Canadian Lawyer

28 F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 7 w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m slightly in each province. B.C. focused on a balance of freedom of religion and equality rights. Ontario suggested the university was invoking religion to try to compel the law society to grant a "benefit" in the form of accreditation. The Nova Scotia courts did not address Charter issues because of procedural flaws in the action taken by the provin- cial barristers' society. The disagreement over whether to grant approval extended to the proper role of regulators of the law profession over law school in Canada. As well, there were numerous interveners on both sides of the question, dozens of submis- sions to law societies and an unusual situation where the B.C. Civil Liberties Association and Canadian Civil Liber- ties Association were on opposite sides of an issue. In a submission to the Federation of Law Societies in January 2013, concerns raised about the school by the Canadian Council of Law Deans were criticized by the president of the B.C. civil liberties group. The federation was urged to reject the "anti-freedom-of-religion precepts" of the law deans, wrote Lindsay Lyster. In Ontario, meanwhile, the CCLA was granted intervener status and argued in favour of the decision of the law society on the basis that a regulator should not condone discriminatory conduct. At the centre of this dispute is the university's Community Covenant, a five-page document that "apart from a few items in it would be the desire of every institution of advanced learning in this country," said Trinity Western's president Bob Kuhn, in addressing law society benchers in Ontario in April 2014. "In fact, we have been asked how do you avoid some of the things that have occurred on the campuses of this country where under-aged rape is seem- ingly acceptable, where discipline and consequences are immaterial in many cases," said Kuhn, who is also a lawyer. Most controversial in the covenant is the requirement to abstain from certain actions, including anything that violates the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman. This section of the covenant was described as "deeply discriminatory" to the gay and lesbian community, by the TRINITY WESTERN TIMELINE 1969 2001 2008 2010 JUNE 2012 DECEMBER 2013 APRIL 11, 2014 APRIL 24, 2014 APRIL 25, 2014 JULY 23, 2014 OCT. 30, 2014 JULY 2, 2015 DEC. 10, 2015 JULY 26, 2016 NOV. 1, 2016 JAN. 28, 2015 1985 Trinity Western gets provincial approval to be classified as a university. e Supreme Court of Canada rules 8-1 that the B.C. College of Teachers erred when it refused to accredit the teachers' program at TWU. ere was no evidence that accrediting the school would have a detrimental effect on the public school system, said the court. TWU establishes a task force of judges, academics and lawyers to develop a proposal for a law school at the university. e program is approved by the federation and the B.C. government. TWU submits a proposal for a common law program to the federation and the Minister of Advanced Education. Federation of Law Societies of Canada given power to assess new law schools programs to ensure its graduates are competent. Benchers of the Law Society of B.C. vote 20-6 to approve TWU. Law Society of Upper Canada benchers vote 28-21 against accrediting TWU. APRIL 10, 2014 A benchers meeting of the Law Society of Upper Canada is held to discuss the TWU application for accreditation. Questions are raised for TWU to provide a response. Following opposition by some law society members over the decision to accredit TWU and a special gen- eral meeting, benchers in B.C. agree to hold a referendum on the matter, with all members entitled to vote. e council of the Nova Scotia Barristers Society votes 10-9 not to approve TWU unless it changes its covenant. It also directs its executive director to consider regulatory amendments to give effect to the resolution. A unanimous ruling of the Ontario Di- visional Court upholds the decision of the Law Society. e court also rejects the argument that the Supreme Court's ruling in 2001 to do with TWU's teacher's program is also determinative of the law school litigation. e NSBS council amends its regulations to give it public inter- est powers to deny accreditation on the basis of discriminatory admissions policies. Results of the referendum are released and 74 per cent of ballots received were against the accreditation of TWU in B.C. OCT. 31, 2014 JUNE 29, 2016 OCT. 28, 2016 By a vote of 25-1, the bench- ers treat the referendum as binding and reverse their approval of TWU. e Ontario Court of Appeal, in a 3-0 decision, upholds the decision of the Divisional Court and the Law Society, finding that its decision not to accredit TWU was reason- able and in line with its statutory objectives. e NSBS amends its regu- lations to what they were before the TWU applica- tion in 2014. e barristers' society previously decided as well not to seek leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada. Nova Scotia Supreme Court Justice Jamie Campbell rules in favour of TWU, quashes the society's decision and finds its amended regulation to be invalid. Chief Justice Christopher Hinkson of the B.C. Supreme Court rules that the decision of the law society to implement the referendum result is invalid and restores the original vote in favour of TWU. A five-judge panel of the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal upholds the lower court decision in favour of TWU. e court adds that while the NSBS regulation enacted in 2014 was invalid, it was open to it to enact another amendment that was more in line with the statutory powers of the law society in Ontario. A five-judge panel of the B.C. Court of Appeal rules in favour of TWU. It disagrees with the lower court conclu- sion that there was not procedural fairness. But it states that the law society's decision breached the freedom of religion rights of the university as set out in the Charter. Trinity Junior College receives approval from the B.C. government to provide post-secondary education with an underlying Christian philosophy. SEPT. 26, 2014

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