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Bill C-6: Conversion Therapy Tag

22 Jun 2021 Bill C-6 (Conversion Therapy) Passes through the House of Commons

Posted at 12:14h in Gender and Sexuality 0 Comments
1 Like

For immediate release – Ottawa, ON June 22, 2021   Senate amendments needed to make conversion therapy law one that LBGTQ+, feminist, and religious groups can all support A majority of MPs voted in favour of Bill C-6 today, pushing the bill to criminalize “conversion therapy” into the Senate. No organization in Canada opposes the principle of banning coercive or tortuous therapies. However, Bill C-6 defines conversion therapy so broadly that some members of the LGBTQ+ community, religious groups, medical professionals, and feminists have spoken out against the bill, urging amendments. “We support a bill...

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29 Mar 2021 Canadians’ Views on Body-Affirming Counselling

Posted at 14:04h in Bills and Motions, Gender and Sexuality 0 Comments
3 Likes

In the past number of months, ARPA Canada has met with dozens of lawmakers to discuss our concerns with Bill C-6, An Act to Amend the Criminal Code (conversion therapy). At numerous times during those meetings, I outlined a fictitious scenario to make this more real. The scenario went like this: “Imagine that I have a 9-year-old son and he recently came home from school expressing that he thought he was a girl trapped in a boy’s body. He wants to go to school in girls’ clothes. Rather than affirm his...

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29 Jan 2021 Bill C-6 is rushed through the Justice Committee and comes out worse

Posted at 11:26h in Bills and Motions, Gender and Sexuality 0 Comments
8 Likes

On December 10th, the Justice Committee of the House of Commons completed their study of Bill C-6, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (conversion therapy). The bill was rushed through committee, raising serious procedural (and ethical) questions, and was amended in such a way as to make the bill even more concerning than it already was.  History of Bill C-6 ARPA Canada has expressed deep concern over the vague drafting of this bill (see more here) since it was introduced approximately a year ago. In short, our main concern with...

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01 Oct 2020 Federal Liberals retable criminal ban on “conversion therapy” with major legal implications for pastoral ministry

Posted at 16:30h in Bills and Motions, Criminal Justice, Gender and Sexuality 0 Comments
4 Likes

On October 1, 2020 the federal Liberal government tabled Bill C-6 (which was before Parliament earlier this year as Bill C-8). The bill defines conversion therapy as any “practice, treatment or service designed to change a person’s sexual orientation to heterosexual or gender identity to cisgender, or to repress or reduce non-heterosexual attraction or sexual behaviour.” In case that is unclear, let me apply it directly to the pastoral work of the church. This bill, if passed as written, would make it a criminal offence to help a person struggling with...

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18 Sep 2020 Look out Albertans! Bylaw Bob coming to a religious gathering near you!

Posted at 14:10h in Blog, Fundamental Freedoms, Gender and Sexuality 0 Comments
0 Likes

A wave of conversion therapy bans has spread across the province of Alberta. Maybe not as fast as COVID-19, but fast enough. These by-laws are harsh and heavy-handed. Yet one municipality after another passed them with relative ease. Fort McMurray. St. Albert. Edmonton. Spruce Grove. Rocky Mountain House. And finally Calgary and Lethbridge. Many concerned citizens spoke out. The largest pushback took place in Calgary. There were phone calls, face to face meetings, Zoom teleconferences, and a public hearing with a record number of oral submissions from the public, including...

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