Jordan Peterson is pictured at The Cambridge Union in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, on Nov. 2, 2018. (Chris Williamson / Getty Images)
By Lorri Wickenhauser December 22, 2024 at 12:00pm
Canadian psychologist and university professor Jordan Peterson has had enough of the liberal politics in his home country — so much so that he’s emigrated to the land of the free and the home of the brave.
Peterson, who has been outspoken in his conservative opinions, drew the ire of the Ontario-based College of Psychologists with remarks about “trans[gender] insanity” and about Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
It’s worse than you think @elonmusk
My tweets criticizing the trans insanity and @justintrudeau are the putative reason
The judges are progressives appointed by @JustinTrudeauand all professionals in Canada are so terrified of their “professional” regulatory bodies that they…
— Dr Jordan B Peterson (@jordanbpeterson) August 24, 2023
The College of Psychologists responded last year by threatening to pull his license to practice unless he completed a “re-education” course, the New York Post reported.
A legal battle ensued, which Peterson lost.
Peterson announced he planned to record the “re-education” training and make the whole thing public.
So the Ontario Court of Appral ruled that @CPOntario can pursue their prosecution
If you think that you have a right to free speech in Canada
You’re delusionalI will make every aspect of this public
And we will see what happens when utter transparency is the ruleBring it…
— Dr Jordan B Peterson (@jordanbpeterson) August 23, 2023
“Bring it on,” he taunted the College in August of 2023. “[W]e will see what happens when utter transparency is the rule.”
Are you a fan of Jordan Peterson?
However, according to recent comments, it wasn’t the personal attacks against himself and his career that drove him from Canada — it was the country’s political situation.
Peterson made the official announcement of his change of address earlier this month on his daughter Mikhaila Peterson’s podcast.
“Dad, welcome to my podcast, and welcome to moving to America, formally,” she said.
She asked her famous father how he felt about the move.
“There are decided advantages to being here,” he told his daughter. “I like where I’m living a lot.”
One plus that he mentioned was living near Mikhaila, who is based in Arizona.
Peterson said one catalyst that prompted his move was “the new legislation that [Canadian] liberals are attempting to push through, Bill C63 …”
The bill, dubbed the Online Harms Act, is described as having been designed to “address a range of harmful content online, as well as hate speech and hate crimes both online and offline.”
However, critics have said it is a threat to free speech.
“I’d be living in a totalitarian hellhole if that legislation passes, and it could well pass,” Peterson said.
He went on to complain that Canada’s “tax situation is out of hand, the government in Canada at the federal level is incompetent beyond belief, and it’s become uncomfortable for me in my neighborhood in Toronto.”
Peterson admitted to having mixed feelings about leaving his home country.
Despite his daughter’s comments about how great it is to live where “it’s sunny all the time,” Peterson was not completely convinced.
“There’s sorrow in it, too,” he told his daughter.
Regarding the re-education program, Peterson indicated that it has yet to take place.
“They couldn’t find anybody to ‘re-educate’ me,” he said.
“[It] looks like they had to go out of the country to find someone who probably doesn’t know anything about what’s going on and is going to be the sacrificial lamb.”
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