Charter-ing A Different Course? Two Decisions On TWU's Proposed Law School

Introduction

Appeal courts in Ontario¹ and Nova Scotia² have now issued decisions about Trinity Western University's proposed law school ("TWU") in British Columbia, and at first glance they couldn't be more different. The Court of Appeal for Ontario made sweeping statements about Charter rights, and ruled against TWU; the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal focused on the more esoteric issue of the vires of regulations, ruling in favour of TWU.

Upon further review, however, there are similarities. For example, both decisions consider how far legal regulators can go in protecting the "public interest" pursuant to their statutory frameworks. And in light of the NSCA's comments on a possible path forward for regulating the TWU issue, the result may eventually be the same in both provinces.