• BC Christian News • JUNE ISSUE 2001 • VOL. 21 #6 • Formerly "Christian Info News" •

Trinity Western ordeal over

By Peter T. Chattaway

TWU's Harro Van Brummelen,
Guy Saffold and Bob Kuhn
speak to reporters at the
May 17news conference
in downtown Vancouver.

IN A DECISION that Christians across the country are hailing as a victory for religious freedom, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled May 24 that the B.C. College of Teachers (BCCT) could not refuse to certify the teacher training program at Trinity Western University (TWU) simply because the school requires students to refrain from homosexual behaviour and other forms of sex outside of marriage. The court also ordered the college to pay the legal costs the university has incurred in its five-year battle before the courts, estimated at over one million dollars.

Guy Saffold, executive vice president at the Langley-based university, said the struggle had been worth it. "Having this on the record is a good thing for the Canadian people," he said.

The court's decision clears the way for the university to fully implement the fifth year of its proposed five-year education program, beginning in the fall of 2002. Until now, education students at TWU have had to take their fifth and final year at Simon Fraser University.

The dispute goes back to 1996, when the BCCT asserted that Trinity Western's 'community standards' form, which all students and staff are required to sign, discriminated against homosexuals. The BCCT claimed that teachers trained exclusively at TWU might discriminate against gay students and children with gay parents, and on that basis, it refused to certify the university's program.

Noting that the BCCT never produced any evidence to support its assertion that teachers trained at TWU might behave in inappropriate ways, Saffold said the court's decision served as a warning to government bodies that they could not base their decisions, with regard to religious institutions, on stereotypes and prejudices. "This will make government bodies more cautious when they make decisions in cases like these," he said. "They'd better deal with the facts."

Support

Several organizations which intervened on Trinity Western's behalf said the court's decision was worth celebrating.

The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada stated in a press release that it was "very pleased" with the decision. "The Supreme Court has upheld a broad view of religious freedom," said EFC president Gary Walsh. "This will put to rest the fears of other religiously-based colleges and seminaries that are worried that their students will face discrimination on graduation."

Janet Epp Buckingham, general legal counsel for the EFC, added that she agreed with Judges Frank Iacobucci and Michel Bastarache when they wrote in their majority decision that, "For better or for worse, tolerance of divergent beliefs is a hallmark of a democratic society."

Focus on the Family president Darrel Reid said he was "thrilled" with the verdict. "It has affirmed the place of religious freedom in Canada."

Murray Mollard, acting executive director of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, told BC Christian News the court's verdict was "a wonderful case for civil liberties."

Mollard said there will always be times when different freedoms "clash and collide," and added that the Supreme Court, by distinguishing between beliefs and behaviour, had provided a "template" for sorting through those freedoms. "You have to make the distinction of allowing people the freedom to believe what they wish, while distinguishing that freedom from their conduct," he said.

Because Trinity Western is a private university and not a public one, Mollard said, it was perfectly acceptable for TWU to ask its students to follow a code of conduct informed by religious beliefs. And it would probably require "quite a bit of evidence" before anyone could successfully accuse Trinity Western of encouraging its graduates to discriminate against gay and lesbian students. "It can't just be that there's one teacher who behaves inappropriately."

Dissent

But not all observers were satisfied with the court's decision. National Post columnist Susan Martinuk said the decision was not "the all-encompassing victory" for religious freedom that it could have been. The court's decision, she wrote, "will reinforce the popular (and errant) notion that religious beliefs are private and should have no bearing on one's public actions or words." In today's climate, she said, inappropriate behaviour in the classroom could even be "something as seemingly benign as telling kids not to have premarital sex."

However, BCCT registrar Douglas Smart said it was unlikely that a teacher would ever be disciplined simply for advocating abstinence. "I can't imagine us getting that kind of complaint," he told BC Christian News.

In addition, while the Supreme Court's 8 - 1 decision was nearly unanimous, there was one dissenter who argued that the BCCT's decision not to certify TWU should have been upheld. In her dissenting opinion, Judge Claire L'Heureux-DubČ said she was skeptical that people of faith could make a distinction between a person's sexual orientation and a person's sexual behaviour.

"I am dismayed that at various points in the history of this case the argument has been made that one can separate condemnation of the 'sexual sin' of 'homosexual behaviour' from intolerance of those with homosexual or bisexual orientations," she wrote. "This position alleges that one can love the sinner, but condemn the sin."

The judge acknowledged that tolerance was a "fundamental value" in TWU's own 'community standards,' but, echoing the concern of B.C. Court of Appeals dissenting Justice Anne Rowles, she went on to claim that "the public interest in the public school system requires something more than mere tolerance."

Positive

Bob Kuhn, the lawyer who represented Trinity Western before the Supreme Court, said the ruling had benefits for all Canadians, including gays and lesbians, because it affirmed that government agencies could not judge people "on the basis of presuppositions and prejudice," but only if there was evidence that they had actually done something wrong.

Saffold said the legal battle had actually worked to the university's benefit. Referring to the various groups that had supported Trinity Western in the name of religious freedom, Saffold told a press conference, "We have a larger circle of friends than we've ever had before."