The Liberals only care about LGBTQ issues insofar as they can be electorally exploited
The Liberals want to convince you that Conservatives are responsible for Canada’s ongoing failure to ban conversion therapy — a discredited and widely-condemned practice which uses mental and physical abuse, often to the point of torture, to “fix” LGBTQ people. “Fixed” individuals often end up scarred for life and have a tendency to commit suicide.
Yet conversion therapy actually remains legal owing to the cynical politicking of the Trudeau government, which has sabotaged attempts to ban the practice, at the cost of LGBTQ people’s lives, so that it can continue to be exploited as an election issue.
During their first three years of majority government, the Liberals made no attempt to ban conversion therapy. When, in March 2019, they were pressured by the NDP to change that, they argued that conversion therapy falls under provincial jurisdiction as it is relates to health care.
The Trudeau government then conveniently changed its mind a few months later, just in time for election season, and campaigned on banning conversion therapy at the federal level. This inconsistency is unsurprising given that the Liberals similarly campaigned on ending the gay blood ban while quietly arguing that it wasn’t actually their responsibility.
After the 2019 election was over, the Liberals, now vulnerable with a minority government, seemingly followed through on a promise and tabled a bill to ban conversion therapy in March 2020 (Bill C-8).
C-8 would have criminalized profiting from conversion therapy, as well as practicing conversion therapy on minors or non-consenting adults. Voluntary conversion therapy for adults would have remained legal in respect of Canadians’ charter rights.
However, Conservatives were concerned about whether “conversion therapy” was too vaguely defined in the bill. Imagine a minor goes to their imam, rabbi or pastor and asks whether being LGBTQ is compatible with their religion — and the religious leader says, “No, you should not be LGBTQ if you want to be in God’s grace.” Would that kind of conversation be criminalized?
Eric Duncan, the Conservatives’ first openly gay MP, proposed clarifying the ban by borrowing the Liberals’ own words, as the Justice Ministry’s press release for C-8 stipulated that these kinds of cases would be excluded.
But then the pandemic halted everything and C-8 languished as Parliament focussed on emergency measures — which is understandable.
Less understandably, Trudeau decided to avoid scrutiny for the WE scandal by proroguing parliament last summer, which nullified Parliament’s legislative agenda, killing all bills that had yet to pass. The conversion therapy ban was reintroduced in October of 2020 as Bill C-6.
During C-6’s second reading (a preliminary stage of lawmaking), Duncan once again advocated for using the Liberals’ own words to fix the bill’s ambiguity.
As Conservatives believed that the clarity issue would be resolved, C-6 passed its second reading with near-unanimous support and was referred to committee for review. Only seven Conservative MPs voted against it, representing five per cent of the Conservative caucus.
But then, from December 2020 to April 2021, nothing happened. C-6 sat in limbo as the Trudeau government avoided bringing it up for Parliamentary debate. Some have argued that this was because parliament was toxic and dysfunctional at the time, making bills generally hard to pass.
However, the government unilaterally decides which legislation comes up for debate and when. How could Canada’s opposition parties have possibly obstructed legislation that the Liberals deliberately chose to keep off Parliament’s agenda for almost half a year? Either the Liberals did not consider the ban important, or they purposefully froze it to keep in their political back pocket.
In April 2021, the Liberals finally deigned to bring C-6 to a third reading, having rejected the Conservatives’ proposed amendments and consequently leaving the Conservatives divided over the clarity issue. Dissatisfied with the bill’s wording, 62 Conservative MPs voted against C-6 while 51 voted for it. The other parties showed unanimous support, and so the bill passed and was sent to the Senate.
Owing to the Liberals’ stalling, the Senate was unable to properly review C-6 before being adjourned for the summer, putting the bill in limbo again until the Senate could reconvene in mid-September. The Liberals then accused the Conservatives of preventing the Senate from being recalled to pass C-6 during the summer, despite the fact that the Speaker of the Senate, who is a de facto Liberal (Liberal senators are nominally “independent”), can recall the Senate unilaterally.
But this debate was soon moot. When Trudeau called another election, he once again nullified parliament’s agenda and killed the conversion therapy ban for a second time — because the well-being and lives of LGBTQ children are just playing chips for Liberal realpolitik.
