The following is the content of an email sent to all members of Kingston City Council, in advance of their upcoming vote on a motion to support Bill C-6.
I am writing in response to Councillor Doherty’s motion for Council to formally denounce conversion therapy and lend its support to Bill C-6.
This is a fantastic start and a wonderful first step. But, on its face, as it is written, the motion does not go far enough.
To begin with, the motion still leaves Kingston residents protected only by existing provincial legislation. This legislation bans conversion therapy as it relates to minors, not those over the age of 18. As a result, there are no current protections for Kingston residents over the age of 18.
We can all agree that conversion therapy is a harmful practice; one that leads to depression, self-harm, suicidal thoughts, and, in some cases, suicide.
And I am sure we are all equally as appalled by the words of Ben Rodgers, Nicole Perry, Ashley Waugh, and countless others who were interviewed by Global in its recent series of articles about Third Day.
However, by limiting the motion to supporting Bill C-6, Council would still leave individuals like Ben, Nicole, and Ashley at risk for this same therapy we agree is unacceptable (as they were 19, 18, and 23, respectively, at the time they endured those “harmful and unethical practices.”).
In effect, what this motion does is say that it is okay to use practices we all think are “dangerous and harmful” as long as the individual is an adult. It tells Kingston residents that Council approves of what happened to Ben and Nicole and Ashley and countless others and sets up a municipality where these kind of “harmful practices” can continue to flourish.
One cannot denounce a practice while also allowing it to continue. By not doing more, Kingston is allowing these kind of “dangerous” and “unethical” practices to continue to run rampant, unchecked.
Secondly, we do not know when this Bill will be passed. It only recently passed a second reading at the House, with many MPs not showing up or “only grudgingly” supporting it, in the hopes that it will undergo several amendments.
While we show our support and sit and wait for Bill C-6 to become law, we are leaving countless Kingstonians at risk for something we have all agreed is “a dangerous and harmful practice.”
While, of course, a well written and properly executed ban on conversion therapy would be best at a federal level, where it can be criminalized, there is no current federal ban. Nor do we know when one will come into law.
Additionally, the provincial ban does not go far enough to protect all individuals at risk for these kinds of “harmful and unethical practices” as it is restricted to only those under 18.
Furthermore, countless experts, including those consulted for Global’s article series, agree that conversion therapy bans are most effective when enacted at all levels of government – including municipal.
In fact, municipalities across the country have already put bans into place to protect all of their residents, not just those under 18, despite the fact that there is pending federal legislation. There is no reason Kingston cannot join them. And there is no reason the City of Kingston cannot enact its own bylaws levying non-criminal penalties, such as fines or the revocation of a business license, for example. Preventative measures could also be enacted at the local level, like amending existing zoning bylaws to prohibit the practice of conversion therapy within the city.
Enforcing these kinds of bylaws may be tricky, but just because something is hard, does not mean it is not worth doing.
Again, municipalities across the country have spoken up and done so.
Again, while I am happy to see that Kingston is going to officially support Bill C-6, it does not go far enough to prevent such a “harmful and unethical practice” from occurring to its residents or within the city.
In fact, it still allows those very same practices to continue to anyone, so long as they are over the age of 18.
This motion is a fantastic start, but we cannot stop there. We cannot sit back and allow anyone in Kingston, regardless of age, to endure practices we have already agreed are “harmful” and “unethical” and “dangerous.”
There is a time for patience and a time for action. And when it comes to protecting our citizens, ALL of our citizens, we must act now.