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<\/p>\n\n\n\nNovember 14, 2025<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Alberta lawyer Roger Song filed a court action against the Law Society of Alberta in 2023 for mandating \u201ccultural competence\u201d training. Courtesy of Roger Song<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Alberta lawyer Roger Song moved to Canada 25 years ago from China to distance himself from a regime he says he could no longer live under.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Having witnessed the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre<\/a>\u2013when government forces opened fire on unarmed students demanding democratic reform\u2013he says he saw Canada as a place of freedom where he and his family could start over. He was a law professor at Peking University at the time, and says he witnessed how the regime used its authority to suppress students\u2019 \u201clegitimate demands\u201d for democracy. \u201cI couldn\u2019t allow my children, my next generation, to be still subject to this type of dictatorship,\u201d he told The Epoch Times in an interview. \u201cSo that\u2019s why I decided to leave China at that moment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n But now, he is raising the alarm over what he says is a growing ideological push in Canada that increasingly mirrors the ideological tyranny of communist China. Song filed<\/a> a lawsuit against the Law Society of Alberta in 2023, over concerns about mandatory cultural training for lawyers imposed by the society\u2013a move he says is similar to what he saw growing up in China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCanada is now moving toward the place where I escaped from,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2019, Song was required to complete \u201ccultural competence\u201d training to maintain his legal credentials in Alberta. He says the society\u2019s professional development program<\/a>\u2013which covers topics such as diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), gender identity, and promotes the need to \u201cdismantle systemic inequalities and barriers\u201d\u2013imposes \u201cpoliticized\u201d requirements and redefines legal competence as adherence to \u201cwoke\u201d political beliefs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He launched a legal challenge in 2023, asking the courts to remove these requirements for lawyers, but the challenge was dismissed this year, with the Court of King\u2019s Bench ruling in a Sept. 12 decision<\/a> that the training requirements fall under the law society\u2019s scope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHaving 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,\u201d reads the decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It adds that the law society sees its professional development requirements as \u201cnecessary to achieve a greater societal good, and it was within their authority to do so.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Song argues that compelling lawyers to adopt specific viewpoints goes against the principle of independence of the bar, which the Supreme Court of Canada has described<\/a> as \u201cone of the hallmarks of a free society.\u201d This principle refers<\/a> to the ability of lawyers to act in their clients\u2019 best interests, free from undue state or public influence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIn the area of personal belief, ideology, political issues, it\u2019s an alarming sign if you\u2019re forced to take any type of mandatory training, because if you\u2019re taking mandatory training, that means the content of the mandatory training is considered as the dominant notion, dominant view, dominant attitude, dominant culture of this society,\u201d Song said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He adds he felt pressured to complete the training because he did not want to lose his licence. \u201cThe thing is that if you fail to submit that certificate by deadline, your licence is automatically suspended,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Song says the law society\u2019s training violates his Charter rights to freedom of conscience and expression, amounting to \u201ccompelled speech, forced ideological conformity, and suppression of conscience and expression,\u201d according to<\/a> the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms, which represents Song in the case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to Rule 67.4<\/a> of the Law Society of Alberta, the society can \u201cprescribe specific continuing professional development requirements to be completed by members, in a form and manner, as well as time frame.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lawyers who do not complete the mandatory training \u201cshall stand automatically suspended\u201d the day after the deadline to complete the course, the rules say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The law society told The Epoch Times it does not comment on matters before the court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The society says that Song\u2019s allegations are based on subjective views, and that there is no basis to find that the society has infringed on Song\u2019s Charter rights, according to the Sept. 12 decision<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The society also maintains that its rules and codes of conduct \u201cfall within a reasonable interpretation\u201d of its mandate under the Legal Profession Act<\/a>, which grants it the authority to regulate the legal profession. It also says that the words, scheme and object of the act support an \u201cexpansive construction\u201d of the society\u2019s rule-making authority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIn [the society\u2019s] view, the competency of the profession, which includes cultural competency and elimination of discrimination and harassment, are inherent to protecting the public\u2019s confidence in the profession,\u201d the document says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Song says that when he first received the law society\u2019s notice on the mandatory training, it \u201cimmediately\u201d reminded him of the concept of \u201cpolitical competence\u201d on which he was educated in China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He recalls that in his home country, people are judged by their acceptance of communist ideology. Those who conform have opportunities to climb the corporate and social ladder, he says, while those who don\u2019t face \u201csocial death\u201d\u2013the practice of excluding people who hold differing opinions\u2013which he says is the equivalent of \u201ccancel culture\u201d in Canada.