Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms

The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF) is a Canadian legal advocacy organization specializing in Canadian constitutional law, specifically in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.[2] The organization describes itself as non-partisan but it has partnered with several right-wing backers in the United States.[3][4][5][6]

Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms
AbbreviationJustice Centre
Formation2010
FounderJohn Carpay
Registration no.817174865-RR0001[1]
Legal statusCharitable organization[1]
PurposeLegal advocacy
HeadquartersCalgary, Alberta, Canada
President
John Carpay
Websitejccf.ca

History

Based in Calgary, Alberta,[2] the organization was founded in 2010 by John Carpay,[7] a former Alberta provincial director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation[8] and a former candidate of the federal Reform Party and provincial Wildrose Party[9][10] who later joined the United Conservative Party.[11]

Major court cases

The Justice Centre has argued cases in every province in Canada except Quebec, before the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta, Court of Queen's Bench of Manitoba, and Ontario Superior Court of Justice.[12]

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 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.[13] The case closely mirrored the 2005 case of Chaoulli v Quebec (AG) 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 31 March 2014.[13][14]

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 illustrated results of an abortion along 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 constituted misconduct and penalized the students with a formal written warning.[15]

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.[16] The court ruled in April 2014 that the Board of Governors' decision not to hear the appeal of the students "[lacked] justification, transparency and intelligibility" and ordered the board to hear the students' appeal.[17]

2019 licence plate challenges

In 2019, the Justice Centre represented three individuals in cases related to licence plates that were revoked due to complaints — two in Manitoba, one in Nova Scotia. John Carpay stated that without such action, "we move closer to a society where people have a legal right not to feel offended which means that there’s less freedom of expression."[18] The Canadian Civil Liberties Association expressed support for the plaintiffs in these cases.[19]

The Manitoba plates were "ASIMIL8", issued to a Star Trek fan, and "NDN CAR", issued to a First Nations man in reference to the song NDN Kar by Keith Secola. In October 2019, the Court of Queen's Bench of Manitoba upheld the decision of Manitoba Public Insurance to take back the "ASIMIL8" because of the association of that word with the forced assimilation of Indigenous people. An agreement was reached between the owner and Manitoba Public Insurance to return the "NDN CAR" plate to its owner.[20]

The Nova Scotia plate was "GRABHER", which caused controversy as the surname of the car's driver, Lorne Grabher, is similar to the phrase "grab her".[21] A decision of the Nova Scotia Supreme Court upheld the province's decision to revoke the plate.[22]

Yaniv v. Various Waxing Salons
Main article: British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal § Yaniv v. Various Waxing Salons

In 2019, the Justice Centre represented five estheticians in Yaniv v. Various Waxing Salons before the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal. The complainant, Jessica Yaniv, a trans woman, filed discrimination complaints against 13 waxing salons alleging that they refused to provide Brazilian waxes to her because she is transgender.[23][24] In response to the complaints, several of the estheticians said that they lacked the required training to wax male genitalia, or that they were not comfortable doing so for religious or personal reasons.[25] The Tribunal ruled against Yaniv and ordered her to pay $6,000 in restitution split equally among three of the service providers. The ruling was critical of Yaniv, stating that she “targeted small businesses, manufactured the conditions for a human rights complaint, and then leveraged that complaint to pursue a financial settlement from parties who were unsophisticated and unlikely to mount a proper defence”, and admonished her for using human rights law as a "weapon" to "penalize" marginalized women with a racial animus and for filing in such a volume for financial gain.[26][27] On January 7, 2020, the Justice Centre announced it was representing another salon in an additional complaint filed by Yaniv in early October 2019.[28]

Intervenor status

The Justice Centre has acted as an intervenor in several court cases involving questions of constitutional rights; evangelical Christians, anti-abortion groups, or other groups that have felt their religious values have been compromised as well as intervening in cases concerning the protection of freedom of speech; firearms legislation and regulation; and advocating for parents who want to prevent their children from seeking reassignment surgery or hormone treatment to relieve gender dysphoria. By acting as an intervenor, the Justice Centre 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 Justice Centre was intervening.

