Flipping the bird is one of the easiest ways of airing out your frustrations and while Canadians are known for being polite, they apparently stick up the middle finger more than you think.
According to a recent ruling, Judge Dennis Galiatsatos determined that giving the middle finger is something all Canadians are entitled to. “To be abundantly clear, it is not a crime to give someone the finger. Flipping the proverbial bird is a God-given, Charter-enshrined right that belongs to every red-blooded Canadian,” Galiatsatos said.
“It may not be civil, it may not be polite, it may not be gentlemanly. Nevertheless, it does not trigger criminal liability.”
Judge Galiatsatos also ordered his fellow Canadians to be get some thicker skin when it comes to engaging in behavior that might raise someone’s middle finger. “Being told to ‘f*** off’ should not prompt a call to 911,” he said.
Apparently, the ruling came after neighbors Michael Naccache and Neall Epstein who live in Beaconsfield, Quebec, got in quite the scuffle. Naccache accused Epstein of violating his rights and threatening him in multiple ways, including Epstein setting up cameras to monitor his house, assaulting his parents in March 2021 and threatening to kill Naccache.
During the trial, Judge Galiatsatos found that none of that ended up being true. Instead, it was actually the opposite of what really happened.
“Naccache has installed four closed-circuit cameras filming the front of his house at all times. He has also installed two dashboard cameras in his parents’ vehicles, a third rear-facing camera in his father’s car, and a high-resolution camera on his motorcycle helmet. Between March and May of 2021, he monitored these cameras for any sign of [Epstein] and his family,” court documents said.
Flipping middle finger came after Epstein was going on a walk on May 18, 2021. Video footage from Naccache’s cameras captured Epstein giving Naccache the finger after his patience wore thin. Naccache was wielding an electric drill at the time and had started to yell at Epstein with it in his hands.
When Epstein returned from his walk, a police officer was waiting for him at his home. He handed Epstein a summons to court, which led to this ruling. “Having heard the testimony and carefully reviewed the audiovisual evidence, the Court does not believe Mr. Naccache. It rejects his testimony as rehearsed, evasive, and untruthful on many levels,” the case ruling notes.