been a couple of hints that artistic freedom may be just as wide but there's no judgment on it," Grey says, "and I think it's essential that artistic freedom be given the same latitude as political freedom."
The ruling against Ward has galvanized Quebec's comedy community, in both languages. During this summer's Just for Laughs festival, a fundraiser was held to help Ward pay his legal fees.