“In our UCP government’s view, it is not appropriate for this government or any professional regulatory body to compel Albertans to some official version of truth. George Orwell’s fictional 1984 should remain fiction.”
~ Alberta Premier Danielle Smith
Almost exactly two years ago, we chose Danielle Smith—at that time the newly elected Premier of Canada’s Alberta province—as our Hero of the Week for her public apology to individuals inappropriately discriminated against or fired because of their vaccination status. This week, we are pleased to acknowledge Premier Smith’s stand for free speech.
In a recent joint video (posted on “X”), Smith and Justice Minister Mickey Amery announced forthcoming initiatives to better protect medical and legal professionals’ freedom of speech and expression. The impetus for these steps are the “troubling trends” observed both in Canada and internationally, wherein regulatory bodies have been “exerting their authority far beyond their legitimate mandate by attempting to regulate the personal beliefs and political opinions of the doctors, lawyers, psychologists and other professionals they oversee.” The planned initiatives are likely to include legislative changes as well as amendments to the Alberta Bill of Rights.
Smith is also the leader of the United Conservative Party (UCP) of Alberta, formed in 2017 to defend nine principles, the first two of which are “A robust civil society made up of free individuals, strong families, and voluntary associations” and “Freedom of speech, worship and assembly, without government or corporate censorship.” Her grounding in these principles may have been strengthened, in part, by her prior media and business careers before she entered politics.
We congratulate Smith for sounding this warning shot, letting professional governing bodies know that they “must not involve themselves in…regulating the speech and beliefs of their members outside of their professional duties.”
Related:
Danielle Smith (Wikipedia)
No professional should ever feel forced into silence or pressured into self-censorship by their regulatory body (Danielle Smith on X)
Related at the Solari Report:
Hero of the Week: November 28, 2022: Alberta Premier Danielle Smith