Now, the Conservative election platform pledges to ban conversion therapy using clearer language, while the Liberals have pledged to ban the practice within the first 100 days of forming government, despite having stalled the ban for at least two years.
Throughout this saga, the Liberals have blamed the opposition for stalling legislation and have stoked the narrative that Conservatives condone the torture of LGBTQ children. For example, they have consistently tweeted condemnations of Conservative votes against C-6 while conveniently ignoring the clarity issue, leading readers to infer that Conservatives oppose the ban in principle rather than particular wording. It’s cynical and dishonest, but effective. On social media, Conservative advocacy for LGBTQ rights (such as ending the blood ban, supporting LGBTQ refugees, and legalizing poppers) has often been met with some variation of: “Yeah but don’t they support torturing queer kids?”
Undoubtedly, some Conservative MPs used the clarity issue as political cover to justify opposition to banning conversion therapy. Yet, reading through their parliamentary speeches, the vast majority seem earnest about ending the practice and genuinely concerned about unclear scope — concerns which could have easily been assuaged if the Liberals actually cared about LGBTQ lives. Is it so hard to add a single sentence, taken from your own press release, to a bill?
But the Liberals only care about LGBTQ issues insofar as they can be electorally exploited. If children have to be tortured to wedge voters, that’s okay with Trudeau. It’s deplorable.
Join us Wednesday Sept. 15 for a live online debate. From universal social programs and high taxes to “greening” the economy: What kind of government should Canadians have in their lives — and how much of it?
OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the NDP is caving to political pressure from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre when it comes to their stance on the consumer carbon price.
Trudeau says he believes Jagmeet Singh and the NDP care about the environment, but it’s “increasingly obvious” that they have “no idea” what to do about climate change.
On Thursday, Singh said the NDP is working on a plan that wouldn’t put the burden of fighting climate change on the backs of workers, but wouldn’t say if that plan would include a consumer carbon price.
Singh’s noncommittal position comes as the NDP tries to frame itself as a credible alternative to the Conservatives in the next federal election.
Poilievre responded to that by releasing a video, pointing out that the NDP has voted time and again in favour of the Liberals’ carbon price.
British Columbia Premier David Eby also changed his tune on Thursday, promising that a re-elected NDP government would scrap the long-standing carbon tax and shift the burden to “big polluters,” if the federal government dropped its requirements.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
Quebec wants to curb excessive tipping.
Simon Jolin-Barrette, minister responsible for consumer protection, has tabled a bill to force merchants to calculate tips based on the price before tax.
That means on a restaurant bill of $100, suggested tips would be calculated based on $100, not on $114.98 after provincial and federal sales taxes are added.
The bill would also increase the rebate offered to consumers when the price of an item at the cash register is higher than the shelf price, to $15 from $10.
And it would force grocery stores offering a discounted price for several items to clearly list the unit price as well.
Businesses would also have to indicate whether taxes will be added to the price of food products.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
Quebec legislature member Youri Chassin has announced he’s leaving the Coalition Avenir Québec government to sit as an Independent.
He announced the decision shortly after writing an open letter criticizing Premier François Legault’s government for abandoning its principles of smaller government.
In the letter published in Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec, Chassin accused the party of falling back on what he called the old formula of throwing money at problems instead of looking to do things differently.
Chassin says public services are more fragile than ever, despite rising spending that pushed the province to a record $11-billion deficit projected in the last budget.
He is the second CAQ member to leave the party in a little more than one week, after economy and energy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon announced Sept. 4 he would leave because he lost motivation to do his job.
Chassin says he has no intention of joining another party and will instead sit as an Independent until the end of his term.
He has represented the Saint-Jérôme riding since the CAQ rose to power in 2018, but has not served in cabinet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
Armstrong scores, surging Vancouver Whitecaps beat slumping San Jose Earthquakes 2-0
As plant-based milk becomes more popular, brands look for new ways to compete
Looking for the next mystery bestseller? This crime bookstore can solve the case
Labour Minister praises Air Canada, pilots union for avoiding disruptive strike
CF Montreal finds its groove with 2-1 win over Charlotte
Toronto FC downs Austin FC to pick up three much-needed points in MLS playoff push
Liberal candidate in Montreal byelection says campaign is about her — not Trudeau
Inflation expected to ease to 2.1%, lowest level since March 2021: economists
