Hon. Alice Wong, P.C.

June 15, 2018

Richmond, BC – Hon. Alice Wong, Member of Parliament for Richmond Centre, made the following statement regarding the Supreme Court of Canada ruling on the Law Society of British Columbia v. Trinity Western University, 2018 SCC 32:

“In 2015, Trinity Western University opened a campus in my constituency in downtown Richmond, offering Bachelor and Masters degrees as well as language training. They, along with other public and private educational institutions allow students the choice of where and what they wish to learn. Collectively, educational institutions allow students to choose the subject of education they wish to receive, choose the quality of education they wish to receive, and choose the values that their educational providers have. These choices, and many others, are ultimately up to the student to decide. Nobody is compelled to attend a specific educational institution.

The Supreme Court decision will ultimately diminish student choice and continue the trend towards a monolithic culture where one has to subscribe to a specific set of beliefs in order to access the education needed to practice a regulated profession. We have also seen a similar instance of this exclusion of belief by the current Liberal government with the enforcement of the “values attestation” in order to apply for Canada Summer Jobs funding.

There is no reason to believe this decision will not also apply to other regulated professions in British Columbia beyond the Law Society of BC. Examples of this include the Chartered Professional Accountants of BC, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of BC, the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of BC, the College of Dental Surgeons of BC, and many others.

Whether your beliefs are religious, agnostic, or atheist, they should not impair your availability of choice. Canadians value diversity, but in recent times it is clear our government and courts only embrace those values they agree to, regardless of the rights of Canadians have to their own individual values. Canada is being made less inclusive, less tolerant and ultimately less free as a result of this recent Supreme Court decision.”

For inquiries, contact:
Office of Hon. Alice Wong, MP (Richmond Centre)
alice.wong@parl.gc.ca
613-995-2021

Filed under: Commentary