Premier Danielle Smith and her government should be applauded for introducing Bill 13, the Regulated Professions Neutrality Act, the first of its kind in Canada. This proposed new law seeks to protect free speech for lawyers, teachers, doctors, and other professionals who, if they wish to earn a living, depend on a licence from their regulatory body.For many years, regulatory bodies across Canada have been abusing their authority by imposing woke ideology on nurses, psychologists, and other professionals. Dr. Jordan Peterson was subjected to disciplinary proceedings by the College of Psychologists of Ontario over his political commentary on Twitter (now X). Nurse Amy Hamm was found guilty of professional misconduct by the BC College of Nurses and Midwives for having stated publicly that there are only two sexes. In Saskatchewan, nurse Leah McInnes faced disciplinary proceedings over exercising her Charter freedom to express her opinions about mandatory vaccination policies. BC teacher Jim McMurtry was fired for questioning the popular narrative — thus far not supported by any evidence — that 215 children are buried at or near the former Kamloops Indian Residential School..SLOBODIAN: Holy hypocrisy: Anglican Church and RCMP vets caught promoting ‘death talks’ to wounded mounties.It's high time for new laws in every province to rein in the ideologues who abuse their regulatory authority by censoring opinions they disagree with. New laws are needed to protect the freedom of professionals to express their opinions publicly, including their freedom to identify themselves as a doctor, lawyer, teacher, nurse, etc., when speaking publicly.Free speech is not the only issue. Of even greater importance, Bill 13 (the Regulated Professions Neutrality Act) amends existing provincial legislation to clarify that a regulatory body exists solely to enforce standards of competence and ethics. .Professional Codes of Conduct and the teaching of professional competence should never be used as vehicles for promoting neo-Marxist ideals like “equity, diversity, inclusion” and so-called “anti-racism” and “cultural competence” indoctrination.Bill 13 is an important step towards addressing these problems and restoring public trust. Bill 13’s preamble, which courts will consider when interpreting and applying this legislation, declares the importance of all Albertans (including regulated professionals!) being free to express their opinions and beliefs on a wide array of political, historical, social, and cultural issues..AUBUT: Oil is not what you think it is.In a move that strikes a dagger into the heart of woke ideology, Bill 13’s preamble goes on to declare “that all persons are equal in dignity and should not be arbitrarily assigned value or blame based on their personal identity characteristics or beliefs.” The Regulated Professions Neutrality Act will apply to over 40 regulatory bodies in Alberta. They will be required to apply and practice the principle that a person’s value should never be determined on the basis of that person’s race, colour, ancestry, national, or ethnic origin, religious belief, political belief, sex, etc. Nor should anyone be considered biased, oppressive, advantaged, or morally inferior because of a personal characteristic, according to Bill 13. Nor should anyone bear responsibility for actions committed by other people belonging to the same ethnic or religious group. Alberta’s Law Society and College of Physicians and Surgeons, for example, will no longer be able to apply notions of collective guilt and inter-generational guilt to lawyers and doctors. Regulatory bodies will no longer be able to use “equity, diversity and inclusion” as the pretext for giving people adverse or preferential treatment because of a personal characteristic like skin colour or sexual orientation..Under Bill 13, the education and training required by a regulatory body for its members must relate only to professional competence and ethical standards. Education and training may no longer seek to dictate — expressly or by implication — the range of acceptable or unacceptable opinions or beliefs on any political, historical, social, or cultural issue, or on a matter of conscience. For good measure, the Bill mandates that professional education and training can no longer address “cultural competency,” “unconscious bias,” or “diversity, equity, or inclusion.” Bill 13 appears to be a direct response to the Alberta Court of King’s Bench judgment in Song v. Law Society of Alberta, in which Justice Kachur ruled that the Alberta Law Society had the right, under the Legal Profession Act, to mandate “cultural competency” training (para. 111)..OLDCORN: JD Vance just said what too many Canadian leaders won’t.Last but not least, the Regulated Professions Neutrality Act requires courts to interpret this new law on a standard of correctness, not a standard of reasonableness. Essentially, this means that regulatory bodies must apply the new legislation narrowly and properly to achieve the goal of protecting free expression, and the goal that education and training be focused on ethics and professionalism (to the exclusion of ideology). Professional bodies will not be able to skirt the law by claiming in court that their own “reasonable” efforts are somehow good enough.In the days ahead, there will no doubt be lawyers, doctors, engineers, accountants, and other professionals urging the Alberta government to make improvements to Bill 13. Criticism is a good, healthy, and necessary part of the democratic process. The government should consider amendments to Bill 13 with an open mind. Let the debate begin, or, more accurately, let the debate continue!John Carpay, B.A., LL.B., is president of the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms, which for many years has advocated for laws like the Regulated Professions Neutrality Act, and which provided funding for Roger Song to sue the Alberta Law Society.
