Alice Woolley: This paper’s columnists have condemned the LSUC’s Statement of Principles. And so I enter the lion’s den
The Law Society of Ontario’s requirement that its licensees create a Statement of Principles acknowledging their “obligation to promote equality, diversity and inclusion generally” has outraged many, but none more than this paper’s opinion writers. Bruce Pardy, Conrad Black, Jonathan Kay, Christie Blatchford and the editorial board as a whole have condemned its “egregious foray into compelled speech,” its North Korean-style requirement of “adherence to specific beliefs,” and its “virtue-signaling kabuki.”
And so I enter the lion’s den. I do so not to support compelling speech or belief. Nor to argue that the law society’s current initiative is useful or lawful. My goal is more modest. Simply put, the critics rest their argument on a particular interpretation of the law society’s requirement: that it asks lawyers to affirm their belief in equality, diversity and inclusion. That interpretation is wrong.
Alice Woolley – National Post – November 16, 2017.
Want More Investigative Content?
