Jordan Peterson book tour coming to Ottawa

Jordan Peterson speaks to a crowd during a stop in Sherwood Park, Alta, on Sunday, February 11, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson

Controversial psychologist and self-help author Jordan Peterson is bringing his book tour to Ottawa’s largest indoor venue next month.

The former University of Toronto professor-turned-YouTube personality’s Beyond Order tour is stopping at the Canadian Tire Centre on Monday, Jan. 30.

Peterson rose to prominence in 2016 with a series of YouTube videos in which he spoke out against gender-neutral pronouns and Bill C-16, which banned discrimination against people based on gender identity.

His 2018 book 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos has sold more than four million copies since it was published, according to a news release issued by the Canadian Tire Centre and promoter Live Nation. His follow up Beyond Order: 12 More Rules for Life, was released last year.

He retired last fall as a tenured professor at U of T, writing in the National Post that he believed equity, diversity, and inclusion initiatives at the university created barriers for “supremely trained heterosexual white male graduate students.”

Peterson was suspended from Twitter last summer after violating Twitter’s hateful conduct policy by posting tweets targeting transgender actor Eliot Page. New Twitter owner Elon Musk reinstated Peterson’s account last month.

The Beyond Order tour featured nearly 100 stops this year in North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. There are about 30 stops planned for next year so far.