Toronto-based comedian Ben Bankas has repeatedly faced cancellations across Canada for his satirical videos mocking politicians, yet his style of comedy is constitutionally protected speech, according to Josh Dehaas in a National Post commentary. Bankas first gained notoriety during the COVID-19 pandemic by parodying Chief Public Health Officer of Canada Theresa Tam using an exaggerated Chinese accent. In one viral video, he says, “You need to fall in line. You need to listen to your woke white neighbour who wear a mask and make her five-year-old child wear a mask even though he don’t understand why. She’s a hero.”
Bankas’ Satirical Targets and Controversy
Bankas later targeted Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow with similar over-the-top Chinese accent overdubs on real footage. In one video, he mocked Chow’s proposed “rain tax” based on asphalt and shingles on properties to fight flooding, as well as her support for decriminalizing hard drugs. “Everybody so upset about my new controversial tack where we tack on the rain,” Bankas says in the bit. “In China, it rain cat and dog. Here it rain money. I want to correct the money for all the poor people to buy the fentanyl and the other drug that I am going to slowly make legal as we get rid of all the rich people.” Bankas is not Chinese.
The CBC responded by calling Bankas’ comedy “hate-filled,” and interviewed comic Ali Hassan, who argued the bits were “racist” and “punching down.” However, Dehaas notes that Chow backed down on her rain tax after Bankas’ mockery, showing the power of comedy to influence public figures.
Cancellations Across Canada
Despite the constitutional protection of comedy, Bankas has been cancelled in Sault Ste. Marie, Kitchener, and Thunder Bay, Ontario, as well as Cranbrook, British Columbia. In Nanaimo, B.C., the local government caused the cancellation, which Dehaas argues violated the Charter rights of Bankas and his audience. After a single delegate at a Nanaimo City Council meeting demanded the city apply its Respectful Spaces Bylaw to cancel Bankas’ sold-out show, the council wrote to the city-owned Port Theatre to “request” all performances be “accessible, inclusive, and welcoming.” The Port Theatre cancelled the show, prompting Dehaas to give Nanaimo the annual Municipal Muzzle Award.
Dehaas emphasizes that the Supreme Court of Canada, in the 2021 decision Ward v. Quebec, ruled that edgelord comedy like Bankas’ is constitutionally protected speech. In that case, the court overturned a Quebec human rights tribunal order that comedian Mike Ward pay damages to a famous teenager with a disability for telling jokes about him. Ward told the court his comedy aimed to take on the “sacred cow” Quebec celebrities, a principle that applies to Bankas’ satire of politicians.
Comedy as Protected Speech
Dehaas concludes that mocking politicians is not only punching up but is constitutionally protected. He argues that comedy is a form of expression where normal rules don’t apply, allowing comedians to break taboos and reveal important truths while potentially bringing down powerful figures. The cancellations of Bankas’ shows, particularly those driven by local governments, represent a violation of free expression rights.
