Don Hutchinson
Don is the Principal of Ansero Services, a Canadian charity furthering the task of Christian witness through partnering for religious freedom, and author of Under Siege: Religious Freedom and the Church in Canada at 150 (1867–2017). A graduate of Queen's University in Kingston and the University of British Columbia Faculty of Law, Don has been a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada since 1990. Not coincidentally, he is also a long time member and former board chair of Canada's Christian Legal Fellowship.
Bio last updated January 4th, 2022.
Articles by Don Hutchinson
Divesting Diversity of Meaning
By Don Hutchinson
August 2, 2018
Canadians have developed a swelling pride about creating a country where respect for difference is key to the national spirit. But in this deep dive into what we mean by diversity, Ottawa writer Don Hutchinson says recent developments risk draining the concept of any common understanding.
The professional anxiety expressed by these legal leaders about diversity, as presented to the Court by the two government authorized agencies, may be reduced to the question, “What kind of message would be sent to the nation if the potential for attendance at a private religious institution became the preferred or only available option to study law for one or more LGBTQ individuals who took offense with the religious university community’s beliefs and campus code of conduct?” Long held principles undergirding Canadian society cultivated the freedom required for the kind of diversity noted by the Court – a range of different beliefs and practices, variety in individual and organizational expression in Canada’s multicultural and multi-religious milieu In the context of the fabric of Canadian society identified by the Supreme Court between 1985 and 2001, the Prime Minister’s words might be correct, diversity is a strength The description of diversity as a societal respect for the non-conforming Canadian, or community, as depicted by the Supreme Court is more than virtuous tolerance In its fresh consideration of diversity, the Court moved jurisprudentially away from its historic recognition of diversity as an expression of the expansive Canadian fabric in a pluralist society
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Justin's Pipe Smoke
Don Hutchinson
May 1, 2018
Prime Minister Trudeau must clear the air with Canadians about his government funding anti-pipeline activists while at the same time violating religious freedoms by denying church charities summer job funding, writes Convivium contributor Don Hutchinson.
The twinning project was approved by the Trudeau government in November 2016, following a 29 month review process.The Prime Minister will not tolerate even a hint of potential opposition from religious charities with long histories of meeting the needs of Canada’s disadvantaged, and with no history ...
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Calling For True Pluralism
Raymond J. de Souza, with Andrew P.W. Bennett, Don Hutchinson
February 2, 2018
Convivium returns to the testimonies of Convivium’s editor-in-chief and two regular contributors whose statements were highlighted in this week's Commons Heritage Committee report on a motion to combat religious discrimination.
Father Raymond de Souza as well as Cardus Law program director Andrew Bennett and Ottawa writer Don Hutchinson were all cited in the report, which produced 30 recommendations for the government, the last one being the designation of a National Day of Remembrance and Action on Islamophobia to mark th...
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Speaking Grace To Political Power
Don Hutchinson
January 9, 2018
As Oprah urges us to speak truth to power, a Canadian Coptic bishop teaches us to speak with powerful grace by correcting Justin Trudeau's mockery of Christians, Don Hutchinson writes
Many of us have seen a recent picture, where the Right Honourable Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his brother are (each) wearing a sweater that depicts Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ with an emoji of a smiley face seated at the last supper On the Julian calendar’s Christmas Eve – January 6 2018...
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Disorder in the House
Don Hutchinson
November 1, 2017
Ottawa lawyer and writer Don Hutchinson argues two government measures now making their way through the House of Commons are so contradictory they show the Liberal left hand doesn’t know what the Liberal right hand is doing when it comes to religious freedom.
What are Canadians to make of a government that considers it a matter of our national heritage to put an end religious discrimination, while at the same time a matter of justice and human rights to embolden the disruption of religious worship? The motion, M-103, that resulted in the first study, by ...
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Lawyers Won’t Bow To Law Society
Don Hutchinson
October 2, 2017
A decree on diversity from Ontario’s law society must not force lawyers to choose between practice and faith, warns Convivium contributor Don Hutchinson.
In its submission to the Supreme Court in the law school case, the Law Society of Upper Canada bases its objection to Trinity Western operating a law school and the licensing of its graduates to practice law because the Law Society considers the Christian university to be “a private institution” wit...
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Pastor Lim’s Ray Of Light
Don Hutchinson
August 14, 2017
Last Sunday’s return of Pastor Hyeon Soo Lim to his Toronto church from a North Korean jail cell shows the power of proclaiming the Gospel even in the midst of a political war of words, writes Convivium contributor Don Hutchinson.
Following Lim’s detention and sentencing, Christians in Canada and around the world, mobilized in prayer, and in practical pressure on the Canadian government, as meaningful service to Pastor Lim and his family, in the effort to secure his release Neither will we know whether Kim’s act was a humanit...
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The Khadr Smokescreen
Don Hutchinson
July 12, 2017
Ottawa author Don Hutchinson says Canadians should stop reacting emotionally to the Omar Khadr settlement, and start asking critical questions about the political secrecy around it.
Parliament would seem to have been the preferred place to treat the Khadr situation as well if, as statements by Prime Minister Trudeau and other government officials indicate, the settlement was simply about prior Canadian government failures to respect the Charter rights of a Canadian citizen deta...
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Alberta Chill For Public Prayer
Don Hutchinson
June 9, 2017
Convivium contributor Don Hutchinson, B.A., J.D. reports on the Pembina Hills school district decision to end their recitation of the Lord's Prayer in the face of a human rights complaint.
The constitutional guarantee of freedom of religion found in section 2(a) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and corresponding state neutrality as discussed in the Saguenay case, conflicts with the School Ordinance guarantee, annexed to and thus part of the same Canadian Constitution, w...
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The Terminus of Tolerance
Don Hutchinson
June 1, 2015
In distorting legal tradition to accommodate same-sex marriage a decade ago, writes Don Hutchinson, Canadian courts may have signed the death certificate for our understanding of true tolerance as well
Along with the new human rights protocols, in the latter part of the 20th century Canadian laws were amended to correct the historic injustice that had seen widespread discrimination against Canadians who are gay, which included the criminalization of sodomy until 1969 It was the dawn of Canada's ea...
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Religious Freedom & Janus-Faced Justice
Don Hutchinson
August 1, 2014
Ottawa lawyer Don Hutchinson finds the Supreme Court looking forward and backward on religious freedom cases
(1985), the Court set out a robust definition of religious freedom that mirrored the wording in Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, which includes the right to share one's beliefs openly with others, the right to worship,...
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Prostitution, Advocacy, and Canada's Bill C-36
Don Hutchinson
June 12, 2014
As one accepted as an advocate by those who have survived the abuses of prostitution and become activists for a community to which I have not belonged, I have engaged before Parliament and the Supreme Court of Canada; privileged to be able to use my voice, to the best of my ability, on their behalf ...
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The Conversation
Don Hutchinson
April 1, 2013
The Evangelical Fellowship’s Don Hutchinson on speaking faith in the public square
DH: The court has taken hate speech out of the jurisdiction of ‘you said something awful that hurt my feelings' and into the jurisdiction of ‘your statement would cause society generally to detest a group of people with which I as an individual am associated Instead of focusing on its weaknesses and...