00:02:01.760And at its worst, it becomes an outright threat to free expression.
00:02:05.500Alberta's latest legislation taking aim at how professional bodies limit free speech.
00:02:09.880It's proposed Regulated Professionals Neutrality Act limiting groups like Alberta's College of Physicians and Surgeons
00:02:15.560or the Law Society of Alberta from disciplining members for expressing opinions while not on the clock.
00:02:20.820There are some exceptions. For example, the comments cannot threaten violence or misuse the professional's position with an intent to harm.
00:02:28.100Sometimes it's hazy where the workplace ends and their personal life begins.
00:02:34.060These cases are cropping up because of the ubiquity of social media where regulated professionals are chiming in on hot-button issues in the new digital public square.
00:02:42.560Two years ago, Dr. Jordan Peterson, a clinical psychologist, podcaster and author, was disciplined by Ontario's College of Psychologists for a series of online comments, including statements about transgender actor Elliot Page.
00:02:55.560It wasn't really about incorrect information. In fact, it was more about the tone which he made his statements, which they viewed as unprofessional.
00:03:04.140And I believe they use words dishonorable and degrading as well.
00:03:07.400So it wasn't what he said is how he said it. That's the state of Canada's professional bodies.
00:03:13.900Well, it's not what he said. It's how he said it. It's the tone. What a damn joke.
00:03:18.880Program in order to keep his license. He eventually agreed after the Supreme Court refused to hear his appeal.
00:03:25.080Fear of similar discipline, the premier believes, has kept medical professionals from speaking out in support of a recent Alberta law limiting access to transgender medical care.
00:03:33.200We spoke to many professionals who were afraid to put their names in the public realm, not only due to the threat of public cancellation, but mainly due to fear of losing their professional status or their livelihood.
00:03:44.840So this is one of those moments where I definitely give credit where due and the premier of Alberta putting out that law, the Jordan Peterson law, to allow professionals to not be blackmailed or threatened by their associations that are now more political than anything.
00:03:59.440They're basically liberal activists. Her putting that protection out there allows professionals to give honest opinions without fear of repercussions from their from those associations.
00:04:10.440Right. So she put out a tweet a couple of months back in regards to this.
00:04:13.700Watching Jordan Peterson and other Canadian professionals being targeted by their professional associations for speaking their minds made it clear to me that Alberta has to act.
00:04:24.320That's why we are changing the law to ensure no one in Alberta will ever be punished by their professional body for standing up and sharing their views.
00:04:33.340In this province, we protect the voices that challenge, question and inspire.
00:04:37.420Here's an article from the National Post talking about the stand that Alberta is taking when it comes to DEI practices here in Canada.
00:04:45.680Alberta protects professionals from witch hunts and forced diversity training.
00:04:50.680Regulators have been abusing their power for political ends.
00:04:55.120The article goes, the tricky thing about boundary pushing is that if you unwisely take it too far, it might snap back in your face.
00:05:03.400That's what the regulators of lawyers, doctors, psychologists and every other job gatekeep by professional bodies are now facing in Alberta after their sister entities across the country started dabbling in political policing.
00:05:17.000On Thursday, Alberta Premier Daniel Smith and Justice Minister Mickey Amory announced Bill 13, the Regulated Profession Neutrality Act, which would prohibit regulators from mandating diversity training, among other forms of political conditioning, while also protecting most off-duty speech.
00:05:37.280It's unbelievable that Alberta had to create a law to protect free speech.
00:05:41.700That's just the state of Canada today.
00:05:44.240You have to get a province, subnational government like Alberta, reinforcing your ability to say what you actually believe, what your opinion is, expressing your opinion when you're off work. Unbelievable.
00:05:59.660But the government of Alberta has taken this fight even further with multiple institutions now ending the DEI and race-based hiring practices that most of Canada continues to implement.
00:06:13.080University of Alberta to become first to abandon race-centric hiring.
00:06:18.160Schools set to return to prior system of hiring based on qualifications.
00:06:22.440It's so ridiculous how that's even a thing, that we change the policy going from merit-based, which is how we should have always been, to race-based. Really ridiculous.
00:06:34.000Article goes, the University of Alberta is set to become the first major Canadian university to abandon race-centric hiring in a move that could expose it to federal litigation.
00:06:44.340Oh, you know the federal government is going to want to fight this. You better believe they're going to want to fight this.
00:06:49.680The school's current recruitment policy, first adopted in 2011, prioritizes the hiring of persons historically underrepresented at the university, end quote, a category that includes women, disabled people, indigenous people, and, quote, members of visible minority groups, end quote.
00:07:08.600But under a draft revision currently headed to the school's Board of Governors, these clauses will be discarded and the school will go back to hiring based solely on qualifications, as it should be, as it should be.
00:07:24.060For some, the language of DEI has become polarizing, focusing more on what divides us rather than our shared humanity.
00:07:32.300No shit. No freaking shit. Every time you have to talk about someone's skin color, someone's gender, someone's past as opposed to their qualifications and their merit, you're literally dividing people. You're doing exactly that, which you say you're against.
00:07:50.140about you hire people based on the effort they put in to be qualified for the position
00:07:56.520and forget all about their skin color, their background, their ancestry, who they choose to
00:08:03.240sleep with. None of that has anything to do with the job. Some perceive an ideological bias at odds
00:08:09.500with merit. Bill Flanagan, president of the University of Alberta, explained in a January
00:08:14.0802025 op-ed for the Edmonton journal it really is such a joke that we ever moved from hiring people
00:08:21.520based on how qualified they are for the actual job and instead started employing them based on a bunch
00:08:27.360of other bs like their skin color and who they choose to sleep with i'm glad alberta's leading
00:08:32.800the charge in returning to common sense because boy does canada ever need some common sense
00:08:38.720I hear the train is coming. It's rolling around the bed. And I ain't seen the sunshine. I don't know when.