wfn.org | Victory for Christian Teachers in Canada

[APD <APD_Info_Schweiz@compuserve.com>]

June 28, 2001
Adventist Press Service (APD)
Christian B. Schaeffler, Editor-in-chief
Fax +41-61-261 61 18
APD@stanet.ch
http://www.stanet.ch/APD
CH-4003 Basel, Switzerland

Victory for Christian Teachers in Canada

Ottawa, Canada     The Seventh-day Adventist Church in 
Canada has welcomed a Canadian Supreme Court ruling 
upholding the right of teachers trained at a Christian 
university to gain professional accreditation.

The legal dispute was sparked when the British Columbia 
College of Teachers (BCCT) announced it would not grant 
automatic professional certification to graduates of Trinity 
Western University's education degree program. Students and 
faculty at Trinity Western, a Christian institution, are 
required to agree to a code of conduct, pledging to refrain 
from extramarital sex, including homosexual activity.  
BCCT argued this code of conduct creates the risk that 
teachers graduating from Trinity Western will discriminate 
against homosexuals in the classroom. Without BCCT 
accreditation, teachers cannot be employed in British 
Columbia's public schools. 

The Supreme Court of Canada ruled May 17 that BCCT had acted 
unfairly. One justice wrote that freedom of religion "is not 
accommodated if the consequences of its exercise is the denial 
of the right of full participation in society."

In a statement released soon after the court's ruling, 
Adventist leaders applauded the decision as a resounding 
affirmation of religious freedom. "This ruling confirms the 
right of the Adventist Church and its institutions, including 
Canadian University College, to uphold moral teaching in a 
non-discriminatory environment," the statement said. 

Religious freedom means that groups within a society must be 
free to teach and practice moral beliefs that others may not 
agree with, the statement added. "We express appreciation to 
the Supreme Court in Canada for their confirmation and support 
of these freedoms in Canada's pluralistic society." 

The Adventist Church in Canada, along with the Canadian Civil 
Liberties Association and the Canadian Conference of Catholic 
Bishops, had filed briefs and presented argument in support of 
Trinity Western University. [Editor: Bettina Krause for ANN]