Liberty Coalition Canada (LCC) has initiated a legal challenge against Western University on behalf of some students for its booster policy. .“Western has denied large numbers of requests for human rights accommodation from Christian students regarding COVID vaccine requirements,” said LCC in a Facebook post. .“Some of these denials involve students who have not received any of the shots, consistent with their sincere Christian beliefs, while some involve students coerced into receiving the first two doses of the COVID vaccines last year, but refuse to violate their consciences further by receiving any more shots.”.The post said LCC chief counsel James Kitchen secured a reversal of one of these religious exemption denials after issuing a demand letter to Western. .After Kitchen issued two more demand letters to Western on behalf of other Christian students, the post said the university hired law firm Hicks Morley. Hicks Morley’s lawyers have refused to reverse these denials. .These lawyers said the students’ Christian beliefs must not be unique to them because they are shared by vaccinated peers. LCC said what Western is implying is when Christian students share similar beliefs, they are no longer protected by the law. .“Liberty Coalition Canada is stepping up to help these students by providing free legal representation through James Kitchen,” it said. .This lawsuit comes after the Democracy Fund (TDF) announced on September 30 on behalf of multiple Western students it will appeal the decision of an Ontario Superior Court judge, which denied their claim the school’s collection of COVID-19 vaccine data violated privacy laws. .READ MORE: Western students to appeal decision on privacy rights and booster policy."The applicable section of FIPPA (Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act) exists to remedy the erosion of individual privacy at the hands of institutions eager to collect personal information,” said TDF lawyer Mark Joseph. .“It should not be the case that an institution can get around specific prohibitions against collecting private information by simply drafting a policy authorizing it and then calling that policy its 'activity.’”.Western announced in August it will require students and staff to have taken a COVID-19 booster shot to come to campus, and they will have to be masked in classrooms and seminar rooms. .READ MORE: Ontario university enacts COVID-19 booster mandate, reinstates mask requirement.“While we can’t predict when the next wave of COVID-19 might come, we believe these measures will help us protect the in-person experience that Western is known for,” said Western provost and vice president, academic Florentine Strzelczyk. .“We want to do everything we can to offer our students a great on-campus experience throughout the academic year.”
