After Ontario court loss, Trinity Western University to take appeal to Supreme Court of Canada
The ongoing battle that Trinity Western University is facing in seeking accreditation for its controversial law school is heading to the Supreme Court of Canada.
On June 30, the Ontario Court of Appeal rejected an appeal by the Christian university based in Langley, B.C. The court upheld the Ontario Divisional Court's decision in 2015 that supported the Law Society of Upper Canada's decision not to accredit TWU law school graduates.
In 2014, the Law Society of Upper Canada had previously refused to accredit students from TWU's proposed law school.
University staff and students must sign a covenant that forbids all sexual activity unless it is between a husband and a wife, which critics have argued discriminates against LGBT individuals.
TWU announced on June 30 that it is taking the Ontario court's decision to the Supreme Court of Canada.
The school has received accreditation from Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland.
Ontario, Nova Scotia, and British Columbia have rejected accreditation, and TWU has taken these decisions to court in these provinces.
In Nova Scotia, the province's Supreme Court ruled in favour of the university. The Nova Scotia Barrister's Society appealed the decision in the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal in April. The court has not yet released a ruling on the case.
Meanwhile in British Columbia, the accreditation status of the law school has undergone several reversals.
In April 2014, the Law Society of British Columbia decided to approve accreditation for the law school. After criticism and debate, the law society voted in October 2014 to reverse the accreditation.
However, in December 2015, a B.C. Supreme Court judge ruled in favour of TWU and restored the original accreditation.
On June 1, the B.C. law society took the case to the B.C. Court of Appeal to fight the B.C. Supreme Court decision.
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