Trinity Western University law school accreditation debate

In July of 2012, Trinity Western University (TWU), located in the lower mainland of BC, submitted a proposal to the BC Ministry of Advanced Education and the Federal Law Societies of Canada to offer a Juris Doctor program. This program was approved by most Canadian law societies, except for the Law Society of Upper Canada (Ontario) and The Nova Scotia Barrister’s Society. The Law Society of British Columbia revoked their original decision to accredit the TWU program after its members voted against accreditation, and provincial Minister Amrik Virk advised the school to resubmit their application after legal decisions from pending court cases had been decided.

The issue with TWU’s application centres around the university’s Community Covenant, that all students, teachers and staff must sign and agree to, which contains a section prohibiting sexual intimacy outside of the marriage of a man and a woman. This part of the covenant has been raised as discriminating against the LGBTQ community, and this is the reason that the law societies of Ontario, Nova Scotia and BC have refused to accredit the evangelical school’s proposed law program. The argument pits religious freedom against discrimination based on sexual orientation; two important human rights that are guaranteed in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

TWU challenged the law societies of the three provinces that refused to accredit their law program in the Supreme Court of each province. TWU won in Nova Scotia and British Columbia and lost in Ontario. The case was then taken to the Supreme Court of Canada in December of 2017. The highest court in the land has not publicised its decision to date.

TWU was originally slated to open its doors in the fall of 2014, but has been delayed because of the three provinces refusing to accredit the program. The university is hoping to open the law school in the fall of 2019, pending the Supreme Court of Canada decision.

This is a fascinating case that forces lawmakers to weigh the right of religious freedom against the right of equality and freedom from discrimination. I look forward to the decision of the Supreme Court of Canada and the continuing debate on how to balance the rights of a diverse society in a changing world.