Motion one: MOTION TO UNIVERSITY OF VICTORIA LAW FACULTY COUNCIL Moved by Hester Lessard; Seconded by Rebecca Johnson February

26, 2014 Passed: 22 in favour; 0 against; 1 abstention Whereas, the issue of ensuring accessibility and an inclusive learning environment for people of faith and of all sexualities is not an issue that is unique to Trinity Western University (TWU); Whereas all law schools need to take actions to ensure an inclusive climate for persons of faith and members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans*, Two-spirit, Intersex and Queer (LGBTTIQ) communities; Whereas limits imposed on religious freedom have often had unanticipated and harsh impacts on vulnerable religious communities; Whereas there is a long history of social and legal exclusion, as well as violence, against LGBTTIQ communities in Canada; And whereas the key issue is an exclusionary admissions requirement to law school that directly impacts LGBTTIQ people, not the curriculum or the incorporation of elements of faith therein; The University of Victoria Faculty of Law Asserts: 1. The key question currently before the Law Society of BC (the LSBC) is fundamentally about access to law schools and in turn, to the legal profession. The requirement that students at TWU affirm their responsibility to fulfill every part of the Trinity Western University Community Covenant Agreement (the Covenant) directly excludes persons in same-sex marriages, as well as the wider LGBTTIQ communities and their allies. The Covenant excludes these persons by demanding that all members commit themselves to a set of beliefs and a course of conduct that is inconsistent with their legal and personal relationships and their identities. [For example, a gay Christian, who might otherwise choose to study law at TWU, would be barred from admission by their inability to affirm their commitment to the definition in the Covenant of healthy sexuality.] 2. The distinctive nature of law school renders the barriers to access contained in the Covenant particularly problematic. Our concern is not that graduates of a law school at TWU would themselves discriminate, but that TWUs discriminatory admissions policy is problematic given the symbolic and material role of law schools in society. In this regard the LSBC should pay due attention to the role of law schools in society in their deliberations including the following: that symbolically, law schools signal justice and access to justice to the broader society;

that a commitment to non-discriminatory access to law school is fundamental to a society that values democratic participation and inclusion; that law schools are the only route to the judicial branch of government, as well as a common route to public office in legislatures and executive bodies; and that lawyers as a group have significant social and political capital, and enjoy many privileges and responsibilities that are public in nature. 3 The LSBC should take a rigorously contextual approach to this issue. Some important contextual elements include: that although the requirement to sign the Covenant potentially discriminates on many grounds, the salient issue is the impact on members of LGBTTIQ communities because of their historical and ongoing vulnerability within law schools and within society more broadly; that given the relatively small number of law schools in the country, students repeatedly point out that it is not uncommon to be accepted to a single law school, especially a single law school within ones province of residence; that the composition of the law student population has a material effect on the learning experience; and that against the backdrop of these concerns, it is particularly important to ensure that the context in which future generations of lawyers and judges learn law is robustly inclusive. 4. The LSBC is an organization with a public task, charged with acting in the public interest. It thus has a distinctive role and responsibility to ensure non-discriminatory access to TWUs proposed law school. Recommendation: In light of these assertions, we recommend that the LSBC take steps to ensure that the TWU law school admissions requirements do not exclude persons in same-sex marriages, the wider LGBTTIQ communities and their allies.

Motion two:

MOTION TO UNIVERSITY OF VICTORIA LAW FACULTY COUNCIL Moved by Hester Lessard; Seconded by Rebecca Johnson February 26, 2014 Passed: 22 in favour; 0 against

Whereas, the issue of ensuring accessibility and an inclusive learning environment for people of faith and of all sexualities is not an issue that is unique to Trinity Western University (TWU); Whereas all law schools need to take actions to ensure an inclusive climate for persons of faith and members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans*, Two-spirit, Intersex and Queer (LGBTTIQ) communities; Whereas limits imposed on religious freedom have often had unanticipated and harsh impacts on vulnerable religious communities; Whereas there is a long history of social and legal exclusion, as well as violence, against LGBTTIQ communities in Canada; And whereas the issue concerning the Covenant at TWU alongside the recent report on marginalization by the Faculty of Laws Equity and Diversity Committee (the EDC) has made it clear that the Faculty of Law needs to engage at an institutional level with the ongoing task of making our school safe and inclusive for LGBTTIQ students and students of faith: We reaffirm a commitment to an inclusive climate and to our existing processes for addressing equity at individual, institutional and systemic levels; and We undertake to explore with students, staff and faculty concrete ways to give more support to initiatives aimed at climate and inclusion, and to continue to build spaces within which a range of voices can engage with these issues without fear of backlash.