His lawyers call Toronto psychologist and bestselling author Jordan Peterson a colourful and controversial online provocateur whose YouTube videos and tweets are liked by millions.
Petersons detractors see him as a showboater who uses controversy to make money, espouses anti-feminist and anti-trans views and spreads misinformation about areas he knows little about; his climate change commentary on a podcast last year was derided by scientists as stunningly ignorant.
But before rocketing to worldwide fame, Peterson was just like thousands of other clinical psychologists in Toronto he taught university courses and treated clients with behavioural and mental conditions and was a registered member of the College of Psychologists of Ontario in good standing, with no public record of any complaints.
Since then, complaints to the Toronto-based college have multiplied, many from individuals with no clinical, professional or personal relationship with Peterson but who are offended by things theyve read or heard him say online, in podcasts and in interviews.
Following the publication of his 2018 book The 12 Rules for Life, Peterson gained a reputation as a guru for male self-improvement, winning fans especially within so-called mens rights communities. Its a reputation hes cultivated with a YouTube channel and combative Twitter account where he has warned of a crisis of masculinity and railed against political correctness in terms critics have slammed as hateful, leading the platform to ban his account in a high-profile decision. (It was later overturned by Twitter owner Elon Musk.)
Around the same time as the Twitter ban, in 2021 and 2022, a series of complainants to the college took exception to Petersons comments directed at politicians, a transgender actor and a plus-sized model, leading to an investigation by the colleges complaints committee. Some complaints were related to comments about climate change he made on an appearance on Joe Rogans podcast, Rogan himself being no stranger to controversy.
The committee concluded the overall effect of Petersons controversial public statements could constitute professional misconduct and ordered him to undergo a social media re-education or coaching program. The failure to do so could result in the loss of his psychologist licence.
When hell freezes over, Peterson responded in a tweet last fall about the likelihood of him receiving such training.
Peterson is now seeking a judicial review of the panels November 2022 decision, taking the case to Ontarios Divisional Court.
Jordan Peterson v. the College of Psychologists of Ontario is being watched by free speech advocates and regulators from other professions.
The decision by the panel of three Superior Court judges could have a broad and possibly chilling effect on all regulated professionals, warned Jonah Arnold, a lawyer for the newly created Association of Aggrieved Regulated Professionals of Ontario, one of several groups granted intervener status at the June hearing. Arnold said he co-founded the organization in January after realizing many clients were unjustly forced to leave their respective professions and had no voice, he wrote in an email to the Star.
A decision to uphold the colleges decision could deter people from joining regulated professions in Ontario, including teaching, medicine, or the law, if it emboldens regulators to police the expression of non-professional opinions and beliefs, Arnold argued during the daylong hearing at Osgoode Hall. (One of the judges on the panel called that speculation.)
Other interveners included the Canadian Civil Liberties Association its lawyers argued that regulatory oversight doesnt extend to expressive activity that is outside the scope of professional practice and the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, which like the other interveners, took no position on the outcome of the case, but noted health regulators have an overarching duty to act in the public interest.
That includes setting standards for civility in communications in public forums, and ensuring communications are free from discrimination and consistent with core values of the profession, CPSO lawyers Carolyn Silver and Amy Block wrote in their submission.
Lawyer John McIntyre, representing Egale Canada and JusticeTrans, argued a health professionals right to freedom of expression is not unfettered. It must be weighed against countervailing interests, including the Charter rights of vulnerable and marginalized stakeholders. (Petersons lawyers note the colleges decision did not find his comments were transphobic or discriminatory.)
Peterson, meanwhile, was a no-show at the June court proceeding.
Born and raised in Alberta, he joined the University of Torontos Department of Psychology in 1997. He resigned as a full-time professor in 2021 but remains a professor emeritus. He has been registered as a psychologist with the college since 1999 and continues to be a member despite stopping his clinical practice in June 2017.
Peterson, who just turned 61, came to broader public attention in 2016 after releasing a YouTube series called Professor Against Political Correctness. In it, he criticized the federal government for amending the Canadian Human Rights Act to include gender identity and expression and railed against gender-neutral pronouns.
His 2018 self-help book 12 Rules for Life gave readers straightforward advice, like to stand up straight with your shoulders back and make friends with people who want the best for you. It sold 10 million copies worldwide; a follow-up sold five million. Meanwhile, Peterson continues to promote himself on his YouTube channel, Twitter posts, speaking tours and in interviews with print, TV and online media outlets.
People whove taken offence to some of his statements or views have complained through the colleges formal complaints system or by posting their disdain on Twitter and tagging the regulator. Some purport to be colleagues. Embarrassed to be in the same college as him, one anonymous psychologist told a college staff member over the phone last year. The call takers note is included in a 736-page Divisional Court file.
If I did one-tenth of the stuff he is doing people would be all over me, the caller said.
Its up to the colleges complaints committee to decide whether a full hearing is necessary after complaints are made, or whether it would be appropriate and in the public interest to resolve the matter some other way. The college currently has 4,868 members and in 2021-22 it opened just six registrar investigations, confirmed Tony DeBono, the colleges registrar and executive director.
In Petersons case, a panel found in November 2022 that his comments were degrading, demeaning and unprofessional. After an offer to resolve things through remediation failed, the panel ordered him to take complete a remedial or coaching program. Typically, such decisions are not made public, but Peterson posted his online; they now form part of the court record, as does a September 2022 letter from Peterson to the college. In it, where Peterson responded to the criticism, noting he has already implemented a solution to the problem of monitoring and modifying his social media communication with guidance from a team of experts.
I have consciously and carefully surrounded myself with people who have helped me monitor what I am doing and who provide me with continual feedback as to the appropriateness of the tone and the content of what I am purveying, Peterson wrote. The vetting team comprises a very wide network of expert thinkers and includes a set of messengers and strategists on the liberal left (for the Democrats) who have tried assiduously to pull that party toward the moderate middle for more than five years, and have produced billions of dollars of advertising on that front, and our conversations have been strenuous and difficult and careful in the extreme, as we have attempted to negotiate our way forward in peace, mutual understanding and tranquillity.
In ordering Peterson to accept remedial coaching, the panel cited the following public statements as problematic:
In the November 2022 decision, the panel wrote it is concerned that making public statements that may be inconsistent with the professional standards, policies, and ethics currently adopted by the college poses moderate risks of harm to the public.
Those potential harms include undermining public trust in the profession of psychology, and trust in the Colleges ability to regulate the profession in the public interest.
Petersons lawyers argued this ruling conflicted with a prior review of Petersons similar conduct.
In 2020, an earlier panel responded to a complaint that some of Petersons comments on Twitter were transphobic, sexist, racist, and not in keeping with clinically accepted understanding of psychological concepts, according to the decision that cited numerous examples.
Peterson asked the college to dismiss the complaint because it was frivolous and vexatious, and he was not a practising clinical psychologist.
An investigation was conducted and that panel concluded that while some of his statements are considered controversial and unpopular, objections to his political commentary does not serve as evidence that he has engaged in disgraceful, dishonourable, or unprofessional behaviour. However, the panel added it had concerns that the manner and tone in which Dr. Peterson espouses his public statements may reflect poorly on the profession of psychology.
The panel, this time, decided it would be in the public interest to advise Peterson to offer his opinions and comments in a respectful tone in order to avoid a negative perception toward the profession of psychology, the March 2020 ruling said.
The Divisional Court could release its decision at any time.
Betsy Powell is a Toronto-based reporter covering crime and courts for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: @powellbetsy
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When hell freezes over: Inside the Ontario court battle over Jordan Petersons tweets - Toronto Star