CPSA reacts to Danielle Smith’s plan to limit regulators’ ability to ‘control personal opinions’

The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta (CPSA) says it supports balancing free speech and the public interest after Premier Danielle Smith announced her government plans to reign in the ability of professional regulatory colleges to discipline members over their public comments.“CPSA supports the Government of Alberta’s stance that professionals should retain their right to free speech in the expression of personal opinions,” Dr. Scott McLeod, registrar and CEO of the college, said in an email statement to the Medical Post on Wednesday.“However, as the Premier pointed out, the public interest requires balance when such views intersect with professional practice in a way that crosses certain boundaries established by the profession’s practice standards,” Dr. McLeod added.In a video posted to social media on Wednesday, Smith and Alberta Justice Minister Mickey Amery outlined their plans to bring legislation next year to “ensure that professional regulatory bodies are limited to regulating their members professional competence and conduct and not their speech.”“What professional governing bodies must not involve themselves in is regulating the speech and beliefs of their members outside of their professional duties. What a doctor or lawyer believes or says about politics or religion is not a reflection of their competency to practice medicine or law,” Smith said in the video.One of the “troubling examples” that Smith and Amery cited was a 2020 case in which an Ontario physician was brought before her college tribunal after she had written a letter to criticizing the COVID-19-induced changes to the way her church conducted communion. The college did not issue any sanctions against the physician, but said her comments “may lead a listener or a reader to believe that she was taking the position that measures to protect congregants from the transmission of COVID-19 were not warranted.”In addition, Smith and Amery cited the case of controversial psychologist Jordan Peterson, who was ordered to undergo social media training by the College of Psychologists of Ontario after complaints about his conduct on X (formerly Twitter).Before introducing legislation, Smith says the province will launch a review of Alberta’s regulated profession and conduct consultation. The CPSA say it plans on participating in this process.“We look forward to collaborating with the government and our regulatory peers to develop effective legislation that balances public safety with the protection of individual freedoms,” Dr. McLeod said.

CPSA reacts to Danielle Smith’s plan to limit regulators’ ability to ‘control personal opinions’

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