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The Government of Alberta recently introduced Bill 13 entitled the Regulated Professions Neutrality Act ("RPNA"). Bill 13 seeks to protect the free expression rights of regulated professionals.
This Bill reflects the Alberta government's response to concerns surrounding professional regulators monitoring the social and political views of members outside of the workplace – an act the Albertan government views as an overreach.
The RPNA's main components purport to focus on reinforcing neutrality in professional governance and safeguarding off-duty free expression. Effectively, this would prohibit regulatory bodies from disciplining a regulated professional for expressions made outside the workplace (ex. social media posts; private and public comments made on one's own time).
This protection is not absolute, however. According to the Act, regulators could still act on off duty conduct in exceptional cases. These cases include threats of violence, serious criminal offences, misuse of one's professional position to intentionally harm an identifiable person, violations of professional boundaries, or certain forms of sexual misconduct. Outside of these exceptions, however, once the Act is in force no professional regulator in Alberta would be allowed to punish members for what they say or do outside of their workplace, outside of their professional capacity.
The RPNA additionally proposes a sharp restriction on professions seeking to mandate continuing cultural competence training for their members. This restriction bars compulsory training that is not directly related to the core competencies or ethics of the profession.1 That said, under the RPNA, regulators would under no circumstances be permitted to mandate members to undergo "cultural competency," "unconscious bias," or diversity/equity/inclusion (DEI) training.2
This proposed Act would, additionally, oblige professional regulators to remain neutral relative to personal identity characteristics when regulating or making decisions about members. An association would be forbidden from giving preferential or adverse treatment, for the purpose of achieving greater diversity, equity or inclusion, based on characteristics such as race, ancestry, ethnicity, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religious or political beliefs, and more.3 The Act's preamble affirms that all individuals are equal in dignity and should not be assigned collective blame or presumed bias due to personal attributes.
Lastly, to backstop these new laws, Bill 13 also sets out a consistent legal standard for reviewing regulator's decisions in court or on appeal. The RPNA specifies that when a regulator's decision is challenged on grounds of violating the Act or a professional's fundamental rights, the reviewing body must apply a strict "correctness" standard. Such a standard would allow for greater judicial oversight of regulatory decisions when such issues are being appealed.
Who does this Bill cover?
This legislation would apply broadly to all regulated professions in Alberta – covering everyone from skilled trades and occupations to traditional self-regulating fields like law, health care (doctors, nurses, etc.), education, engineering, accounting, and more. The proposed RPNA lists the professions covered under the Legislation under Schedule 1 and the list is extensive.4
Conclusion
Should the RPNA be passed into law, it would signal a fundamental shift in the way professional regulators are permitted to monitor and sanction their members arising out of conduct outside the workplace.
Footnotes
1 Bill 13, Regulated Professions Neutrality Act, s 7 (Alberta).
2 Bill 13, Regulated Professions Neutrality Act, s 8 (Alberta).
3 Bill 13, Regulated Professions Neutrality Act, s 6 (Alberta) L.
4 Bill 13, Regulated Professions Neutrality Act, schedule 1 (Alberta).
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
