Alberta Lawyer Appeals Court Dismissal of Lawsuit Challenging ‘Woke’ Training by Law Society

An Alberta lawyer who is challenging the provincial law society over its training requirements has appealed a recent decision that dismissed his case.

Lawyer Roger Song filed a lawsuit against the Law Society of Alberta over concerns he had about what he calls mandatory cultural and political training that he said was being imposed on lawyers.

The law society’s professional development documents state that lawyers can demonstrate their “competency” by recognizing “how systemic inequalities and barriers affect individuals and groups” as well as “take action to dismantle systemic inequalities and barriers.”

The documents also encourage attorneys to “develop and promote a deeper understanding of sexual orientation and gender identity” and demonstrate their “cultural competence.”

Song previously 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.

Court of King’s Bench Justice Sherry Kachur dismissed Song’s case, saying in her Sept. 12 decision that the training requirements fall under the law society’s scope.

She said there were “high standards” of professional conduct that was expected of regulated professions and added that having a “basic understanding of the people and communities you serve” is in the public interest.

Kachur also said that the law society saw the training as “necessary to achieve a greater societal good, and it was within their authority to do so.”

The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF), which is representing Song, said he has appealed the dismissal in an application filed on Oct. 9.

Song’s appeal says the law society’s actions undermine a lawyer’s loyalty to clients and Canadian laws and the Constitution, subverts the rule of law, violates civil rights, and “unreasonably” infringes on his constitutional freedoms.

Song previously said the actions of 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 JCCF.

He is seeking to overturn the lower court decision and to have the court consider whether the law society can “adopt any political objective” including one “hostile to the Constitution.”

The law society told The Epoch Times in an email that it “[does]n’t comment on court matters.”

Song’s lawyer Glenn Blackett said that the law society “seems bent” on turning Alberta lawyers into “a sort of woke commissariat” who see Western legal systems as ones of “colonial and anti-black oppression.”

He said the lower court refused to look at the evidence or consider the arguments.

“It viewed the political nature of the Law Society’s conduct as something that attracted immunity from judicial review. Mr. Song and I think that’s plainly wrong. The Law Society has no place in politics and it’s the Court’s job to say so,” he said.

‘Culturally Competent’

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 added the danger was that the law society could deem someone not “culturally competent” and revoke their licence.

The law society rules that Song is challenging 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 it 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.