In mid-April, the BC Law Society rejected a motion that would have barred graduates of Trinity Western University’s (TWU) new law school from practising law in BC. Opposition to the new law school, which will open in 2016, voiced concerns about the school’s ban on intimate relations outside of heterosexual marriage.
This vote follows Advanced Education Minister Amrik Virk’s decision last December to green-light TWU’s proposed law school. The decision has come under concentrated criticism following the approval of the school by the government of BC and the BC Law Society because of TWU’s controversial community covenant.
Trinity Western requires that its 3,600 students sign a community covenant that “bars sexual intimacy that ‘violates the sacredness of marriage between a man and a woman.’” According to Huffington Post, the covenant has been criticized as discriminatory against gays and lesbians, and the opposition sees this as grounds to question the establishment of a law school.
This view has been challenged by the TWU administration; president Bob Kuhn said in a news release on Friday, April 25, “We are very disappointed. These decisions impact all Canadians and people of faith everywhere. They send the chilling message that you cannot hold religious values and also participate fully in public society.”
Trinity Western University is a private institution and so is able to shape its regulations as it sees fit — in this case, with Christian values at its core. However, Victoria criminal lawyer Michael Mulligan launched a petition to overturn the Law Society’s decision earlier this April. Mulligan collected and submitted more than 1,000 signatures from BC lawyers opposed to the decision — more than twice the number required to trigger a vote.
“[The opposition] send[s] the chilling message that you cannot hold religious values and also participate fully in public society.”
– Bob Kuhn, TWU president
In light of the petition, the society had 60 days to hold a special general meeting to allow all members to vote on the recent decision. On April 11, the benchers voted 20-6 against the motion.
The clash between freedom of expression and freedom of religion has caused clear cleavages across the country, with the law societies of BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador and Nunavut having cleared Trinity Western Law graduates to practice law.
The Societies of Ontario and Nova Scotia have voted against the school’s accreditation. The Law Society of Upper Canada voted 28 to 21 against the accreditation of Trinity Western University’s proposed law school, meaning that graduates would be unable to practice law in Ontario.
In an interview with The Peak, SFU professor of political science and ethics, and Scholar-in-Residence, Amyn Sajoo, commented on the issue. “It is not about a human rights claim versus mere interest, but rather about two clashing human rights claims. [It is about] the right to equality on basis of sexual orientation versus freedom of religion to regulate practices in conformity with Christian beliefs,” he said.
For Sajoo, this conflict is similar to one which occurred in 2001, when the British Columbia College of Teachers rejected the TWU’s application to have their teaching degrees certified. The case was eventually brought before the Supreme Court of Canada and, in an 8-1 vote, the court ruled in favour of Trinity Western. The court reversed the college’s decision on the grounds that the rejection was baseless, stating “the concern that graduates of TWU will act in a detrimental fashion in the classroom is not supported by any evidence.”
These sentiments were echoed by Sajoo, who stated that, “TWU and its grads were free to hold beliefs that might be regarded as offensive, but unless they acted in ways that harmed the public interest, it was not proper to restrict the university.”
Today, the tension between the two human rights claims is still difficult to resolve. “The line may be difficult to draw in all instances, but it is a vital aspect of reconciling religious freedom and equality,” concluded Sajoo.
