Western Trinity U... have got to be kidding me

The N.S. Barristers Society announced it is appealing the N.S Supreme Court decision requiring it to recognize law degrees granted by Trinity Western University on the basis that the TWU student covenant discriminates against gays (it does).

But TWU also discriminates against everyone who isn't Christian, so no Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Sikhs, etc. Atheists and agnostics need not apply.

I can only imagine the stimulating discourse and debate that arises in such an academic bastion of homogeneity.

With dismay I read that the Barristers Society is willing to accredit TWU law graduates as long as TWU stops requiring students to sign the covenant that discriminates against gays. I am dismayed because it stops leagues short of the debate that needs to be had: What bureaucratic bungling and/or insanity led to a private and openly discriminatory university being granted a law school in the first place?

The number of seats in Canadian law schools are finite. There is heavy competition for each seat. Aside from the much publicized gay issue, over 30 per cent of Canadians are not Christian, so for those new seats created at TWU, 30 per cent of the population is automatically out of the running.

Fairness and justice appear to be the fundamental principles of law. Common law, the legal system in all provinces (except Quebec), the territories, and pretty much any place colonized by the English, is all about making decisions based on a history of similar decisions. What happened then will happen now, barring legislative changes to the interpreted act and successful appeals. The intent is to dispense fairness and justice by treating everyone the same. It doesn't work perfectly all the time, but that is why an appeals process exists.

I am not questioning the integrity of any future TWU law grads, I am questioning the integrity of the people decided it was okay to establish a law school that discriminates against 30 per cent of the population.

The most popular defense is that TWU is a private university and its absence of government funds grants them autonomy. To attend a publicly-funded university, undergrad tuition across Canada taps out around $9,000 for two semesters. Depending on grade point average, age, and marital status, TWU runs students between $18,000 and $30,000 for the same. The lower the entrance marks, the higher the tuition. The bar for acceptance is a high school average of 65 per cent, which is a handful of percentage points above fogging a mirror in terms of academic standing.

As soon as TWU students are ineligible for government-funded student loans, I'll start giving their non-government funded autonomy due consideration.

The second most popular defense is freedom of religion. As someone who has read hundreds and hundreds of comments recently on news stories explaining that the hajib and naqib are cultural practices not religious tenets, with the same precision let me point out that neither the Old Testament nor the New Testament prescribe attending a Christian law school.

The Charter says we are all deserving of equal treatment. The law practiced in this country is established on the principles of fairness and justice. A law school that exempts nearly a third of the population makes a mockery of the Charter and the law by its very existence.