ANDRUS: Smith, Amery, take off after professional colleges that stifle thought

Professional regulatory bodies, originally designed to protect the public interest, have been increasingly overreaching by disciplining professionals for expressing personal views unrelated to their jobs.To combat this, the Alberta government is launching a public engagement process with affected professionals to safeguard Albertans' civil liberties. The aim is to introduce legislation that ensures professional regulatory bodies focus solely on regulating members’ competence and conduct.These professionals are “often subjected to a long, burdensome and expensive disciplinary process based on bad-faith complaints from people they have never dealt with professionally," says Alberta Minister of Justice Mickey Amery.This attack on freedom of expression hits at the core of Albertans' civil liberties.Smith and Amery are taking a stand against the regulatory overreach and the silencing of professionals in Alberta. Smith says it’s unacceptable for the government or for professional associations to regulate speech in a way that forces all members to only speak "some official version of truth."In a social media post last week, the Premier noted that while bodies like the Law Society of Alberta and the College of Physicians and Surgeons play key roles in public safety, they’ve overstepped in policing professionals' speech outside work..BLACKETT: Justice under threat as Alberta Law Society seeks to enforce wokeism.Freedom of expression is a cornerstone of democracy, and professionals in Alberta should not have to fear losing their careers for expressing their personal or political views.Regulatory bodies must focus on ensuring competence and ethics in the workplace, not punishing professionals for what they believe."What a doctor or lawyer believes or says about politics or religion is not a reflection of their competency to practice medicine or law," said Smith.Take, for example, the case of psychologist Jordan Peterson, who was ordered to undergo training after complaints about his personal online commentary.Or the case of Saskatchewan nurse Carolyn Strom, who faced a lengthy legal battle over a $26,000 fine from the Saskatchewan Registered Nurses Association after criticizing her grandfather’s long-term care on Facebook, which the association labeled as professional misconduct..Saskatchewan nurse vindicated in ruling by nurses college.“Organizations that regulate professionals must strike a balance that upholds competence and ethics without restricting members’ rights and freedoms ... We are working to ensure that balance is met,” Smith added in a press release.“We are initiating this review to ensure members’ rights and freedoms are protected,” wrote Amery.This initiative is crucial to ensure that professionals across Alberta are free to express their personal views without facing career-threatening consequences. It is about ensuring that professionals in Alberta aren’t coerced into silence by overly aggressive regulatory frameworks.This review is a significant step in safeguarding the civil liberties of all Albertans. Alberta’s professionals deserve to have their civil liberties upheld without fear of retaliation from regulatory bodies.

ANDRUS: Smith, Amery, take off after professional colleges that stifle thought

Related Stories