A Quebec man has paid the price for swearing at cops..“The expression ‘f—k you’ is a vulgar expletive used to express anger, contempt or disgust,” wrote Judge Sylvain Dorais of Municipal Court in Vaudreuil-Dorion, Que..“The context in this case is no exception to this interpretation.”.Homeowner Daniel Brown on April 4, 2022 summoned police to ticket a neighbour over a parking complaint. Brown appeared “calm, welcoming and even grateful when they arrived,” the court was told. Only when officers dismissed his grievance and went to leave did Brown become upset, “raised his voice” and uttered the profanity as police returned to the patrol car..“Mr. Brown does not deny saying ‘f—k you,’” wrote Dorais..“He put forward an explanation, namely that he was not insulting the police but rather he was pointing out the lack of service rendered by the police following his complaint against his neighbour.”.“If an officer turns around and refuses to give a ticket, well it’s a ‘f—k you, Mr. Brown.’ You not giving a ticket is a ‘f—k you.’ I was not insulting the officer.”.The court was unconvinced and Brown was cited for breach of a local bylaw stating “no one may insult or blaspheme against an officer in charge of bylaw enforcement.”.“Mr. Brown didn’t hide his feelings in relation to the police intervention which occurred at his home,” wrote the court..“A large portion of his testimony was aimed precisely at expressing his contempt for the police officers of the Sûreté du Québec.”.“The evidence taken as a whole allows the court to clearly understand who was the real target of the words spoken. When we analyze the events based on all the testimony heard, it becomes clear that the defendant uttered these words to show his contempt for police.”.Brown was fined $200..A separate tribunal, the Canada Broadcast Standards Council, issued numerous interpretive rulings that the f-word carries different weight in French than it does in English. “The word ‘f—k’ in French does not have the vulgar connotation it can have in English,” the council wrote in 2016.
