QUEENS UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF LAW Resolution of Faculty Board February 7, 2014 Motion concerning the accreditation of the Trinity

Western University law school program (moved by Manoj Dias-Abey, seconded by Kathy Lahey) Background Trinity Western University (TWU) is a private Christian university in the evangelical Protestant tradition based in Langley, British Columbia. TWU requires that all community membersincluding students and staffpledge that they will abstain from sexual intimacy that violates the sacredness of marriage between a man and woman in accordance with its Community Covenant Agreement. A failure to abide by the terms of the Community Covenant Agreement can result in the removal of the offending student from TWU without readmission. On December 18, 2013, the government of British Columbia determined that TWU could offer a law degree program. TWU is expecting to admit its first cohort of law students to begin in September 2015. Although provincial and territory governments decide whether universities can offer specific degree programs, each of the fourteen law societies in Canada are authorized to determine the licensing criteria for lawyers in its province or territory. In practice, this power has been delegated to the Federation of Law Societies of Canada (FLSC). On 16 December 2013, the FLSC granted preliminary approval to TWUs proposed school of law program. Although concerns were raised about the Community Covenant Agreement and its discriminatory impact on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, and queer identifying (LGBTIQ) students and staff, the FLSC found that these issues were outside the scope of the approval committees mandate. Moved that: 1. The Queens University Faculty of Law Faculty Board is of the view that:

the TWU requirement that students and staff comply with the terms of the Community Covenant Agreement discriminates against LGBTIQ people; such discrimination offends the policies, values, rights, and freedoms protected under human rights legislation in Canada and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms; and such discrimination is also contrary to the notion of academic freedom and professional canons of ethics. 2. The Queens Law Faculty Board calls on the FLSC:

to reconsider its decision to grant preliminary approval to the accreditation of TWUs proposed law program, and to make a fresh determination on the basis that TWUs admission, hiring, and faculty appointment policies fall within the scope of the FLSCs mandate when deciding whether to grant accreditation. 3. The Queens Law Faculty Board calls on the Law Society of Upper Canada to uphold the values of equity, diversity, and access to justice as matters of professional ethics, human rights obligations, and its duty to safeguard the public interest when deciding whether it will accredit the TWU law degree program for purposes of admission to the practice of law in Ontario.