Reality Check: Conversion therapy still legal despite Liberal platitudes

As PRIDE month ends, the harsh reality is that members of the Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression (SOGIE) community could still legally experience conversion therapy.

The bill to ban the extremely harmful practice that has hurt thousands of Canadians has stalled in the Senate because the Liberals didn’t make it a priority.

In fact, Justin Trudeau once again gave the false impression that turmoil in the House of Commons was responsible for this bill dying:

“It’s no coincidence that it is on these two bills that the Conservative Party is fiercely opposed to and which have taken much longer because of the questions. We can really see that the Conservatives really did not want these two projects to advance on the agenda… People in the community need to be protected against this barbaric approach of conversion therapy.” – CPAC, June 30, 2021

From day one, Justin Trudeau had a clear and willing partner to expedite this legislation to ban this barbaric conversion therapy and bring justice and peace to those suffering.

“Other countries are leading the charge to protect vulnerable communities from this harmful practice. Canada should be setting an example on the world stage, not lagging behind. It’s one thing to raise the Pride Flag on Parliament Hill, but, at some point, this Prime Minister and his special advisor on LGBTQ2+ Issues will have to take a hard look at what Canadians expect respect from their government to look like.” – Randall Garrison Critic for SOGIE (March 27th, 2019)

“When it comes to sexual orientation and gender expression, damaging practices such as so-called ‘conversion therapy’ have no place in Canada. We stand in solidarity with the B.C. NDP government and the LGBTQI2S+ community in calling on the Liberal government to work with the provinces and territories to ban conversion therapy.” – Jagmeet Singh (August 4th, 2019)

New Democrats had our hand out. Liberals simply weren’t interested in getting this done.

If Justin Trudeau chooses to call an election to suit his own political agenda this bill may never become law. People will continue to suffer.

Was Trudeau ever truly committed to banning conversion therapy or was this just a disingenuous wedge issue against the Conservatives?

Members of the SOGIE community are not political pawns. They deserve a Prime Minister who makes their safety and dignity a top priority.