Top court to rule on accreditation of B.C. Christian university’s law school
VANCOUVER — The Supreme Court of Canada is set to release its decision Friday on whether law societies have the right to deny accreditation to a proposed law school at a Christian university in British Columbia.
The Law Society of Upper Canada, which regulates the legal profession in Ontario, and the Law Society of B.C. have said they would not license graduates from Trinity Western University because it requires all registering students to agree to a so-called community covenant that prohibits sex outside heterosexual marriage. The societies say the covenant amounts to discrimination.
The Court of Appeal for Ontario upheld the rejection, while B.C.’s top court sided with the university, saying the regulator acted unreasonably by infringing on the school’s right to freedom of religion and that it imposed its views on a minority “in a manner that is in itself intolerant and illiberal.”
The university in Langley, B.C., proposed the law school in 2012 and was later granted approval to open by the Federation of Law Societies of Canada and the province’s Ministry of Advanced Education.