Law Society of Alberta responds to Neutrality Act
The Law Society of Alberta (LSA) has decided not to re-establish its standalone equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) committee for 2026 following the province’s passage of the Regulated Professions Neutrality Act, sometimes referred to as the “Peterson law.” The legislation, which applies to professional regulators across Alberta, restricts regulators from giving preferential or adverse treatment to achieve EDI goals and bars them from mandating training such as cultural competency or unconscious bias unless it relates directly to professional competence or ethics. An LSA spokesperson said EDI-related initiatives may still be pursued through other committees, but the dedicated committee was discontinued in response to the new legal framework. The law, inspired in part by disputes over regulatory discipline of public comments by professionals, also limits regulators’ ability to sanction members for off-duty expressive conduct except in specified circumstances.