Loyola Tag

19 Mar 2015 Loyola Supreme Court Decision: Parental rights and religious freedom upheld

After 12 months of deliberation, the Supreme Court of Canada released its decision this morning in Loyola High School v. Quebec (Attorney General), upholding religious freedom first for the Loyola Jesuit school but also more broadly for all who seek to apply their faith to the education of their children. This is a case that every independent Christian school across the country has been watching closely. At stake in this case was the religious freedom of parents and institutions to educate 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. As you may remember, ARPA Canada led a coalition of 313 independent Christian schools and 11 post-secondary institutions to intervene in the case. The coalition was called the Association of Christian Educators and Schools (ACES) and we argued that confessional schools must be accommodated as an alternative to State-run schools. André Schutten, Legal Counsel for ARPA Canada, was in the counsel lock-down this morning and had opportunity to review the decision before it was made public. He noted the following in a press release to the media: “Our hope was that the Supreme Court would affirm hundreds of years of legal precedent that parents are the first decision-makers for their children, and that religious freedom includes the right to train children within a particular worldview. This morning, the Supreme Court has delivered.” He also said, “With this decision, the Court stood up for liberty and for parental rights. While the Court could have been stronger in some places, this is still a welcome decision.” In light of this case, ARPA Canada will be encouraging our elected leaders in Ontario, Manitoba and Alberta to rethink their one-size-fits-all approach to religion, ethics and secularism. Over the past two years, these provinces have imposed a particular religious – that is, secular – worldview on all schools through Bill 13 (Ontario, 2013), Bill 18 (Manitoba, 2014) and Bill 10 (Alberta, 2015), while ignoring or suppressing the freedom of religious institutions and families. Parents ought to have the first and final say on the religious and moral instruction of their children. While the State may assist parents in educating children, they may not override parental decisions relating to ethical and religious instruction. There has been a trend towards Statism in education in Canada. This decision gives hope to parents in stopping that slide.
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19 Mar 2015 Loyola Supreme Court Decision: Religious Freedom upheld

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...

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19 Mar 2015 Media Advisory: ARPA Canada available for comment on Loyola case concerning freedom of religion in independent schools

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...

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04 Sep 2014 Loyola v. Quebec: ARPA Canada defends parental rights at the Supreme Court of Canada

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...

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25 Mar 2014 Reflections on the Loyola hearing by Cardus’ Ray Pennings

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...

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21 Mar 2014 Loyola now at the Supreme Court

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,...

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11 Mar 2014 ARPA files factum at the Supreme Court

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...

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17 Jan 2014 Great News: Intervenor Status Granted in Loyola Case!

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...

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04 Dec 2013 Loyola update – Motion filed with the Supreme Court

On Friday, November 29th, ARPA Canada, on behalf of the Association of Christian Educators and Schools (ACES Canada), filed our Notice of Motion in the Loyola School appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada. As you may recall, Loyola School is appealing to the Supreme Court because the Ministry of Education in Québec has refused to allow it to teach a mandatory curriculum on religion and ethics from its own religious perspective. Instead, all schools (even independent Christian schools) must teach this religion course from a secular or “neutral” perspective.
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