Jordan Peterson, a Canadian clinical psychologist and well known public intellectual, faces a potential suspension of his clinical licensing due to controversies surrounding his public statements and personal viewpoints that have been deemed harmful and unprofessional. 

BREAKING: the Ontario College of Psychologists @CPOntario has demanded that I submit myself to mandatory social-media communication retraining with their experts for, among other crimes, retweeting @PierrePoilievre and criticizing @JustinTrudeau and his political allies.

— Dr Jordan B Peterson (@jordanbpeterson) January 3, 2023

These viewpoints include Peterson’s political views and public statements about gender and sexuality, criticism of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his policies, and a retweet from Pierre Poilievre, the leader of the official Opposition in Canada. Peterson also stated that he has been accused of being “sexist, transphobic, incapable of the requisite body positivity in relationship to morbid obesity and, unforgivably of all, a climate change denialist.”

Following an investigation into complaints against Peterson for “harming” people with his views, the College of Psychologists of Ontario (CPO) demanded that Jordan Peterson acknowledge his lack of professionalism and undergo a mandatory coaching program of remedial education to “review, reflect on and ameliorate [his] professionalism in public statements.” The CPO, which oversees practicing psychologists in Ontario, aims to protect patients from professional misconduct. 

Canadians: your physicians, lawyers, psychologists and other professionals are now so intimidated by their commissar overlords that they fear to tell you the truth. This means that your care and legal counsel has been rendered dangerously unreliable.

— Dr Jordan B Peterson (@jordanbpeterson) January 3, 2023

Peterson claims that he has not been unprofessional in any way, and has done nothing to compromise his clients and those in his care. He holds that every accusation made against him is entirely political and independent of his clinical practice, considering that he received no backlash in 20 years of practicing as a psychologist prior to his rise to public prominence starting from 2017. 

“I’m not complying. I’m not submitting to re-education. I am not admitting that my viewpoints — many of which have, by the way, been entirely justified by the facts that have emerged since the complaints were levied — were either wrong or unprofessional,” Peterson said. 

Jordan Peterson has since launched a constitutional challenge against the CPO for violating his Charter right to freedom of expression. He has filed an application for judicial review with the Ontario Divisional Court. 

In a support rally that took place yesterday in front of the CPO, nearly 300 Canadian protesters came to defend Peterson’s right to freedom of speech and support those who have lost their jobs due to their personal convictions. One protestor told TNC News, “Freedom of expression is the most important of all freedoms. Without it, you’re not free anymore. All these regulatory bodies and authoritarian politicians who censor us must stop.”