Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms

Justice Centre for
Constitutional Freedoms
Formation 2010
Headquarters Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Official language
English
Website jccf.ca

The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF) is a Canadian non-profit legal organization based in Calgary, Alberta specializing in Canadian constitutional law, specifically in interpretations of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.[1] The organization was founded in 2010 by John Carpay, a former provincial director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation[2] representing Alberta and a former candidate of the federal Reform Party[3] and provincial Wildrose Party.[4]

Major court cases

The JCCF has argued past cases before the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta, Court of Queen's Bench of Manitoba, and the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.[5]

Allen v. Alberta

Allen v. Alberta was a legal challenge to the Government of Alberta's monopoly on health insurance within the province (as it applies to seeking out-of-province treatment) by Dr. Darcy Allen, who had elected to pay $77,000 to undergo surgery for his chronic back pain in Montana rather than wait for treatment in Alberta.[6] The case closely mirrored the 2005 case of Chaoulli v. Quebec where the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that a government monopoly on health insurance, when combined with extremely long wait lists before care could be provided, was a violation of the individual's right to life, liberty, and security of the person – all of which are guaranteed under Section 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The Court of Queen's Bench ruled against Allen on March 31, 2014.[6][7]

Wilson v. University of Calgary

A campus anti-abortion club caused controversy at the University of Calgary when they erected a graphic display as part of a "Genocide Awareness Project" which compared and equated the results of an abortion with historical atrocities such as the Holocaust and the Rwandan genocide. This case was the ninth time in which the group had put on the display. University security staff requested that the students turn the graphic portions of their display inward, away from passers-by. When the eight students running the display refused to comply, the university initiated non-academic misconduct proceedings against them. The school's Vice-Provost ruled that the actions were misconduct and penalized the students with a formal written warning.[8]

This penalty was appealed to the University of Calgary's Board of Governors which refused to hear the appeal and upheld the penalty. The students then requested that the Court of Queen's Bench order the Board of Governors to allow an appeal.[9] The Court ruled in April 2014 that the Board of Governor's decision to not hear the appeal of the students "[lacked] justification, transparency and intelligibility" and ordered the Board to hear the students' appeal.[10]

Intervenor status

The JCCF has acted as an intervenor in several court cases involving questions of constitutional rights; particularly those involving Evangelical Christians, anti-abortion groups, or associated groups that have felt their religious values have been compromised. By acting as an intervenor, the JCCF is able to have their position on the legal questions brought before the court without actually being the official legal counsel for the individuals and organizations on whose behalf the JCCF was intervening.

Trinity Western University

In 2012 the private Evangelical school Trinity Western University (TWU) completed a proposal to establish its own law school. Several groups objected to the establishment of this law school because of TWU's Community Covenant Agreement, a code of conduct which is mandatory for all students to agree to. Unlike codes of conduct at many universities throughout Canada, however, TWU's Community Covenant Agreement requires explicit acceptance of an Evangelical Christian ethical framework including bans on gossip, vulgar language, pornography, and sexual conduct "that violates the sacredness of marriage between a man and a woman".[11]

As a result of opposition to the Community Covenant Agreement the memberships of the Law Society of Upper Canada (now the Law Society of Ontario), Law Society of British Columbia,[12] and Nova Scotia Barristers' Society voted to not accredit the law school. This prevented graduates from being automatically admitted to practice law in those three provinces, though they were still able to apply for individual admission to the society after graduation.

The JCCF acted as an intervenor in the cases of Trinity Western University v Nova Scotia Barristers' Society (Court ruled in favour of TWU), Trinity Western University v The Law Society of Upper Canada (Court ruled in favour of LSUC), and Trinity Western University v Law Society of British Columbia (Court ruled in favour of TWU).

Both the Ontario and B.C. rulings were appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada, with the JCCF intervening in both cases.[13] On June 15, 2018 the Supreme Court ruled in favour of the law societies in 7-2 decisions for both Trinity Western University v Law Society of Upper Canada and Law Society of British Columbia v Trinity Western University.[14] The majority decisions said that TWU's Community Covenant would deter LGBT students from attending the proposed law school and that equal access to legal education, diversity in the legal profession and preventing harm to LGBT students was in the public interest.[15]

Campus Freedom Index

The JCCF publishes a yearly report authored by John Carpay and Michael Kennedy which rates Canadian universities and students' unions on their adherence to the principles of freedom of speech.[16] The annual report gives grades to universities and students' unions based on JCCF's opinion of the strength of their principles and procedures regarding freedom of speech as well as actions regarding freedom of speech.

The Cape Breton University Students’ Union criticized JCCF's rankings as being politically motivated and using old information after it was docked for a ban on religious and political groups approaching people.[17] Officials at Ryerson University defended itself against its low scores noting that the JCCF rankings fail to take into account legal anti-hate speech provisions under federal and provincial laws.[18]

Endorsements

While JCCF says it is a non-partisan group,[19] it has published endorsements by individuals and organizations from the right-wing of the political spectrum:[20]

References

  1. ↑ "Home Page". Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
  2. ↑ John Carpay, accessed May 22nd 2014, http://www.iedm.org/844-john-carpay
  3. ↑ History of Federal Ridings Since 1867, accessed May 22, 2014, http://www.parl.gc.ca/About/Parliament/FederalRidingsHistory/hfer.asp?Include=&Language=E&rid=877&Search=Det
  4. ↑ Candidates by Party, accessed May 22, 2014, http://results.elections.ab.ca/wtPartyCandidatesWAP.htm?
  5. ↑ "Our Cases". Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms. Retrieved 15 November 2014.
  6. 1 2 Gerson, Jen (2 April 2014). "Alberta rules against private health insurance claim in apparent clash with Supreme Court". National Post. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
  7. ↑ "Decision Re: Allen v. Alberta" (PDF). Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
  8. ↑ "Anti-abortion display was misconduct: university". CBC News. 10 May 2010. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
  9. ↑ "U of C anti-abortion activists ask court to undo reprimand". CBC News. 18 April 2013. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
  10. ↑ "Wilson v University of Calgary, 2014 ABQB 190". CanLII. Archived from the original on 14 September 2017. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
  11. ↑ "Community Covenant Agreement" (PDF). Student Handbook. Trinity Western University.
  12. ↑ Cohen, Gail; Taddese, Yamri (31 October 2014). "B.C. lawyers say no to TWU law school". Legal Feeds. Thomson Reuters Canada. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
  13. ↑ https://www.thelawyersdaily.ca/articles/4375
  14. ↑ Fine, Sean (June 15, 2018). "Supreme Court upholds provincial law societies' right to reject graduates from proposed Christian law school". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved June 15, 2018.
  15. ↑ Harris, Kathleen (June 15, 2018). "Trinity Western loses fight for Christian law school". CBC News. Retrieved June 15, 2018.
  16. ↑ Campus Freedom Index, accessed on May 22nd 2014, http://wpmedia.news.nationalpost.com/2012/10/2012-campus-freedom-index1.pdf
  17. ↑ Ayers, Tom (3 October 2014). "Think-tank questions freedom of speech on some Nova Scotia campuses". The Chronicle Herald. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  18. ↑ Del Giallo, Sarah (7 November 2012). "Ryerson's support for free speech criticized". The Ryersonian. Archived from the original on 16 November 2014. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  19. ↑ "Welcome to the Justice Centre". Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  20. ↑ "Endorsements". Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
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