Controversial author and public figure Jordan Peterson has been told to undergo a mandatory “coaching program” by the College of Psychologists of Ontario (CPO) due to public statements he has made.
Peterson, however, said all of the complaints at issue are political and don’t have anything to do with his past or present clients as a psychologist.
“I am to take a course of such training, with reports documenting my ‘progress,’ or face an in-person tribunal and suspension of my right to operate as a licensed clinical psychologist,” Peterson wrote on Twitter.
Peterson, who has frequently made headlines for controversial views and is celebrated by the right-wing, said he won’t comply.
Peterson first courted controversy for refusing to use gender-neutral pronouns while teaching at the University of Toronto. He has gone on to international fame with sold-out lectures and bestselling books.
The CPO is the governing body for psychologists in Ontario, with a mandate to “protect the public interest by monitoring and regulating the practice of psychology,” according to its website.
“About a dozen people from all over the world submitted complaints about my public statements on Twitter and (Joe) Rogan over a four-year period (out of the 15 million who follow me on social media) claiming that I had ‘harmed’ people (not them) with my views,” Peterson said.
He said the CPO could have viewed the complaints as vexatious, but decided to pursue them.
“I have been accused of harming people, although none of the complainants involved in the current action were clients of mine, past or present, or were even acquainted with any of my clients,” he said.
Peterson said many of those who submitted complaints claimed that they were his clients, despite that not being true.
