Free Republic

Two months after Canada’s Supreme Court ruled against what would have been the country’s first Christian law school, Trinity Western University (TWU) has dropped its controversial community covenant. TWU’s quest to open a law school had stalled in court for years after several provincial law societies refused to accredit would-be graduates, citing the covenant’s prohibition of sex outside of traditional marriage. Canadian law schools require the approval of provincial law societies to operate. Last Thursday, TWU’s board of governors decided to drop the covenant altogether. "Let there be no confusion regarding the board of governors’ resolution; our mission remains the...

"Supreme Court of Canada says 7-2 decision will ensure open access for LGBT students" A B.C.-based evangelical Christian university has lost its legal battle over accreditation for a planned new law school, with a Supreme Court of Canada ruling today saying it's "proportionate and reasonable" to limit religious rights in order to ensure open access for LGBT students. In a pair of 7-2 rulings, the majority of justices found the law societies of British Columbia and Ontario have the power to refuse accreditation based on Trinity Western University's so-called community covenant. The mandatory covenant binds students to a strict code...

The Supreme Court of Canada will deliver a landmark ruling Friday in a closely-watched case that weighs religious freedom against LGBT rights. The judgment effectively could determine whether Trinity Western University (TWU) — a private, evangelical Christian post-secondary institution — can operate a law school at its Langley, B.C. campus. Law societies in B.C., Nova Scotia and Ontario have refused to accredit Trinity's program, arguing that the school's "community covenant" — which requires students to abstain from sex outside heterosexual marriage — discriminates against LGBT people. In B.C. and Nova Scotia, the courts have sided with TWU, ruling the university...

B.C.'s Minister of Advanced Education has revoked his consent for the proposed law school at Trinity Western University. . . .The school, which would be built at the university's Langley campus, had become a lightning rod for controversy because of a line in the university’s covenant that requires all students, administrators and faculty to abstain from "sexual intimacy that violates the sacredness of marriage between a man and a woman."A legal challenged launched against Mr. Virk and TWU by two Canadian law firms said the minister had "created a two-tiered system of legal education" when he granted consent. After some deliberation, the law...