''Trinity Western University v British Columbia College of Teachers'', 0011 S.C.R. 772, 2001 SCC 31, is a leading

Supreme Court of Canada The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; french: Cour suprême du Canada, CSC) is the Supreme court, highest court in the Court system of Canada, judicial system of Canada. It comprises List of Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada, nine justices, wh ...

decision on the

freedom of religion Freedom of religion or religious liberty is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance. It also includes the freedom ...

and the court's ability to review a private school's policies.

Background

Trinity Western University Trinity Western University (TWU) is a Private university, private Christian liberal arts university with campuses in both Langley, British Columbia (district municipality), Langley and Richmond, British Columbia, Richmond, British Columbia. The sch ...

is a private

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

university that sought to take full responsibility for an existing teacher education program jointly run by Trinity Western and

Simon Fraser University Simon Fraser University (SFU) is a public research university in British Columbia, Canada, with three campuses, all in Greater Vancouver: Burnaby (main campus), Surrey, and Vancouver. The main Burnaby campus on Burnaby Mountain, located from ...

. The school applied to the

British Columbia College of Teachers The British Columbia College of Teachers (BCCT) was formerly the professional self-regulatory body for teachers in British Columbia. It was responsible for setting and enforcing standards for teachers in the province. It assessed applicants to the ...

for the proper certification. The College rejected Trinity Western's application on the grounds that the school's community standards policy, which applied to all students, faculty, and staff, prohibited "homosexual behaviour". The College argued that this policy was discriminatory and that it would not be in the public interest to approve the application.

Opinion of the Court

In an eight to one decision, the Court held that the College "acted unfairly" in rejecting Trinity Western's application. The Court concurred with the lower provincial courts, stating that " considering the religious precepts of TWU instead of the actual impact of these beliefs on the public school environment, the BCCT acted on the basis of irrelevant considerations." The Court further observed that " ere is nothing in the TWU Community Standards, which are limited to prescribing conduct of members while at TWU, that indicates that graduates of TWU will not treat homosexuals fairly and respectfully. The evidence to date is that graduates from the joint TWU-SFU teacher education program have become competent public school teachers, and there is no evidence before this Court of discriminatory conduct."

References

External links

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The Supreme Court of Canada will hear the Trinity Western University Teacher Certification Challenge November 9
news release from

Intervener factum of the Christian Legal Fellowship

Canadian freedom of religion case law Supreme Court of Canada cases Trinity Western University 2001 in Canadian case law Education in Canada Anti-discrimination law in Canada Canadian LGBT rights case law {{canada-law-stub

Background

Opinion of the Court

See also

References

External links