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The Supreme Court of Canada has granted the British Columbia College of Teachers leave to appeal in its case against Trinity Western University. The case involves the BCCT’s refusal to certify TWU’s education program because the BCCT believes that a community standards agreement students must sign to attend TWU discriminates against homosexuals and would make TWU-trained teachers “intolerant” of homosexual students they might teach. The agreement states that students attending TWU will refrain from extramarital sex, including premarital sex, adultery and homosexual behaviour. As a result, the BCCT requires education students at TWU to take their final year at Simon Fraser University. In December 1998, the B.C. Court of Appeal said “there is not one bit of evidence” that any TWU-trained teacher has “behaved in the classroom in a manner incompatible with the standards of the Canadian community”. In September 1997, the B.C. Supreme Court stated that there was solid evidence before it that TWU graduates were not biased. The BCCT’s own program approval team had recommended the approval of TWU’s program, saying “TWU students would be competent teachers”. The Supreme Court is expected to hear the appeal by this fall. Over 200 students are currently involved in TWU’s teacher education program. – Evangelical Fellowship Of Canada
Two Sudanese Roman Catholic priests, jailed for over 16 months on insurrection charges, were released Dec. 6 after President Omar al-Bashir pardoned them. Hilary Boma, 58, and Lino Sebit, 33, were accused of masterminding a series of explosions in the capital city, Khartoum, in June 1998 in an effort to topple Sudan’s Islamic regime. They faced the death penalty if convicted. Eighteen others charged in connection with the case were also released. The two priests, who have been outspoken critics of government persecution of Christians, continue to insist that they are innocent. The pardon is seen as a gesture of peace marking the start of Ramadan, the annual Muslim month of fasting. On Nov. 25, President al-Bashir signed a tentative peace agreement with a key opposition leader. Sudan has been involved in a civil war for 16 years. – Compass Direct
Talisman Energy of Calgary, the largest oil company in Canada, has a 25% share in the Greater Nile company which recently began oil production in southern Sudan. The company has committed 5% of its revenues to the Sudanese government, which has promised to use most of the money for development, especially in the south. However, human rights group say that the Sudanese government, which is controlled by the National Islamic Front, is using oil profits to fuel the war between the mostly-Islamic north and the mostly-Christian south. They accuse the government of murdering civilians, bombing hospitals, persecuting Christians, engaging in torture, rape, pillage, and allowing the slave trade to thrive. Two million people have died, and in the last 10 years as many as 100,000 people have been enslaved. Despite the well-documented cases of human rights abuses in Sudan, Jim Buckee, president of Talisman, flatly denies the Sudanese government is guilty of the atrocities it is accused of, saying the casualties are due to a variety of reasons, including famine, migration and inter-tribal warfare. The Inter-Church Coalition on Africa is asking the Canadian government to consider using the Special Economic Measures Act (SEMA), which allows Canada to invoke sanctions. The group has also asked that Sudan be put on the area controls list, which would require Talisman to apply for a permit to work in Sudan. The Canadian government has declined, saying that invoking SEMA would cut off the $12 million in Canadian aid that is sent to Sudan each year, primarily from non-governmental organizations. – ChristianWeek
Rosabel Fast, a short-term Mennonite Central Committee worker, has received an Outreach award by the University of Manitoba for her work with a Plautdietsch (Low German) literacy project in Mennonite villages in Mexico. Fast, who teaches English to international students at the university, spent five weeks in Mexico in summer 1999 piloting the project for MCC. She taught three Plautdietsch literacy classes for children and women in two villages in the Cuauhtemoc area. Many of the Mennonites in Mexico speak Low German but are taught to read in High German, which the young people don’t comprehend. Recently, much of the Bible has been translated into Plautdietsch. – Mennonite Central Committee Canada
Mennonite Central Committee relief sales in Canada generated over $1.4 million in 1999. In B.C., the Abbotsford sale brought in $400,000; the Prince George sale, $42,000; the Black Creek sale, $10,500; and the Kelowna sale, $11,900. In Alberta, the Tofield sale generated $88,700. In Saskatchewan, the Saskatoon sale raised $84,000; and the Hague sale raised $77,800 for Canadian Foodgrains Bank. In Manitoba, the Morris sale brought in $125,000; the Winnipeg sale, $74,000; and the Brandon sale, $52,000. In Ontario, the New Hamburg sale raised $262,000; the heifer sale in Guelph, $150,000; the Black Creek sale in Toronto, $44,000; and the Leamington sale, $7,400. – MCC Canada
