Just my own personal, unvetted opinion - Denny Scott editorial

If you’ve spent any amount of time on Twitter, you’ve likely run into a sentence that goes something like this: “This is my personal account, and the opinions therein are my own and not those of my [employer/political party/political riding or anyone else].” By my reckoning, it’s a statement meant to avoid problems with employers, primarily when saying things that are likely not in line with the views of one’s employers.

 

That kind of attitude (I’m speaking on my own behalf, not on behalf of anyone else) has really come to the forefront in the past few weeks, and was a major sticking point in a story out of London last week.

 

A University of Western Ontario (UWO) professor, on his personal Twitter account, has been not just questioning the efficacy of vaccination as a means of stopping the COVID-19 pandemic, but questioning every single action taken by medical professionals during the pandemic, and in doing so has gone against the university’s own stances.

 

Donald Welsh, a professor of physiology at Western’s Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, has drawn the ire of others in the school by tweeting his COVID-19 beliefs. He has gone so far as saying that everything Canada has done in response to COVID-19 has been done without scientific backing.

 

Those he has frustrated include Jacob Shelley, who is part of both Western’s Faculty of Law and the School of Health Studies. He also directs the school’s Health Ethics, Law and Policy Lab. In an interview with CBC, Shelley says that Welsh is hiding behind academic freedom, which is akin to freedom of speech.

 

While Walsh is free to believe and say what he wants, Shelley says there is a degree of responsibility that comes with that right, something that I’ve long said about our own freedoms, including freedom of speech.

 

Yes, anyone in Canada has the right to say what they want but having the right to say it doesn’t mean there won’t be repercussions - it just means no one can stop you from saying it.

 

The University of Western Ontario, however, hasn’t employed any repercussions as a result of Walsh’s statements, which go against the school’s support of public health measures.

 

In a statement, the school said that faculty members can express their opinions and beliefs, and that fear of reprisal shouldn’t dictate their research or work. The school also stated that the beliefs expressed by him are not those of the school.
However, that’s where I think many people’s understanding of freedom of speech is flawed. We’re free to say what we want (within reason), but we are not protected from the consequences of speaking our minds.

 

The reality is that, while there are measures in place to stop wrongful dismissal, anyone can be fired if they don’t fit in with the culture of the company they work for, meaning if they hold drastically different views than colleagues or superiors, they can be let go. Like it or not, whether it’s the University of Western Ontario or a small town business, companies are judged by the behaviours and attitudes of people they employ. Plenty of people are fired because of things they say or do outside of work because those businesses realize that, unless they take action, they’re seen, at worst, as complicit or, at best, uncaring.
Having that kind of association can be damaging, just ask the protestors in Ottawa right now.

 

While the protest started as a way to demand changes to vaccine mandates, it quickly became a magnet for bad actors to try and utilize the attention to more nefarious ends.

 

Regardless of which side of the original stated issue you were on, it’s hard to support the ongoing action because of the people who have become associated with it.

 

No matter how much the protest organizers declare their innocence and disconnect from the bad actors, they will be lumped together because they are a group, just like UWO; even if it does take a stand on this issue, it will be associated with Welsh’s comments.

 

Whether we like it or not, our personal comments reflect on other people in our lives, from our family to our co-workers and employers. People will judge those connected to us by what we do.

 

That’s where freedom of speech gets a little sticky. Sure, you can’t be stopped from saying that tomato chunks belong in a Caesar salad, but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to take everything you ever say to me with a grain of salt afterwards.