A vote was held Federally last Tuesday about banning Conversion Therapy in Canada. Conversion Therapy is the practice of trying to change an individual’s sexual orientation from homosexual to bisexual to heterosexual. The vote in the end was 263 yes, and 63 no. One of the no votes came from Lambton-Kent-Middlesex MP Lianne Rood. myFM did reach out to Minister Rood’s camp to discuss her reasoning for this vote and we received an email back stating that MP Rood voted based on what she heard from her constituents when the bill was first introduced, which was to vote no.
Only Conservative MP’s and Independent MP Derek Sloan voted against the ban. After the vote, the Conservatives justice critic commented that the Conservatives support banning conversion therapy, though they have concerns about the definition of the practice that the Liberals are using. The Conservatives believe that the wording is too broad and threatens to infringe on the ability of people to speak freely about sex and gender issues.