Jordan Peterson asks a great question

In an incredibly busy week for Peterson, he drew attention to the core issue at hand with Bell Media.

Dr. Jordan Peterson has been all over the news this week, after being ordered to attend and pay for a social media re-education program by the College of Psychologists of Ontario (CPO). Peterson explains the ordeal in his own words as the “weaponization” of a professional regulator’s disciplinary process. Peterson is now taking the CPO to court over the College’s decision to punish him over his Twitter activity.

In such a busy week for him, I wouldn’t have expected Peterson to have time to think about anything but his own lawsuit. But, yesterday, he made time to post on Twitter about my lawsuit against Bell Media:

Dr Jordan B Peterson @jordanbpeterson

Is Bell Media of the opinion that a black man should know his proper political place? And is that helpless victim? ⁦@jamiljivani⁩

nationalpost.comJamil Jivani sues Bell Media, alleging he was fired for not fitting ‘Black stereotype’‘They really wanted him to espouse a certain liberal worldview they thought he should be espousing as a member of the Black community,’ says the radio host’s…

I was surprised to see my face pop up on his Twitter feed, but more surprised by how eloquently he summarized the lawsuit in a single tweet: “Is Bell Media of the opinion that a black man should know his proper political place? And is that helpless victim?” This question is at the heart of my claims of wrongful dismissal and discrimination in Bell’s toxic workplace.

Perhaps Peterson drew attention to the lawsuit because he sees some similarities between the CPO and Bell Media. One of the ways that the CPO’s absurd behaviour and Bell’s labour practices overlap is in punishing people for criticizing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

The CPO references a specific Peterson tweet that’s critical of Trudeau as why he needs to be re-educated. In it, Peterson calls Trudeau a “puppet.”

Dr Jordan B Peterson @jordanbpeterson

Then stop. Puppet. Now. What's your end game @JustinTrudeau ? Lay it out.

Justin Trudeau @JustinTrudeau

Canadians have the right to protest, to disagree with their government, and to make their voices heard. We’ll always protect that right. But let’s be clear: They don’t have the right to blockade our economy, or our democracy, or our fellow citizens’ daily lives. It has to stop.

Interestingly enough, Bell references the same term in their statement of defence explaining why they fired me. A caller to my radio show, not me, called Trudeau a “globalist puppet,” and Bell believes it was my responsibility as an employee to defend Trudeau against these criticisms from a caller.

It’s a bizarre trend that we’re seeing play out here in Canada. The country’s biggest media company and one of Ontario’s most influential professional regulators have now both gone on the record to say they are punishing people for criticizing Trudeau, who more than half of Canadians want to vote out.

Canadians, and many others around the world, now eagerly await the results of Peterson’s court challenge. The Toronto Sun’s Brian Lilley reports that “Peterson’s legal filings with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice ask that sections of the college’s by-laws, code of ethics and standards of professional conduct be struck down.” Lilley also notes that “Peterson’s legal team argues that the sections are overly broad, unclear and a violation of their client’s Charter right to freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression.”

In closing, I’ll share a quote from Martin Luther King, Jr. that helps put some of these issues in perspective.

Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable. Every step towards the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.