OTTAWA – Law societies in Canada lack the legal and moral jurisdiction to regulate the personal religious beliefs of their members, The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada will argue this week at the Ontario Superior Court. The EFC’s arguments are shared by Christian Higher Education Canada, a national association of Canadian universities, colleges, seminaries and other post-secondary institutions.
The courts will be asked to rule on whether a lawyer who was trained at a Christian law school and who holds to a biblical definition and understanding of the nature of marriage and sexuality be barred from the practice of law on the sole basis of his or her sincerely held religious beliefs.
The Court is hearing arguments from June 1 to 4 in
Trinity Western University and Brayden Volkenant v. The Law Society of Upper Canada.
Facts:
- Trinity Western University (TWU), a private Christian liberal arts university with six professional schools, won approval from the B.C. government for a professional law school in December 2013.
- The Federation of Law Societies of Canada (FLSC) approved the TWU law school in December 2013.
- The Law Society of Upper Canada (LSUC), a member of the FLSC, decided in April 2014 that it will refuse to accept graduates of the TWU law school because it deems TWU’s Community Covenant to be discriminatory.
- The LSUC objected to the section of the Community Covenant requiring students to abstain from sexual activity outside of marriage between a man and a woman – a view which is informed by the University’s religious commitments.
- In December 2014 the B.C. government revoked its approval for TWU’s law school based on the decisions of the LSUC and the law societies of Nova Scotia and British Columbia.
- In a recent and nearly identical case the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia ruled the Nova Scotia Barrister’s Society (NSBS), which had refused to recognize TWU law school graduates on similar grounds, lacked the authority to do so, and that even if it had had the authority, it did not exercise that authority in a way that reasonably considered freedom of religion and freedom of conscience. The EFC intervened in the TWU v. NSBS case.
- In March 2015, the NSBS announced its intention to appeal the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia decision.
“The Law Society of Upper Canada is bound by the
Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and its decision violates the equality rights and religious freedom of TWU graduates,” says Bruce Clemenger, President of the EFC.
The EFC will argue:
- The LSUC is bound by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and its decision not to recognize TWU law school graduates based solely on the religious beliefs and religious practices of TWU and its future graduates violates the their equality rights and freedoms.
- The LSUC failed to properly and proportionately balance TWU’s Charter rights and the Chartervalues of freedom of religion, freedom of expression and freedom of association with its statutory objectives.
- It is outside the jurisdiction of the LSUC to approve the law school and seek to regulate the personal religious beliefs of those practising law.
- Religious communities have the right to maintain their religious identity.
-30-
For more information or an interview contact:
Rick Hiemstra, Director of Media Relations
The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada
(613) 233-9868 x332
MediaRelations@theEFC.ca