Conservative MP Garnett Genuis (Sherwood Park-Fort Saskatchewan) said the Canadian government should pass his bill to add political belief to the Canadian Human Rights Act (CHRA) to promote freedom of expression. .“People shouldn’t face discrimination for any reason,” said Genuis at the Wednesday event. .“Just as it would be wrong for someone to be fired or denied service because of their race, their sexual orientation, their marital status, etc., it’s wrong when people face those same kinds of discrimination based on their political belief.” .Genuis introduced the bill to prohibit political discrimination in federal jurisdictions in May. .READ MORE: Alberta MP introduces motion to ban political discrimination in federal law.“This is a longstanding issue and risk, but the government’s recent use of the Emergencies Act really brings this risk into sharper focus,” he said. .“The justice minister explicitly demonstrated political views were a factor in considering whose bank accounts should be frozen.”.Canada Strong and Free Network President Jamil Jivani started off the event by saying political discrimination is a particular type of discrimination, “one that frankly doesn’t impact a lot of the elites who shape media narratives.” .“But it's a reality in what’s happening in the world today, particularly in our country where there are people being targeted by employers and cancel culture activists and others for their political beliefs,” said Jivani. .Jivani said the most obvious example in the news recently was prominent Canadian psychologist and author Dr. Jordan Peterson saying the College of Psychologists of Ontario (CPO) is investigating him for his beliefs. .Peterson said on January 3 the CPO is demanding he do a course about social media etiquette. .READ MORE: Jordan Peterson says Ontario psychologist regulator requesting he do social media course.“BREAKING: the Ontario College of Psychologists @CPOntario has demanded that I submit myself to mandatory social-media communication retraining with their experts for, among other crimes, retweeting @PierrePoilievre and criticizing @JustinTrudeau and his political allies,” said Peterson. .He said he has to take social media training, with reports documenting his progress. If he objects, he will face an in-person tribunal hearing and suspension of his clinical psychologist licence. .Genuis said the bill adds political belief or activity as a protected ground to the CHRA. If the bill passes, he said there would be limitations on this ground such as for other ones. .These would include bona fide occupational requirements. If the Sierra Club is hiring a person and do not want to select a conservative, that would be fair. .The Conservative MP went on to say political discrimination “threatens the vibrancy of democratic debate and the idea for existing orthodoxies to be challenged.” He added people should not be reluctant to put forward contrary ideas because they're afraid of facing consequences. .He said it's terrible people want to punish others for having different political views. When he encounters people who he disagrees with, he challenges their position and tries to engage them in sharp dialogue. .While political belief is not an immutable characteristic like race or sex, he said human rights codes protect people on changeable characteristics such as marital status and religion. These changeable characteristics are important to people like political beliefs. .Genuis acknowledged the bill would not protect Peterson, as the CPO is provincial jurisdiction. Regardless, he said people need to talk about it. .Levitt Sheikh LLP partner Kathryn Marshall said political discrimination is worsening. .“It never used to be the case that professional regulators cared about what their licensees were doing and saying and believing as long as it didn’t violate the actual rules,” said Marshall. .Marshall said political discrimination is happening because corporations are supporting social justice activism. She argued it's rooted in cancel culture. .Of all of the cases she has dealt with, not one of them has been a liberal being discriminated against. It has often been conservatives who post a tweet or attend an event their employer disapproves of. .Genuis concluded by saying people are focused on the prominent cases of political discrimination and not regular ones. .“If you’re facing political discrimination, I want to hear from you,” he said.
