Alberta lawyer Roger Song filed a court action to stop the law society from mandating “cultural” training. Roger Song
An Alberta court has dismissed a judicial review filed against the provincial law society alleging “ideological politicization” in its mandatory training for lawyers.
Lawyer Roger Song filed the lawsuit against the Law Society of Alberta over concerns he had over mandatory cultural and political training for lawyers being imposed by the society.
He asked the court for a judicial review to determine if the law society overstepped its boundaries as defined in the Legal Professions Act.
A judicial review is when a court is asked to review a decision of an administrative tribunal and determine if the decision was unfair or unreasonable.
Song also said the law society violates his Charter rights, saying its move amounts to “compelled speech, forced ideological conformity, and suppression of conscience and expression,” according to the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF), which represented Song in the lawsuit.
Court of King’s Bench Justice Sherry Kachur said in her Sept. 12 decision that the training requirements fall under the law society’s scope.
“There are high standards of professional conduct expected of regulated professionals in Canada,” Kachur said.
She added that it was “inevitable” that as society changes, so does the law, and the way professions are governed.
“Having a basic understanding of the people and communities you serve as a lawyer does not work against the public interest. Nor does cultivating a safe work environment built on the principles of evolving human rights law.”
Kachur added that the law society saw the training as “necessary to achieve a greater societal good, and it was within their authority to do so.”
Song’s lawyer Glenn Blackett said the decision was a “major setback for the rule of law.”
“By largely refusing to look at the evidence or consider the arguments, the Court effectively immunized the Law Society’s political adventure from any judicial oversight,” he said.
Blackett added that the decision demonstrates that if the law society wants to “convert the profession into an ideological super-legislature, it seems the Court won’t interfere.”
JCCF said it is considering an appeal of the court decision.
The Epoch Times attempted to contact the law society but did not hear back by publication time.
Song previously told The Epoch Times that the move by the law society was similar to what he saw growing up in communist China.
He said the danger was that the authority, such as a law society, could conclude that someone was not “culturally competent” and revoke their licence.
The law society rules that Song challenged indicate that those who don’t complete the mandatory training will be “automatically suspended” the day after the deadline to complete the course.
Blackett said that the law society started to mandate training for lawyers in 2020. He said, since then, the society has developed an online portal where lawyers log in and rate their “professional competence” against two of nine areas.
He described two of those areas as “fully woke.”
Lawyers are expected to undergo professional development training in the areas that have been identified as weak, according to Blackett.