More than nine in ten Canadian 12- and 13-year-olds are happy with the way things are in their lives, according to a recent National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth. However, 31% reported that they had stolen something from a store, a school or their parents in the previous year; 41% admitted that they had been in a fight or had threatened to beat someone up (but only 6% were in a fight with injuries serious enough to require care); and 15% stated that they belonged to a group that “did risky things”. – Canadian Social Trends
British Columbia has consistently reported the highest rate of drug crime among the provinces since 1982. In 1997, it recorded 426 drug offences per 100,000 population. Newfoundland had the lowest rate at 132. In 1997, cannabis offenses accounted for 72% of all drug crime, while cocaine represented 17% and heroin 2%. Overall, 40,800 people were charged with drug offenses in 1997; nine in 10 were male. People charged in cocaine and heroin incidents averaged 30 years of age; those charged with cannabis offenses averaged 25 years. – Juristat (as quoted in Canadian Social Trends)
In 1997/98, about 33,000 young offenders (aged 12-17) participated in alternative measures programs offering non-judicial, community-based methods of dealing with their crimes instead of the traditional court process. The most serious offence in 70% of alternative measures cases was a property-related crime. Almost 64% of participants were male. In 22% of cases, the youth performed community service. In 18% of cases, offenders formally apologized to their victim. In 13% of cases, the youth paid financial compensation to a victim, took part in educational sessions, wrote essays or made presentations related to the offence. Eighty-nine per cent of the young people in these programs successfully finished their agreements and had their files closed. – Juristat, Statistics Canada (as quoted in Canadian Social Trends)
Teens whose parents divorced are more likely to delay marriage and to have their own marital problems later in life, according to a study that tracked 122,500 teens between 1982 and 1995. About 40% of men and 54% of women whose parents divorced were married by their late 20s and early 30s; in contrast, 50% of men and over 60% of women raised in families where there had been no divorce were married by the same age. Of those who had divorced parents, 25% of men and 30% of women also divorced or separated; among those whose parents had not divorced, the rates were 17% and 21% respectively. – Analytical Studies Branch (as quoted in Canadian Social Trends)
“Choose Life” is the slogan on optional licence plates being offered in Florida. Florida Governor Jeb Bush has told the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles to proceed with the new design after production was halted because of a lawsuit by the National Organization for Women. The licence plate design, available for an additional fee, features a drawing of two children with the words “Choose Life”. Proceeds from the sale of the new licence plates go to support groups which advocate adoption. Abortion advocates contend that the tag carries an anti-abortion message. – Evangelical Press News Service
Attendance at the Church of England has dropped over 40% in the last 20 years, according to a survey sent to over 37,000 English churches in 1998. Some church officials dispute the findings, claiming that not enough of the surveys were returned to yield convincing evidence. It is estimated that 7.5% of England’s population attends church on a regular basis, down from almost 10% a decade ago. Surveys also found that attendance at Methodist churches decreased by 26%, and Roman Catholic churches by 22% in the 90s. The surveys also determined that England’s young adults are leaving churches faster than any other age group. – EPNS
More than six million Canadians participated in adult education or training in 1997. Three-quarters of these were taking courses to maintain or improve their competitiveness in the labour market; 39% were aged 17-34, and 5% over 65; 48% of participants had a university degree, and 11% had not completed high school; 20% of unemployed people and 29% of employed people participated in job-related education or training. Paid workers were almost twice as likely to participate (32%), as were self-employed workers (18%). – Adult Education And Training Survey (as quoted in Canadian Social Trends)
It is estimated that Mennonite congregations in the US now celebrate communion between four and 12 times per year, a considerable increase from the older custom of twice a year. – The Mennonite
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Last modified May 4, 2000.
© 2000 Mennonite Brethren Herald.
Published by the Canadian Conference of MB Churches.
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