Introduction of Bill 13 on Professional Expression

Today we are introducing Bill 13, the Regulated Professions Neutrality

Act. This is common sense legislation that would

recognize that everyone should have the right to express their

personal views freely. No professional should fear losing their

license, their reputation, or their livelihood because of a personal

opinion, a social media post, an interview, or open dialogue

outside of working hours. These changes come after one of the most

notable

cases of professional regulators punishing an individual for comments

made outside of a professional setting, and that is Dr. Jordan Peterson.

Dr. Peterson was sanctioned and ordered to undertake a so-called

reeducation program in order to maintain his credentials for

statements he had made outside of a clinical psychology

setting. Similar notable cases have involved

nurses,

doctors, and teachers that have been punished, sanctioned,

or have had their

licenses threatened for comments that they have made on social media, at

protests, or even at meetings of, uh, local city

councils. We looked at these cases and asked an important question:

Are regulators still focused on public safety and professional

competence, or are some of them overstepping to

enforce

ideological conformity and to silence public discourse?

The bill aims to protect expressive off-duty conduct.

It draws a clear distinction that regulators are responsible for

competence and ethics, not policing beliefs or personal

expression that has no bearing on a person's ability to do their professional

practice. No one cherishes their freedoms like

Albertans do.

This is a sentiment that we hear often, and something that our government takes

seriously. Our aim is to uphold professionals' rights and

freedoms while continuing to protect the public interest so that both public

confidence and professional integrity are maintained.

We want to ensure that professional regulatory bodies keep

their focus on

areas within their scope on members' actions that affect their professional

competence and ethics, because everyone has the right to express

themselves and to share their views and to have their voice heard in our

society.