An outspoken nurse who was suspended for picketing a Planned Parenthood office in Regina has lost his bid to recover his nursing licence and $15,000 in penalties.

Justice Ron Barclay of the Saskatchewan Court of Queen’s Bench agreed with Bill Whatcott that a section of The Licensed Practical Nurses Act, 2000 could infringe on his freedom of expression.

Bill Whatcott picketed a Planned Parenthood office.
(CBC file photo)

But the judge said Whatcott was not justified in the "defamatory" and untrue statements he made against Planned Parenthood Regina. Furthermore, he breached a nursing association bylaw that governed his professional conduct.

"Even though the appellant was off duty while these acts occurred, his actions caused harm to the patients of the Planned Parenthood centre which provides health services to the community," Barclay wrote in a judgment released Tuesday and published in the Regina Leader-Post.

"In other words, the activities or conduct of the appellant negatively impacted the health system as it relates to the Planned Parenthood centre."

Barclay upheld the original penalties imposed by the discipline committee of the Saskatchewan Association of Licensed Practical Nurses: a 45-day licence suspension and legal costs of $15,000.

The events go back to 2002 and 2003 when Whatcott picketed the Planned Parenthood office in Regina waving picket signs that denounced the agency and referred to its workers as murderers, abortionists and disseminators of AIDS.

The organization counsels women about sexual health, contraception and abortion.

Whatcott argued that he was within his rights because he was off duty at the time, he was not acting in his professional capacity and he was simply exercising his rights to free speech.

The nursing association disagreed. It said Whatcott intimidated patients and staff, and suspended his license for 45 days.