TWU ruling draws strong reaction
Top court decision on proposed law school’s community covenant criticized by staff, praised by others
On a day when legal experts and LGBTQ advocates across Canada were talking about Trinity Western University, the campus at the centre of the storm was quiet.
A handful of students walked between brick buildings on their way to summer classes Friday afternoon.
Some were unaware of the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision allowing the law societies of B.C. and Ontario to deny accreditation to a proposed law school at TWU over its “community covenant,” which includes abstaining from sex outside of heterosexual marriage.
But behind the scenes, both online and in the TWU administration offices, staff and students reacted strongly.
TWU law’s executive director, Earl Phillips, said the university was “disappointed” by the top court’s decision, calling it a blow to Canadian diversity.
“Diversity can only be a strength if you allow there to be different viewpoints,” he said. “This is a push toward conformity.”
Asked if the ruling could jeopardize other TWU programs, such as teaching and nursing, Phillips said the decision addressed only the law school. In 2001, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled the B.C. College of Teachers could not deny accreditation to graduates of TWU’s teaching school over the community covenant. Phillips said nothing in the new ruling indicates the previous decision is no longer sound.
Phillips said TWU has graduated more than 25,000 students, including teachers and nurses, who are “highly sought-after” and bristled at the idea that their education could be biased by the covenant.
“With the law school, we would have offered a university education with a viewpoint that is Christian,” he said, adding the proposed school would have included a specialization in charity law.
The Law Society of B.C. has asked the university in the past to change its covenant. A decision on doing that now would be up to the university’s board of governors, Phillips said.
Plans for the law school, which could have opened in September 2019 if the ruling had been favourable, have been put on hold while the university considers its options. No students had been enrolled and the province withdrew it accreditation for the school in 2014, pending the court decision.
Outside the campus gym, linguistics student Josh Allison said he had mixed feelings about the decision, but he wondered if the court was sending a message that Christians with traditional views on marriage could not be lawyers.
“I’m not an expert, but that would be a concern,” he said.
Raised in a Christian home in Washington, Allison said it was not difficult for him to sign the community covenant required by the university, but he understood how it was hard for his LGBTQ friends.
“It’s a complicated question because I can see the value in maintaining a conservative Christian school that adheres to a biblical perspective. A lot of Christian schools out there don’t stick up for their beliefs,” he said, then added: “But that might be discrimination, and I don’t think that we should be discriminating.”
In a Facebook post, the co-founder of One TWU, a group of LGBTQ students and alumni, said he couldn’t begin to “put into speech what it means to have my rights as an LGBTQ+ Canadian recognized by Canada’s highest court.”
But Matthew Wigmore, who did a theatre degree at TWU before moving to London, said he also realized “there are people, for whom I care deeply, that feel this is an assault on their religious freedom.”
He urged the university to “get on with” creating an inclusive and strong community. “The task of unifying a community would remain the same no matter what the legal ruling is,” he said.
One TWU also released a statement saying the decision was a victory “simply because the rights of gender and sexual minorities, which remain on a shaky foundation, have been acknowledged by Canada’s highest court.”
The statement went on to chastise TWU’s senior leader- ship for “their PR game” of framing the issue as religious freedom against the rights of sexual minorities.
TWU graduate Jessie Legaree, who later became a lawyer, said she was “saddened for the Trinity Western community and saddened for Canada for losing the opportunity to have a really great law program.”
“The law school would have increased diversity and added to the options available,” she explained. “I would have loved to have the opportunity to attend law school at Trinity.”
Legaree did her undergraduate and graduate degrees at TWU before attending law school at the University of Toronto. She’s been working in employment, human rights and family law at RDM Law- yers in Abbotsford since 2015.
Legaree said her Christian faith is central to her life, including her work. She has LGBTQ clients. Included in the contentious TWU covenant are values of love, justice and mercy, she said. “It’s all about love. Bullying or harassment would be against the covenant.”
In a statement, the Law Society of B.C. reiterated its position that everyone should have equal access to law schools, which are the entry point for the legal profession and the judiciary. “A covenant that students of Trinity Western University must sign infringes the access of those in the LGBTQ community and those in committed common-law relationships,” it said.
“At the heart of the Supreme Court’s decision is a recognition of the responsibility of the Law Society to uphold the rights of all persons and to protect the public interest,” said the Law Society’s president, Miriam Kresivo. “The court recognized that the law society has an overarching interest in protecting equality and human rights, as well as to removing inequitable barriers to the legal profession, in carrying out our duties and ensuing public confidence.”
Asked if the decision could affect TWU’s teachers’ school, the Ministry of Education said it is reviewing the decision.
The minister of advanced education, Melanie Mark, issued a statement saying the provincial government has been following the case.
“We will be taking the time to carefully review the rulings, but it appears consistent with our government’s values. Our government continues to work to build a just and inclusive province where all feel welcome, regardless of their sexual orientation, gender identity, race, religion or background,” she said.
A spokesperson for the College of Registered Nurses of B.C., Alison Amratlal, said it plans to consider the judgment, which “involves important legal, regulatory and diversity issues currently in play within Canadian society.”