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MONTREAL – Mike Ward is a foul-mouthed Quebec comic for whom no target is off limits – not even a disfigured child singer. And now, thanks indirectly to that child singer, Ward has a new role as a champion of free speech.

Quebec’s annual comedy awards, known as Les Olivier, veered into Amnesty International territory Sunday night as dozens of comedians took to the stage wearing surgical masks with a red X across the mouth.

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It was a dramatic show of support for Ward, who with fellow comedian Guy Nantel boycotted the gala after being told to tone down a sketch they were set to perform on the theme of freedom of speech.

“If I win a prize, please put it in the recycling for me,” Ward wrote on Twitter Friday, announcing that he would not attend the show. In the end, he won two awards, including comedian of the year, chosen by the public.

The controversy has its roots in a routine Ward performed in 2010 about Jérémy Gabriel, who suffers from a genetic condition that causes disfigurement. Known as “le petit Jérémy,” he became a sensation across the province when he sang for Pope Benedict in 2006 at the age of nine.