National Post ePaper

Conversion therapy compared to ‘torture’ as new bill tabled

Marie Woolf

OTTAWA • The federal government tabled a new, tougher bill Monday to ban conversion therapy in Canada, comparing the practice to “torture.”

The legislation, if passed, would make practices designed to change someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity illegal.

It beefs up a previous bill which only banned conversion therapy for children and unconsenting adults.

This latest government attempt to clamp down on the practices would outlaw conversion therapy for adults and children alike, and make it illegal to take children outside Canada to undergo such interventions.

Conversion therapy procedures aim to change an individual’s sexual orientation to heterosexual or to change their gender expression to match the sex they were assigned at birth.

At a press conference Monday, Justice Minister David Lametti said the practices were “horrific” and tantamount to “torture.” After studying new evidence of the effect of conversion therapy and hearing from people who have experienced it, ministers decided to strengthen the bill.

“The bill would ban conversion therapy because it is dangerous for everyone,” Lametti said. “These dangerous practices must end.”

Lametti urged around 60 Conservative MPS who opposed a previous version of the bill to support the new one so it could move through Parliament “as quickly as possible.”

He called on Conservative Leader Erin O’toole, who supports a ban on conversion therapy, to “show leadership” and help speed it through the legislative process.

Said Conservative spokeswoman Josie Sabatino: “Canada’s Conservatives agree that conversion therapy is wrong and should be banned. No Canadian should be forced to change who they are.”

The Bloc Québécois, NDP and Greens also support the measure.

Lametti reassured critics the bill would not ban conversations about gender expression or gender identity.

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2021-11-30T08:00:00.0000000Z

2021-11-30T08:00:00.0000000Z

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