OTTAWA – The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC) and Christian Higher Education Canada (CHEC) will present arguments defending religious freedom at the Ontario Court of Appeal this week.
The court will consider whether the Law Society of Upper Canada (LSUC) infringed the religious freedom of a Christian university and student by refusing to recognize the credentials of future lawyers trained at a Christian law school.
“Freedom of religion is a significant element of Canadian society. We are very concerned that the denial of Trinity Western University’s (TWU) religious community is a severe challenge not only to the freedom of all religious institutions and communities but to the idea of a robust pluralism,” says EFC President Bruce Clemenger.
The Court of Appeal is hearing arguments from June 6 to 8 in Trinity Western University and Brayden Volkenant v. The Law Society of Upper Canada.
“In a free and democratic society, such as Canada, can a lawyer trained at a Christian law school be barred from the practice of law simply because of his or her sincerely held religious beliefs?” asks EFC legal counsel Albertos Polizogopoulos.
Facts:
- Trinity Western University, a private Christian liberal arts university with six professional schools, won approval from the BC 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, 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.
- The Ontario Superior Court of Justice ruled in 2015 that a refusal to accredit TWU’s proposed law school in Ontario was reasonable and should not be overturned – even though the court found the original refusal did interfere with TWU’s religious freedom.
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For additional information or an interview, please contact:
Rick Hiemstra, Director, Research and Media Relations
The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada
613-233-9868 x332
MediaRelations@theEFC.ca