Trinity Western University
See also: Trinity Western University § Faculty of Law accreditation lawsuits

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 ethical framework including bans on gossip, vulgar language, pornography, and sexual conduct "that violates the sacredness of marriage between a man and a woman".[29]

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), the Law Society of British Columbia,[30] and the 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 Justice Centre 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 BC rulings were appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada, with the Justice Centre intervening in both cases.[31] On 15 June 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.[32] 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 were in the public interest.[33]

Rebel News Network Ltd v Alberta (Election Commissioner) 2020

The Alberta courts dismissed the JCCF’s application to intervene in Rebel’s constitutional challenge. https://albertacourts.ca/docs/default-source/qb/rebel-news-network-ltd-v-alberta-(election-commissioner)-2020-abqb-687---judgment.pdf?sfvrsn=5f806983_2

Campus Freedom Index

The Justice Centre publishes a yearly report authored by John Carpay, lawyers and staff, that rates Canadian universities and students' unions on their adherence to the principles of freedom of speech.[34] The annual report gives grades to universities and students' unions based on Justice Centre'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 the Justice Centre's rankings as being politically motivated and using old information after it was docked for a ban on religious and political groups approaching people.[35] Officials at Ryerson University defended itself against its low scores noting that the Justice Centre rankings fail to take into account legal anti-hate speech provisions under federal and provincial laws.[36]

Writer Lindsay Shepherd, former Teaching Assistant at Sir-Wilfrid Laurier University joined the Justice Centre in 2019.[37]

Endorsements

The endorsement section of the Justice Centre website lists endorsements from Canadian conservative and right-of-centre think tanks. These are:

The other endorsements it lists are from Ezra Levant of The Rebel Media and Michael Taube, a former speechwriter for Stephen Harper.[38]

