Today, the Supreme Court of Canada released its decision in Loyola High School v. Quebec (Attorney General), upholding religious freedom for the Loyola community to teach the Catholic faith from a Catholic perspective. At stake in this case was the religious freedom of parents and institutions to raise children according to a worldview that might be different than that of the State education bureaucracy. Thankfully, the Court was unanimous in finding that religious communities can teach their own faith to their children from their own perspective. The Association for Reformed...
For immediate release from the Association for Reformed Political Action (ARPA) Canada March 18, 2015 ARPA CANADA AVAILABLE FOR COMMENT ON LOYOLA CASE CONCERNING FREEDOM OF RELIGION IN INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS OTTAWA – The Supreme Court of Canada will release its decision in the Loyola case tomorrow morning at 9:45 a.m. The Association for Reformed Political Action (ARPA) Canada intervened in the case to defend Christian education and parental rights from the continual encroachment of the State. At stake in this case is parental authority itself. Provincial governments are increasingly taking...
Update: March 19, 2015: The Supreme Court released their decision this morning and they have ruled in favour of Loyola this morning. Read more here. On March 24, 2014, ARPA Canada appeared in the Supreme Court of Canada, leading a coalition of Christian schools from across the country, in order to defend Christian education from the continual encroachment of the State. The Loyola case will have a greater impact on a parent's authority in raising their child in the fear of the Lord than any other case in...
What follows is a beautifully written and insightful reflection on the Loyola hearing by vice-president of Cardus, Ray Pennings. The hearing was conducted in the Supreme Court of Canada on Monday morning, March 24, 2014. This reflection was originally published as a Cardus Daily blog. Reprinted here with permission. Cardus has covered the issues involved in Loyola et al vs. the Attorney General of Quebec on many occasions. Always our position is that the organizations of civil society, including those that are religiously motivated, must be free to participate without hesitancy...
Update from Legal Counsel, André Schutten: I was very impressed by the arguments made in the Supreme Court this morning. Although I would have preferred a more forceful approach by the lawyer for Loyola, he still did a good job of defending his client. The seven interveners were able to strongly articulate the values and principles that ARPA and the ACES Canada coalition advocated for in our factum. Although the question of the "neutrality" of the State was not addressed enough and the role of parents was only touched on briefly,...
On Thursday, March 6, ARPA Canada's legal counsel filed the written legal arguments for our Christian coalition, the Association of Christian Educators and Schools (ACES) Canada at the Supreme Court of Canada in regards to the Loyola case. You can read all about the case and what it means for Christian education here and here. For those interested in reading our written legal arguments, please see the attachment below. We covet your prayers, that the legal arguments may be fully considered, that the judges' hearts may be open to the...
With thanksgiving to the Lord we are pleased to share the good news that the Supreme Court of Canada has granted the Association for Christian Educators and Schools (ACES), which ARPA is leading, intervenor status in the Loyola case. As we explained in our fall tour, the Loyola case will have a greater impact on a parent's authority in raising their child in the fear of the Lord than any other case in recent history. The ACES coaltion includes 313 confessional Christian schools, 11 post-secondary institutions, and ARPA Canada. By receiving...