Supreme Court of Canada won't hear Jordan Peterson's social media training appeal
Canada's top court has dis‐ missed the latest attempt by polarizing psychologist Jordan Peterson to chal‐ lenge an order to undergo social media training or po‐ tentially lose his licence to practise.
In 2022, the governing body of Ontario's psycholo‐ gists ordered Peterson - who has gained international fame over his views on women, masculinity and gen‐ der identity - to undergo a media training program, say‐ ing some of his social media posts may be "degrading" the profession and even raise questions about his abilities as a psychologist.
Peterson, who has been a registered member of the College of Psychologists of Ontario since 1999 but stopped seeing patients in 2017, said his statements were not made in his capac‐ ity as a clinical psychologist.
In one of the social media posts in question, Peterson refers to a then-city council‐ lor who uses they/them pro‐ nouns as an "appalling self righteous moralizing thing."
The college's complaints committee noted that during an appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, Peterson identified himself as a clinical psychologist be‐ fore demeaning a former client.
Last summer, an Ontario court ruled against Peterson and upheld the regulatory body's order to undergo training on professionalism in public statements. That decision was affirmed by a panel of three judges with the Ontario Court of Appeal earlier this year.
As usual, the Supreme Court of Canada did not ex‐ plain why it won't hear Peter‐ son's case. It was dismissed with costs.
Peterson's lawyer, Howard Levitt, said his client is weighing his options.
"He will obviously have to consider his next move and whether he will agree to this re-education in social media, an area in which he is far more adept than any potenti‐ al educators," Levitt said in
an email.
Case raised freedom of expression issues
The years-long case has raised broader issues about freedom of expression and whether the college is over‐ stepping its authority by pe‐ nalizing the controversial psychologist for his opinions.
The Canadian Civil Liber‐ ties Association (CCLA) inter‐ vened at the Ontario court level, saying that while it doesn't endorse Peterson's views, it feels that profession‐ al regulatory bodies should‐ n't be policing speech that is not directly connected to pro‐ fessional practice.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has posted in support of Peterson, who rose to prominence through controversial YouTube videos critiquing liberal culture and self-help books.
"Another outrageous at‐ tack on free speech as regu‐ lators try to force Peterson into a re-education program for expressing the politically incorrect views," he posted on social media earlier this year.