Great News: Intervenor Status Granted in Loyola Case!
With thanksgiving to the Lord we are pleased to share the good news that the Supreme Court of Canada has granted the Association for Christian Educators and Schools (ACES), which ARPA is leading, intervenor status in the Loyola case.
As we explained in our fall tour, the Loyola case will have a greater impact on a parent’s authority in raising their child in the fear of the Lord than any other case in recent history.
The ACES coaltion includes 313 confessional Christian schools, 11 post-secondary institutions, and ARPA Canada. By receiving intervenor status, we are able to provide written arguments to the Court, on behalf of Christian educators and schools. The Court has not yet decided about whether we can also make oral arguments.
What is this all about? The province of Quebec has ordered all schools and home schools to teach a class about ethics and religions. But not only is it telling schools what to teach. It’s also telling them how to teach it. All schools, including Christian private institutions, have to set aside their worldview (if that were possible) and teach the course from a secular perspective. They aren’t allowed to raise our Lord Jesus Christ above other religions and must encourage students to “create their own religion,” among other things.
One school in Montreal called Loyola Christian School challenged this in court. They won at the first level but lost at the Quebec Court of Appeal. They have now appealed to the Supreme Court and thankfully the Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case.
At stake in this case is parental authority itself. Provincial governments are increasingly taking over the role of parents, requiring all students to be taught what it believes is true, and even removing the freedom of parents to take their children out from objectionable classes. For example, with the passing of Bill 18 in Manitoba, independent Christian schools in Manitoba must allow gay-straight alliances in the schools.
The court hearing is set for March 24 but our factum (written arguments) are due by March 10. Please pray for all those who are writing arguments for the Court, as well as for the hearts of our Supreme Court Justices.
