Canada vs. Jordan Peterson

By Mary Anastasia O’Grady | Published by the Wall Street Journal

U.S. editor and columnist, Mary Anastasia O’Grady, warns Canada’s administrative state is a threat to the country’s liberty.

Reflecting on Jordan Peterson’s rejected appeal to challenge mandatory social media training for complaints about online posts and statements he has made, Ms. O’Grady writes:

“In a free society there is a right to be wrong. Sardonic commentary is an age-old rhetorical weapon. Mr. Peterson is entitled to his politics as much as the butcher or the baker.”

Citing an August 2023 opinion piece by Bruce Pardy, Ms. O’Grady notes, “If not for the wide latitude the high court has given the administrative state across Canada, an Ontario regulator wouldn’t have the power it’s now using to punish Mr. Peterson for his political beliefs.”

That “broad discretion in the hands of administrative bodies,” Mr. Pardy wrote, “has become the foundation of our modern system of government.”

Canadian authoritarianism is becoming the rule and the Peterson case the latest example of its creep.

This commentary by Mary Anastasia O’Grady is available at the publisher’s website here

Further Reading

Jordan Peterson against the tyranny of the administrative state

Image credit: Gage Skidmore