References
  1. "Support the Justice Centre". Calgary, Alberta: Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
  2. "Home Page". Calgary, Alberta: Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
  3. Dobbin, Murray (2015). "Canada's Progressive Politics Need Renewal". In Finn, Ed (ed.). Canada After Harper. Toronto: James Lorimer & Company. p. 294. ISBN 978-1-4594-0943-9.
  4. Climenhaga, David (2018). "The Wealthy U.S. Libertarians Supporting Canada's Right-Wing Think-Tanks" (PDF). CCPA Monitor. Vol. 25 no. 3. Ottawa: Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. pp. 8–9. ISSN 1198-497X. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
  5. Appel, Jeremy (17 November 2018). "Kenney Must Take Right-Wing Extremism More Seriously". Medicine Hat News. Medicine Hat, Alberta: Continental Newspapers. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
  6. Climenhaga, David (5 July 2018). "What Does the Canadian Taxpayers Federation Get from Its Right-Wing US Partner?". The Tyee. Vancouver. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
  7. Simpson, Kaitlyn (13 February 2017). "Inside the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms". The Varsity. Toronto. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
  8. "John Carpay". Montreal: MEI. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
  9. History of Federal Ridings Since 1867, accessed 22 May 2014, http://www.parl.gc.ca/About/Parliament/FederalRidingsHistory/hfer.asp?Include=&Language=E&rid=877&Search=Det
  10. Candidates by Party, accessed 22 May 2014, http://results.elections.ab.ca/wtPartyCandidatesWAP.htm?
  11. Rieger, Sarah (11 November 2018). "Calgary Lawyer Challenging Gay–Straight Alliance Bill Compares Pride Flags to Swastikas". CBC News. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
  12. "Our Cases". Calgary, Alberta: Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms. Retrieved 15 November 2014.
  13. Gerson, Jen (2 April 2014). "Alberta Rules Against Private Health Insurance Claim in Apparent Clash with Supreme Court". National Post. Toronto. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
  14. "Decision Re: Allen v Alberta" (PDF). Retrieved 14 November 2014 – via Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms.
  15. "Anti-Abortion Display Was Misconduct: University". CBC News. 10 May 2010. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
  16. "U of C Anti-Abortion Activists Ask Court to Undo Reprimand". CBC News. 18 April 2013. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
  17. "Wilson v University of Calgary, 2014 ABQB 190". CanLII. Archived from the original on 14 September 2017. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
  18. Martens, Kathleen (10 April 2019). "Constitutional challenge may help NDN CAR ride again". APTN News. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
  19. Gollop, Justin (3 May 2019). "Bonfire of the vanity plates". The Coast. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
  20. Malone, Kelly (24 October 2019). "Manitoba man loses court fight to get back banned ASIMIL8 licence plate". National Post. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  21. Geary, Aldan (8 April 2019). "'Knee-jerk reaction to' ASIMIL8 licence plate contravenes right to freedom of expression, lawyer argues". CBC. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
  22. Julian, Jack (31 January 2020). "Nova Scotia man loses legal bid to reclaim GRABHER personalized licence plate". CBC. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  23. Greenfield, Beth (24 July 2019). "Trans woman who was refused waxing services kicks off identity wars online". Yahoo! News. Retrieved 5 August 2019.
  24. Little, Simon (29 July 2019). "B.C. Human Rights Tribunal to take up to 3 months to decide transgender waxing case". Global News. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
  25. Uguene-Csenge, Eva (26 July 2019). "Transgender woman testifies at human rights tribunal after being refused Brazilian wax". The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
  26. Brean, Joseph (22 October 2019). "Trans activist Jessica Yaniv filed genital wax complaints as means of 'extortion,' rights tribunal rules". The National Post. Retrieved 22 October 2019.
  27. Forgie, Adam (22 October 2019). "Court rules in favor of women who refused to wax male genitalia of trans woman". KUTV (CBS). Retrieved 22 October 2019.
  28. https://www.sprucegroveexaminer.com/news/canada/rights-centre-says-trans-activist-jessica-yaniv-has-filed-new-suit-against-b-c-salon-over-waxing-refusal/wcm/65c2d00f-f916-42ef-bd85-b8e37b311d48
  29. "Community Covenant Agreement" (PDF). Student Handbook. Trinity Western University. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 April 2014. Retrieved 18 February 2015.
  30. Cohen, Gail; Taddese, Yamri (31 October 2014). "B.C. Lawyers Say No to TWU Law School". Legal Feeds. Toronto: Thomson Reuters Canada. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
  31. Kulig, Paula (9 August 2017). "Chief Justice's Rare Order in Trinity Western Case Ensures 'All Voices Could Be Heard'". The Lawyer's Daily. Toronto: LexisNexis Canada. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
  32. Fine, Sean (15 June 2018). "Supreme Court Upholds Provincial Law Societies' Right to Reject Graduates from Proposed Christian Law School". The Globe and Mail. Toronto. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  33. Harris, Kathleen (15 June 2018). "Trinity Western Loses Fight for Christian Law School". CBC News. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  34. Campus Freedom Index, accessed on 22 May 2014, http://wpmedia.news.nationalpost.com/2012/10/2012-campus-freedom-index1.pdf
  35. Ayers, Tom (3 October 2014). "Think-Tank Questions Freedom of Speech on Some Nova Scotia Campuses". The Chronicle Herald. Halifax, Nova Scotia. Archived from the original on 4 November 2014. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  36. Del Giallo, Sarah (7 November 2012). "Ryerson's Support for Free Speech Criticized". The Ryersonian. Toronto. Archived from the original on 16 November 2014. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  37. Leavitt, Kieran (7 February 2019). "Lindsay Shepherd joins controversial Calgary group to promote free speech on campuses". The Star. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
  38. "Endorsements". Calgary, Alberta: Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms. Retrieved 16 November 2014.

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