In a recent interview with NowMedia Group’s Jim Csek, lawyer Lisa Bildy from the Free Speech Union of Canada detailed the ongoing case of her client, BC nurse Amy Hamm.
Hamm was recently found guilty of unprofessional conduct by the BC College of Nurses and Midwives (BCCNM) and handed a one-month suspension and $93,000 in costs, clarified by Bildy as court expenses rather than a direct fine.
The decision stems from complaints over Hamm's online presence as the regulatory body stated that Hamm made "discriminatory and derogatory statements towards transgender people across various social media (platforms) while identifying as a nurse."
Bildy emphasized that the unprofessional conduct ruling is being appealed to the BC Supreme Court, arguing that the disciplinary panel committed legal and factual errors in its decision.
"Essentially, what the college is saying is: 'No, you can't have those opinions and identify yourself as a nurse," Bildy stated, noting that the panel only penalized content where Hamm explicitly mentioned her profession.
"They specifically said, actually, that if you're going to advocate for women's rights, you can't do it in a manner that is exclusive of transgender women...so it makes the gender critical advocacy completely impossible if you're a nurse."
Hamm's lawyer added that they have also filed a pair of human rights complaints.
“And we also have a couple of human rights complaints that we filed, one against the college (BCCNM) and another against Amy's employer, because in British Columbia, political views are a prohibited ground of discrimination in certain contexts, including employment and in trade associations and that kind of thing,” explained Bildy.
“So, we're taking the position that her gender critical views should be protected speech and that has been happening in the United Kingdom. We'd like to see that precedent applied here.”
Hamm has recently garnered support from Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre and retweets from JK Rowling.
Her legal fees are covered by the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms, with the costs ($93K) she was ordered to pay for the disciplinary hearing on hold pending the appeal.
Bildy and Csek also discussed the broader implications of this situation and the role of professional regulators.
"I mean, I'm of the view that they ought not to be regulating speech at all. They should be there to regulate ethics and competence, and that's it," said Bildy.
Bildy added that our neighbours to the south have a “very robust constitution, particularly around free speech,” adding that because of their constitution, Americans, in theory, have a more robust protection for free speech.
“They have exported a lot of their culture war stuff to western countries, other western countries, but they haven't exported the tools for defending against it,” the lawyer stated.
“And that's why I think Britain and Canada and other countries are struggling. These are not necessarily our battles. We've imported a lot of this culture war battle from the United States, but we're sitting ducks a little bit because we don't really have quite as robust a protection.”
Bildy then added: “We have something called the limitation clause, so our rights are subject to reasonable limits as may be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society.”
“Lots of words in there that can be subjectively interpreted to limit our speech and I think we spend a lot more time in this country deciding how broad the limits should be, rather than how robust the underlying freedom should be.”
Watch the above video to hear more about Hamm's case and the discussion between Csek and Bildy.
Thumbnail photo courtesy of the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms.
