Following on the heels of the provincial government’s decision to revoke its consent of the proposed law school last week, Trinity Western University says it will start legal proceedings to challenge the Law Society of B.C.’s October decision.
After originally approving the school in April 2014, the LSBC was asked to reconsider their decision by the society’s general membership. The society’s second vote in October went against accrediting TWU’s proposed law school.
The society said at the time of their decision that “the proposed law school at Trinity Western University is not an approved faculty of law for the purpose of the Law Society’s admission program.”
At issue is TWU’s current community covenant, which forbids intimacy outside heterosexual marriage for all students. Both LGBT and legal advocates have railed against the original decision to grant the Christian university a law school, which was set to open in 2016.
TWU’s president Bob Kuhn said in a statement they have “no choice but to proceed legally” because the LSBC “prejudged” their future law graduates on their community covenant and not their qualifications. This decision by the LSBC has, according to Kuhn, “infringed on the human rights of TWU and its students.”
It’s the second time in the past 15 years the school has fought for the right to demand that students adhere to its religious beliefs about sexual orientation and marriage. The university won a similar case at the Supreme Court of Canada in 2001 that focused on whether the school should be permitted to grant teaching degrees in light of its policies related to homosexuality.
“What many critics overlook is that our Community Covenant says that all students and faculty are to love and respect other people regardless of their background or personal characteristics,” Kuhn said.
“TWU is a community of diversity and acceptance. This campus is a Christian home for 4,000 students with an array of opinions and beliefs.”
Law societies in Ontario and Nova Scotia have also ruled against approving the controversial proposal.
Along with the LSBC, the university will be facing legal action against the Law Society of Upper Canada and the Nova Scotia Barristers Society.
~ with files from Canadian Press
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