The Trudeau government is set to introduce legislation Monday amending the Criminal Code to ban conversion therapy, a controversial practice that aims to change the sexual orientation, gender identity or expression of LGBTQ people.
The Trudeau government is set to introduce legislation Monday amending the Criminal Code to ban conversion therapy, a controversial practice that aims to change the sexual orientation, gender identity or expression of LGBTQ people.
“Evidence demonstrates that this is a practice that does not work,” said Minister of Diversity, Inclusion and Youth Bardish Chagger. “It’s destructive, it’s harmful and it should not exist.”
During the 2019 federal election, the Liberal Party committed to bringing forward the changes in its platform, noting that the practice is “scientifically discredited.”
The party promised during the campaign to work with Canada’s provinces and territories to ban the practice and highlighted that proposed amendments would specifically benefit minors.
“When you are younger, you are often dependent on your surroundings, on your family, on whoever’s around you. You cannot always make your individual choices,” Chagger said Wednesday.
A pledge to ban the practice across all jurisdictions was listed in Chagger’s mandate letter, and was also included in the letter for Justice Minister David Lametti.
So far, Nova Scotia, Manitoba and Ontario have adopted measures to bar th