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cUnder the communist regime, the trick to survive is to unconditionally support the dictator,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you say you unconditionally support the leadership of the Communist Party of China, you may have a good life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Song says that after he began voicing his opposition to the Law Society of Alberta\u2019s training, some people around him, including colleagues, began to distance themselves from him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPeople online label me as a racist,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m a Chinese, I was born and raised in China, Mandarin is my native language, and suddenly, just because I express some view that is different from those people, I was labelled racist.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He added he has also been told to go back to China by people who say he doesn\u2019t conform to Canadian values. \u201cI think that is the culture of cancel culture,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In China\u2019s case, however, Song says that not conforming to the Communist Party\u2019s ideology can lead to more serious consequences than social exclusion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He cites the case of his father, Ziling Xin, who, despite being a retired high-ranking army officer in China, was placed under house arrest for three years for promoting constitutional democracy and criticizing corruption among Party officials. Song said his father did not receive any formal legal trial or document imposing the penalty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFrom my dad\u2019s experience, you can see that people in China don\u2019t really have the protection of the law,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Song says that when he came to Canada, he realized the importance of the rule of law and the supremacy of God, since unlike in China, where the law is tailored to serve the regime\u2019s interests, these principles ensure that the law is applied independently of political influence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But if lawyers are not allowed to think independently, as he says is the case when regulatory bodies impose mandatory cultural training, it directly undermines the foundation of the legal profession and ultimately affects citizens\u2019 access to fair legal representation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf those judges and lawyers don\u2019t have an independent mind to implement the laws, if those judges and lawyers are subject to all kinds of political influence of authorities, then all the rights granted to the citizens under the laws will come to nothing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCanada is moving away from the foundation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Song says that a sign of communism taking root in Canada is the classification of people into various \u201cidentities\u201d to distinguish those who are generally favoured from those who are \u201cdiscriminated against\u201d or, in communist terms, \u201coppressed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He says this is evident in Canada\u2019s use of gender and racial identity as criteria in a wide range of contexts, from government programs to employment and research funding, under the DEI framework.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis is not some new trick,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s just another version of communism\u2013playing class identities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He recalls that in China, where communism has instilled the ideology of class struggle, a person\u2019s worth is often measured based on their political profile as well as their allegiance and ties to the Chinese Communist Party. He notes that a similar dynamic played out during China\u2019s Cultural Revolution, when supporters of the leftist ideology were favoured, while landlords and wealthy farmers were targeted as class enemies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe strategy of wokeness to grab power and control is to engage the struggle of leading the \u2018oppressed groups of people\u2019 by identities like gender, sexual orientation, or black or First Nations\u2019 race, to fight against the \u2018oppressing group of people\u2019 by identities, like Christians, white, straight, male,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSuch strategy of social struggle is very effective to create social unrest, division and chaos, and destroy the existing legal regime and social order as Canada already experienced.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The law society\u2019s professional development documents<\/a> state that lawyers can demonstrate their cultural and inclusive\u201ccompetency\u201d by recognizing \u201chow systemic inequalities and barriers affect individuals and groups\u201d as well as \u201ctake action to dismantle systemic inequalities and barriers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n They also encourage attorneys to \u201cdevelop and promote a deeper understanding of sexual orientation and gender identity\u201d and practice \u201canti-discrimination and anti-racism.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Song says that by promoting these views of identity among lawyers, the law society is straying from the principles that everyone is equal under the law and before God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe law society is trying to educate lawyers to convert them into a bunch of social justice agents,\u201d he said. \u201cThat is very harmful to our legal system and to the protection of the citizens under the law.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Red China-Born Lawyer Opposes Law Society Demands That Lawyers Be Social Justice Warriors Beijing-Born Alberta Lawyer Says \u2018Wokeism\u2019 in Canada Increasingly Resembling Communist China\u2019s Ideological Tyranny November 14, 2025 Alberta lawyer Roger Song filed a court action against the Law … Continue reading ![](\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/_next\/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimg.theepochtimes.com%2Fassets%2Fuploads%2F2024%2F08%2F17%2Fid5707326-CarolinaAvendano_WEB.jpg&w=256&q=75\")
Carolina Avendano<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/_next\/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimg.theepochtimes.com%2Fassets%2Fuploads%2F2025%2F11%2F14%2Fid5944599-Feature-Picture-16-1200x851.png&w=1200&q=75\")
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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nLaw Society\u2019s Position<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Life Under Communism<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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<\/figure>\n\n\n\n\u2018Social Struggle\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\n\n