Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s government plans to limit what behaviour professional regulators can police in the interest of strengthening freedom of expression.
A bill introduced in the house Thursday aims to narrow what kind of behaviour regulated professionals — from architects to welders — can be disciplined for by their regulators.
Smith is calling it Alberta’s “Peterson law,” after Ontario psychologist and social media personality Jordan Peterson, who was sanctioned by his province’s professional regulator for controversial public statements.
“When regulators begin disciplining people for simply speaking their mind on their own time, that’s overreach and, at its worst, it becomes an outright threat to free expression,” Smith told reporters before the bill was introduced.
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She added her United Conservative Party government wants regulators focused on the professional competence of their members.
“I don’t think anybody’s shy about criticizing our government. I think what we have heard, though, is that there are people who are concerned that they’re going to get punished by their professional college if they support our government,” Smith said.
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She said she has heard from nurses, doctors and teachers who have been punished or had their licences threatened for off-duty comments made on social media, at protests or at city council meetings.
Under the Regulated Professions Neutrality Act legislation, regulatory bodies would still be able to discipline members for conduct outside their practice in some circumstances.
That includes when a person threatens violence, is convicted of an offence for their expression, or misuses their position “with the intent to harm an identifiable person.”
The bill, introduced by Justice Minister Mickey Amery, would also limit what professional training members might be compelled to take.
“Any education or training that addresses political, historical, social or cultural issues can only be required if it’s directly related to professional competence or ethics and necessary for that purpose, and it must not attempt to prescribe the range of acceptable opinions on those issues,” said Amery.
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He declined to speculate on specific examples of what would be prohibited, saying it might be determined on a case-by-case basis.
“If it is to further a political, social or cultural objective, and that is a debatable issue in general, then this act will prevent that from happening.”
He said the bill is meant to guide professional regulatory bodies, but “the decision-making process will lie within the regulators themselves.”
If an organization goes too far, he said, “then we’ll certainly hear about it.”
The Law Society of Alberta and the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta said they’re taking the time to review the bill and its implications.
Alberta Opposition NDP justice critic Irfan Sabir told reporters the bill represents political overreach by interfering with self-regulated professions.
He said it would get rid of things like Indigenous competency training for the legal profession.
“Essentially what it says is that people should be able to say all kinds of vile, inappropriate, incorrect things outside their professional work,” he said.
Sabir said the legislation would also prevent regulators from imposing mandatory training for members on diversity, equity and inclusion, cultural competence or unconscious bias.
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“(Smith) is bringing in this legislation essentially signalling to her base — extreme right-wing fringe people — to say whatever wild inappropriate thing they want without any accountability.
“That’s not leadership.”
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