Trinity Western University Tag

28 Jun 2018 Trinity Western University Considering Next Steps

(Lighthouse News - June 28, 2018) Trinity Western University continues to evaluate this month's Supreme Court of Canada decision on its application to open a Law School. The court ruled that law Societies in BC and Ontario were justified in refusing to admit graduates of that proposed school to the bar in their respective provinces. The ruling said that TWU’s community covenant, under which students and staff pledge, among other things, to only engage in sexual activity inside the bounds of heterosexual marriage, was discriminatory against the LGBTQ community, and...

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19 Jun 2018 Post-TWU: A time for courage

by Mark Penninga I’m often asked whether political and legal developments in Canada get me down. And my honest answer is that they rarely do. I’m often amazed and encouraged by the impact we can still have when we seize the freedom God has given us and take action. But I admit that last Friday’s Supreme Court of Canada TWU decision really hurts. It is a game-changer. I don’t think most Canadians realize just how profound an impact it will likely have on our most fundamental freedoms. At the risk of oversimplifying it,...

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15 Jun 2018 Supreme Court rules against TWU, placing public perception over rule of law

For immediate release from the Association for Reformed Political Action (ARPA) Canada June 15, 2018 Supreme Court rules against TWU, placing public perception over rule of law OTTAWA – This morning, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled against Trinity Western University and their proposed Christian law school. Justices Brown and Côté dissented. The Association for Reformed Political Action (ARPA) Canada, was an intervener in the case. André Schutten, ARPA’s Director of Law and Policy, and John Sikkema, ARPA’s Legal Counsel, acted as counsel for ARPA in the intervention. ARPA sees several major problems with the majority...

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05 Dec 2017 ARPA Presentation to Supreme Court of Canada on the TWU case

Chief justice, justices, I want to focus my argument this morning on section 15 of the Charter and its relationship to freedom of association as guaranteed by section 2(d). In oral argument yesterday, what is actually freedom of association has been unfairly or inaccurately described as discrimination. Whenever someone alleges discrimination, we must ask, “By what standard?” By what standard is the allegation of discrimination laid? That standard must be found in law. The law will tell us whether we are dealing with discrimination or association. The Ontario Court of Appeal erred here....

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30 Nov 2017 Press Release: ARPA Canada intervenes in TWU case this week

For immediate release from the Association for Reformed Political Action (ARPA) Canada November 29, 2017 ARPA Canada intervenes in TWU case this week OTTAWA - On Thursday and Friday the Supreme Court of Canada will hear the Trinity Western University case. The law societies in British Columbia and Ontario refused to accept graduates from the Christian university’s proposed law school because of TWU’s Community Covenant, which requires students, among other things, to refrain from sexual intimacy outside of a heterosexual marriage. Trinity Western has asked the courts to overturn these decisions, arguing they violate the...

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28 Nov 2017 LN Feature: TWU in the Supreme Court – Why this may be the most important case of the decade for Religious Freedom

ARPA's Director of Law and Policy, André Schutten ARPA's Director of Law and Policy, André Schutten, is due to appear before the Supreme Court of Canada this week. ARPA has been granted intervener status in two Trinity Western University appeals regarding the establishment of a Law School in British Columbia. Oral arguments in the case begin on Thursday of this week. On the feature this week, an interview with André on the event of the hearing. ------------------ LN: So, two days from now, the Supreme Court of Canada starts its hearings on the...

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05 Sep 2017 Supreme Court Appearances

ARPA's Director of Law and Policy, André Schutten ARPA has two appearances coming before the Supreme Court of Canada between now and the end of the year. Late last month, we were granted formal "intervenor status" in what is known as the "Wall case". This case involves a Jehovah's Witness congregation in Alberta that dis-fellowshipped - essentially excommunicated - one of its members. ARPA's Director of Law and Policy, André Schutten, says the case sets boundaries around the authority of the state when it comes to church matters. André says the...

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30 Aug 2017 ARPA at the Supreme Court: Trinity Western University

UPDATE: Read the written arguments ARPA Canada submitted to the Supreme Court on September 5 here. The Supreme Court of Canada will hear the cases between Trinity Western University and the law societies of British Columbia and Ontario on November 30th and December 1st. ARPA Canada will intervene as it has done at many of the lower courts. History of the Case The law societies in British Columbia and Ontario refused to accept graduates from the proposed law school because of Trinity Western’s Community Covenant which requires students to refrain from sexual intimacy...

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22 Aug 2017 List of TWU Intervenors Has Changed

The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada made an unprecedented decision late last month on who will be allowed to intervene before the court in a high profile case involving educational rights. The issue centres on the Trinity Western case; the Court has agreed to hear two conflicting appeals on whether the Langley-based Christian university should be allowed to open a law school. One of the Justices on the court, Richard Wagner, had been tasked with deciding which groups would be given intervenor status in the case. On July...

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27 Jun 2017 ARPA and the Trinity Western University case

ARPA has completed the paperwork required to ask the Supreme Court for “intervenor status” in the Trinity Western case. Trinity Western is the BC University that’s being challenged in its efforts to set up a law school. Several provincial law societies have tried to say that graduates of the proposed law school shouldn’t be allowed to practice in their jurisdictions because of the school’s so-called “community covenant”,in which students and faculty commit to only engage in sexual activity within the context of heterosexual marriage. The claim is that the policy...

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