Canadian Mennonite
Volume 5, number 11
June 4, 2001

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The RCMP spied on many Christian groups during the Cold War and into the 1980s, says political scientist Steve Hewitt who researched the files. Groups under suspicion of subversion included Project Ploughshares and the Student Christian Movement, as well as that symbol of charitable causes, Lotta Hitchmanova of the Unitarian Service Committee. The United Church and peace groups were also under surveillance as communist sympathizers. "The RCMP must have been very immature to assume we were a pacifist group bent on subverting members of the military," said Mennonite Ernie Regehr, Ploughshares director. "I don't know if the current gang, CSIS, is any more sophisticated." CSIS (Canadian Security and Intelligence Service) took over the RCMP's intelligence gathering role in the 1980s.-The Vancouver Sun, April 1

Trinity Western University (TWU), a Christian institution in Langley B.C., has the right to offer teacher training degrees, ruled the Supreme Court of Canada on May 17. The decision is being seen as a victory for religious freedom in Canada. The B.C. College of Teachers had refused to approve TWU's education program because TWU requires its students to refrain from extramarital sex, including homosexual behaviour. The College argued that the requirement might lead to discriminating against homosexuals in the classroom. The Supreme Court said that "there is nothing in TWU's Community Standards that indicates that graduates of TWU will not treat homosexuals fairly and respectfully." The Supreme Court "has affirmed that, in our multi-cultural and multi-faith society, people cannot be arbitrarily penalized or barred in participating in public life simply because they hold religious views," said Guy Saffold, TWU vice-president. -From TWU release