An Edmonton man got a $543 ticket for carrying a profane sign about Stephen Harper in his car.

An Alberta man who was cited for a profane political message against Conservative Party Leader Stephen Harper intends to fight the fine in court — and he has a good case.

Rob Wells of Edmonton got a $543 ticket Sunday after Mounties pulled him over for the hot pink “F*ck Harper” sign in his car’s rear window, according to his Facebook post, which has 863 shares.

“When I refused to let him trample on my Charter rights, he gave me a ticket,” he wrote.

Wells, who did not immediately respond to a request for an interview, wrote on Facebook that he plans to plead not guilty and challenge the fine on Charter grounds.

Late Tuesday he also said he filed a complaint for “political harassment and attempted extortion” against the officer who issued the “bogus” ticket, which was for stunting — performing or engaging in any activity that is “likely to distract, startle or interfere with users of the highway.”

This is a classic free speech case, Montreal human rights lawyer Pearl Eliadis told Yahoo Canada News.

“It would be prima facie [at first sight] protected by Section 2b of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, so the question becomes whether or not the so-called stunting infraction is a reasonable limit on free expression,” said Eliadis, author of Speaking Out on Human Rights.

The Crown would have to prove that any distraction to or interference with other drivers was due to the nature of the sign – its colour, its size or even the profane word — rather than its message.

“I think it’s a serious defence,” Eliadis said.

Wells is sure it’s purely political retaliation, and called the Mounties “Harper’s brown shirted RCMP,” referring to the goose-stepping thugs of the Nazi Party’s paramilitary wing.

“I’m convinced that [the ticket] will be thrown out. The RCMP are just using it as a tactic to suppress opposition to the Harper fascists,” he wrote.

Wells said it’s not the first time he’s been targeted for his political stance.

“Last time, they threatened me with criminal prosecution for having an anti-Harper bumper sticker,” he wrote on Facebook. He filed a complaint then too, and quoted an Edmonton Police Service directive from Oct. 31, 2000, which advised cops that “political signs containing profanity on vehicles” do not constitute either a crime or an offence under the traffic act.

“My sign is what democracy looks like, the RCMP ticket and threatening letters are what a police state looks like,” he wrote. “We’re going to change that.”

