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Premier Danielle Smith and Justice Minister Mickey Amery recently announced plans to amend legislation governing professional regulatory bodies in Alberta. In a video, they expressed concerns about regulated members facing investigation and disciplinary action for expressing their opinions on political and religious issues.

In the video, they referenced well-known media personality Dr. Jordan Peterson, who was reprimanded by his regulatory body, the College of Psychologists of Ontario. In response to this announcement, NDP justice spokesperson Irfan Sabir accused the PCU of “whistling and pursuing divisive policies.”

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Although Peterson’s case is politically charged, I cannot agree with Sabir’s dismissive attitude toward reform nor with his view that the government’s intentions are simply to protect the right professionals “to say vile things”.

During the announcement, Smith and Amery also discussed the case of Carolyn Brost Strom, a Saskatchewan registered nurse who was fined by her regulator because she made comments on Facebook about the care facility where his grandfather spent his final days. Her case eventually went to the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal, where it was unanimously overturned, but only after years of great stress for this innocent nurse.

I got to know her and helped her appeal by approaching the Canadian Constitution Foundation to act as an intervenor. Since then, she has bounced back from her experience and is now an NDP candidate in the next provincial election.

The good that came out of his ordeal was a well-reasoned decision from the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal that directly addresses the right of regulated professionals to speak publicly. The court specifically noted that her regulator failed to recognize that her comments, in which she stated that she was a registered nurse, were “intended to contribute to public awareness and public debate.”

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In other words, it was precisely because she was a nurse that her public comments had value.

What happened to him shouldn’t happen to others. This is not to say that professional regulators should never regulate the public speech of their members. When public statements by individuals claiming professional expertise clearly misrepresent their expertise and mislead the public, regulators should be able to act. This is particularly the case in medicine, where expert opinion is often based on the specialization of a field: a dermatologist should not make public statements on topics falling within the expertise of an immunologist or doctor. a cardiologist.

But on broader issues of public interest, including legitimate challenges by professionals and academics to standard practices or policies, the debate is better – even if it turns out the questions were wrong. This includes the debate on professional regulation itself.

Despite Sabir’s criticism, governments in Canada and around the world have been struggling to reform professional regulatory bodies for some time. The BC NDP government is a leader in this area. It has taken significant steps to reform its professional regulatory bodies, but not without resistance from some professionals.

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Even here in Alberta, when Tyler Shandro was Minister of Health, he introduced reforms based on British Columbia’s initiatives to increase public accountability of health professions regulators and commissioned a study from Health Quality Council of Alberta to review patient complaint processes.

A review of professional regulation can benefit Albertans, regulators and professionals. I encourage those affected to make their views known.

Here is my contribution: Currently, all health regulatory bodies are subject to review by the Office of the Alberta Ombudsman. As a lawyer, I recommend that the Government of Alberta extend this measure to my regulator, the Law Society of Alberta.

Better to have the discussion than another RN on the ropes.

Collin May is a Calgary lawyer and former member of the Provincial Council of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta. In 2023, he was appointed an Adjunct Lecturer at the University of Calgary for his work on secondary harms caused by unfair complaints processes linked to professional regulatory bodies.

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