Canadian lawmakers have passed a motion banning the discredited practice of conversion therapy, in a rare show of unanimity in the country’s parliament…
The House of Commons unanimously agreed to pass Bill C-4, the legislation to ban conversion therapy in Canada, through all stages without study or amendment. MPs unanimously adopted a motion presented by a Conservative MP to fast-track the passage of a Liberal government bill banning conversion therapy for LGBTQ+ Canadians.
This rapid fast-tracking came just two days after the Liberals tabled re-worked and expanded legislation aiming to outright prohibit both adults and children from being subjected to harmful conversion therapy practices. The legislation will now proceed to the Senate for a separate vote before it becomes law, as no MP spoke out against the move to skip the routine legislative debate.
Conversion therapy, as it’s called, is widely discredited as a harmful practice, aimed at trying to change an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity. the practice, which aims to change individuals’ sexual orientation or gender identity, and has been deemed harmful by health experts globally.
“I dream of the day when LGBTQ2 issues are no longer political footballs. And we are one day closer to that future,” said openly gay Liberal MP Randy Boissonnault.
Canada’s justice minister, David Lametti, praised the Conservatives for bringing the motion forward.
“There are clearly people in the Conservative caucus who exercised a great deal of leadership on the issue, and I thank them,” he said. “This is what we can do when parliament works together.”
The Liberal government’s gratitude for the Conservatives’ handling of the legislation to criminalize the practice represented a dramatic shift from the past, when MPs debated an older version of the bill. The governing Liberals had made repeated attempts to pass legislation banning conversion therapy. The Liberals first introduced the bill in March 2020, but it died after the government prorogued parliament. Justin Trudeau’s party reintroduced the bill again but it died when parliament dissolved ahead of the September 2021 federal election.
The Conservative leader, Erin O’Toole, has become an outspoken proponent of LGBTQ+ rights since taking control of the party. By voting to fast-track the bill, lawmakers avoid having to record their vote. Previously, 62 out of O’Toole’s 119 MPs voted against the motion in June.
A spokesperson for the New Democrats confirmed all of the party’s MPs would vote in favour of the ban.
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