Trinity Western University officials are not scrapping their plans for a law school on the 91原创-based Christian campus.
鈥淲e鈥檙e certainly looking at possible ways of moving forward,鈥� said Earl Phillips, executive director of the university鈥檚 law school plan.
He said first there will need to be analysis of the Supreme Court of Canada鈥檚 decision, which found in favour of the law socities of B.C. and Ontario.
Both law socities had objected to allowing TWU to grant law degrees because the university鈥檚 Community Covenant forbids sexual relations outside of marriage between a man and a woman. The law societies aruged that would essentially ban LGBTQ students, including married gay students, from attending the law school.
鈥淟imiting access to membership in the legal profession on the basis of personal characteristics, unrelated to merit, is inherently inimical to the integrity of the legal profession,鈥� the majority of justices wrote in their decision.
The seven-to-two decision by the justices included a dissent, as well as two justices who found against TWU, but for different reasons from the majority.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a very complex and long decision,鈥� said Phillips.
He acknowledged that the school鈥檚 Community Covenant is 鈥渁t the center鈥� of the issue, and that is something the entire university community will have to consider.
Some version of the covenant, or a similar pledge, has been a feature of TWU since it was founded in the 1960s, Phillips said.
鈥淚t has been a feature, but it has been reviewed, and I鈥檓 sure it will be reviewed in the future,鈥� he said. The covenant has been changed in the past.
In the court鈥檚 majority decision, they justices italicized the word 鈥渕andatory鈥� at one point to emphasize that it was a factor in their decision.
The lengthy legal battles have already caused delays in the planned opening of the law school.
Phillips said the original plan was to open in 2015. The first graduates of the three-year program would have been leaving with law degrees this year under that plan.
However, he said the lack of a law school does not seem to be having an impact on the rest of the university. It is still expanding in other areas, and recently asked for a rezoning of one portion of its campus to build new dormitories.
The presence or absence of a law school is also not expected to impact 91原创 Township鈥檚 plans for a university district around TWU.
鈥淚 can鈥檛 see it affecting the university district,鈥� said Township Mayor Jack Froese.
TWU is one part of the district, but other educational institutions could fill the space nearby on Glover Road.
The university district plan resulted in a legal battle between the Township and Metro Vancouver, with the Township won in 2014.
Metro Vancouver had opposed the idea of the Township expanding the university zone in the middle of a rural area. Local opponents decried the district and a nearby proposed housing development 鈥� never built 鈥� as 鈥渟pot zoning.鈥�
A new road connecting the district and TWU to the Willoughby neighbourhood is almost finished, and expected to open in September.
