Baranyai: Too often, consequences mistaken for censorship

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This fall, a social worker in Yukon temporarily was stripped of her professional registration in B.C. for endorsing conspiracy theories. While the case has raised awareness of Yukon’s lack of regulation for social workers (a situation the territory is working to remedy), it did not appear to generate much – if any – angst over the line between political beliefs and professional practice.

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Maybe it’s our heightened state of division, but I expected more sturm and drang. Where was the chorus of free speech defenders howling about the tyranny of “thought police”?

Complaints to the B.C. College of Social Workers (BCCSW) about Debbra Greig included social media posts disparaging pandemic public health advice. However, it was an email to Yukon Legal Services that seized the regulatory body’s urgent attention. In it, Greig wrote “Canada is now governed by HRH Queen Romana Didulo,” and described the family court process as “null and void.”

Didulo is an anti-vaccine extremist and cult leader who espouses QAnon conspiracies. The BCCSW complaint raises reasonable concerns about Greig’s ability to offer competent and ethical services to a vulnerable clientele.

Greig’s website suggests she has “retired” her professional designation from BCCSW, a rather incomplete euphemism for suspension pending an investigation. She continues to practice in Yukon, according to CBC. There is also concern about her potential involvement in federal programs supporting residential school survivors.

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In 2022, Greig gave witness testimony at the House Standing Committee on the Status of Women, which was studying resource development and violence against Indigenous women and girls. One of Greig’s suggestions was using psychological testing to “screen out” violence and misogyny among workers in the camps, noting unhelpfully: “The root of all violence and aggressive behaviour is the self.” The other witnesses each spoke up in turn to clarify the violence is systemic.

Two years ago, another professional college reprimanded an accredited member over their stated political beliefs. The ensuing public discussion was notably different.

Jordan Peterson, an author and professor emeritus of psychology, shot to prominence with his critiques of Bill C-16, which extended anti-discrimination protection to gender identity and expression. In 2017, Peterson appeared before the Standing Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs to present his concerns about trans pronouns constituting “compelled speech.”

As he leaned into controversy, Peterson came under investigation by the College of Psychologists of Ontario for tweets about pandemic public health restrictions. They also noted tweets denigrating trans individuals – not a good look on a registered psychologist – including one that earned Peterson a temporary suspension from Twitter. The college ultimately ordered Peterson to undergo coaching on professionalism in public statements, which he has twice tried to appeal in the courts, and lost.

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There’s a clear gulf between noxious tweets and following a cult. Still, both risk undermining public trust in a regulated mental health profession. (Peterson has said he no longer treats patients, but wishes to retain the clinical designation he has earned.)

Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre leapt to Peterson’s defense with a 2 1/2-minute video about freedom of speech that reveals his tendency to mistake consequences for censorship. Peterson merely was held accountable for his comments, which is the whole reason free speech works.

“In a free country, professionals should not lose their jobs and licences because they express a political opinion contrary to the licensing body that’s mandated by the government,” Poilievre asserted in the widely reposted video. Conservatives don’t seem as quick to make the same case for Greig.

Professional regulation of responsible speech is not censorship and not only when the speaker happens to question the authority of the government you hope to run.

write.robin@baranyai.ca

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