Bishops, Catholic Civil Rights League allowed to intervene in TWU case

OTTAWA (CCN) — The Archdiocese of Vancouver, as well as Canada’s Catholic bishops and the Catholic Civil Rights League, have been given leave to intervene in a significant religious freedom case this fall.

At stake is Trinity Western University’s right to retain its evangelical Christian character, expressed through a community covenant requiring students, faculty, and staff to adhere to Christian moral standards, including agreeing to no sexual activity outside of traditional marriage.

Canada’s chief justice has granted leave to appeal to the CCRL and Faith and Freedom Alliance, in conjunction with the Archdiocese of Vancouver, in addition to the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, and other groups.

The surprise move came July 31, when Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin issued a variance of a July 27 decision by Justice Richard Wagner that had restricted the number of interveners to nine and dismissed the applications of the above groups and many others. 

Instead, the Chief Justice granted leave for all 32 applicants to intervene, and added an extra day to the Supreme Court of Canada hearing Nov. 30 and Dec. 1. Her decision also opened the way for gay rights groups to intervene as well.

“The change in the court’s position is certainly a recognition of the significance ... of the case,” said CCRL President Phil Horgan.

“Trinity Western is entitled to maintain its religious views, including its position on a biblical understanding of marriage,” he said. “That view is shared by the teachings of the Catholic Church. Are Catholic lawyers to be denied accreditation or entry into professions for having such views?”

The case, with more than 30 interveners, has attracted among the highest number of interveners in Canadian judicial history, said Barry Bussey who represents the Canadian Council of Christian Charities, another organization granted intervener status.

On the council’s website, he pointed out the 2004 Supreme Court reference on the redefinition of marriage had 26 interveners. “It is relatively rare for a Supreme Court of Canada hearing to cover two days; however, this case is proving to be one of the most important cases on religious freedom since the Big M Drug Mart case in the 1980s.”

Big M Drug Mart was the landmark Supreme Court decision striking down the Lord’s Day Act prohibiting the sale of goods on Sunday.

Three provincial law societies – in British Columbia, Ontario, and Nova Scotia – have declared TWU’s covenant is discriminatory against gay and lesbian students and faculty and have refused to grant future graduates of TWU’s proposed law school accreditation. 

The CCRL, the Faith and Freedom Alliance (a Christian rights organization), and the Archdiocese of Vancouver will make submissions “on the importance of, and recognition of, authentic pluralism, i.e. that Canadian law and society is comprised of differing viewpoints, and dissenting views should not be excluded from participation in the public square,” said Horgan.

“The approach by the state actors in this case, being the Law Societies in Ontario and British Columbia, to deny accreditation of the proposed Trinity Western law school, or its future graduates, represents a denial of dissentient religious viewpoints,” he said. “That majoritarian, or civic totalist approach, becomes quite illiberal in its application.

Bruce Clemenger, president of the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, said evangelical schools consider education "a communal educational enterprise that is guided by their religious beliefs and worldview.”

It’s critical that they can “sustain their religious character and ethos,” he said. “Being educated within a religious community and bound by a code of conduct should not exclude them from service in a profession or in the broader society.”

Clemenger warned the Supreme Court’s decision in the TWU case and the rationales it uses could have far-ranging implications not only for educational institutions but for any group or organization with a religious character that needs to obtain licences or accreditation from government bodies.

This will be the second time TWU has come before the Supreme Court because of concerns regarding its covenant. In 2001, the university won against the British Columbia College of Teachers, which refused to accredit graduates of TWU’s teachers college.

The EFC will jointly intervene with Christian Higher Education Canada, an evangelical higher educational network that includes TWU and other evangelical universities.

“We want to stand with Trinity Western and we want to affirm with them that education can be seen as a communal enterprise, and it’s important for these institutions to maintain the integrity of those communities, theologically and missionally,” Clemenger said.