Conversion Therapy Tag

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

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

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

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!

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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11 Mar 2020 Federal Government Introduces Bill to Ban “Conversion Therapy”

The federal Liberal government, as promised in their election platform, introduced a bill this week to criminally ban “conversion therapy” nation-wide. Bill C-8 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,” but not services or treatments related to a person’s “gender transition” or to a person’s “exploration of their identity”. Most of the legislation talks about how conversion therapy would be regulated. The legislation proposes to ban...

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18 Dec 2019 Edmonton ‘conversion therapy’ bylaw could penalize churches

Last week, Edmonton City Council officially banned “conversion therapy”. The decision was swift and unanimous. The practice and promotion of conversion therapy is prohibited within city limits. Disobedience is costly. The bylaw carries a minimum $10,000.00 fine. The bylaw prohibits any “technique”, “service”, “treatment” or “tactic” aimed at “eliminating or reducing sexual attraction or sexual behaviour between persons of the same sex” or intended to alter a person’s “sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, or gender preference.” It applies to “businesses” broadly defined (any “profession, trade, occupation, calling, or employment” or...

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17 Dec 2019 Busting Myths on ARPA’s Position on Conversion Therapy

After our Facebook live discussion of conversion therapy, we received some negative feedback from the general public. We want to respond by busting some myths about ARPA’s position on conversion therapy. Criticism #1: How can you support a practice that is condemned by scientific and health institutions? Conversion therapy is a pseudoscience that is not based on science or facts. Response: First of all, ARPA Canada does not support conversion therapy. ARPA Canada instead supports body-affirming counselling, which is being inappropriately lumped together with aversion therapies under the too often ill-defined term...

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21 Mar 2017 Five Bills in Five Years: Gender Ideology in Ontario

By John Sikkema Bill 33 in 2012 (“Toby’s Act”), Bill 13 in 2012 (“Accepting Schools Act”), Bill 77 in 2015 (“Affirming Gender Identity Act”), Bill 28 in 2016 (“All Families Are Equal Act”), and now Bill 89 (“Supporting Children, Youth, and Families Act”): together these bills represent the swift advance of a left-wing social agenda in Ontario. Bill 33 added “gender identity and gender expression” to Ontario’s Human Rights Code in 2012. Ontario was the first jurisdiction in North America to pass such a law. Bill 13 required public and Catholic schools...

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11 Jun 2015 Reparative Therapy Bans rushed into law in MB and ON: Serious Implications

Update (July 20, 2015): Read this article, titled "Free speech: what banning ‘gay conversion therapy’ will really stop"   ***Take Action Today: 3 EasyMail letters waiting for you below*** Recently Ontario and Manitoba passed legislation banning therapy for teens with unwanted homosexual or transgender feelings. We have serious concerns regarding the implications of these laws, and fear they are just around the corner for other provinces. At the end of this article we have some pointers on how you can respond in your province. On June 4th, the last day that the Ontario Legislature was sitting before the summer, MPPs voted unanimously to pass Bill 77, heralded by its proponents as the right step following similar legislation in some jurisdictions of the United States. This bill was first proposed by New Democrat Cheri DiNovo a minister in the United Church of Canada. She argued, “these kids do not need to be fixed. It’s society that needs to be fixed.” The bill was written to remove coverage for “services rendered that seek to change or direct the sexual orientation or gender identity of a patient, including efforts to change or direct the patient’s behaviour or gender expression.” It will also seek to prohibit providing these services to anyone under the age of 18. Manitoba’s new regulations are similar.
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