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 Campaign Life Coalition / Facebook

OTTAWA, December 16, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) — The Justin Trudeau government bill criminalizing helping minors deal with unwanted same-sex attraction or gender confusion has been amended such that, if it passes, parents could now also be jailed for up to 5 years for recognizing their child’s biological sex.

On December 11, the day before Parliament recessed for a six-week Christmas break, the House of Commons justice committee approved five amendments to Bill C-6, which was tabled in October by Liberal Justice Minister David Lametti.

Known as the “conversion therapy ban,” Bill C-6 will make it a crime punishable by five years in jail to give minor Canadians — which it defines as anyone under age 18 — help to overcome same-sex attraction or gender confusion or to remove a minor from Canada to seek such help.

The result of the committee’s amendments — most significantly, adding “gender expression” to the definition of “conversion therapy” — is to “expand and strengthen this totalitarian legislation,” said David Cooke, director of campaigns for Campaign Life Coalition, Canada’s pro-life, pro-family national political lobbying group.

The Liberal and NDP members of the committee “shut their ears and hardened their hearts,” he said in a December 15 email to supporters.

“Instead of listening to the serious concerns brought forth by scores of qualified medical experts, church leaders, ex-LGBT representatives, and parental rights groups,” these committee members “actually intensified their plan to punish those who share a traditional, Christian view on sexuality and gender!” said Cooke.

That was echoed by Teresa Pierre, president of the Ontario-based parental rights’ group Parents As First Educators (PAFE).

“Last week, the Liberals and NDP voted down all amendments designed to provide some protections for parents, clinicians, and spiritual advisors,” she wrote in a December 14 email to supporters.

“In addition to voting down amendments, the Liberals dug in their heels by sneakily introducing a new amendment of their own on the day of clause by clause reading – a move vociferously protested by the Conservatives and Bloc Québécois members – to add ‘gender expression’ to the definition of conversion therapy,” Pierre stated.

“With this Liberal amendment to Bill C-6, parents who call their gender confused child by their ‘birth name,’ their biological sex or any other ‘gender expression’ may be subjected to a five-year prison term, according to Bill C-6!” she said.

Cooke agreed.

Bill C-6, “as amended, literally transfers parental authority over to the LGBT activists, taking away every right to object to even the most obscene, harmful, immoral, and foolhardy sexual practices and gender expressions being promoted,” he said.

Liberal and NDP committee members also amended Bill C-6 to “extend the censorship provisions in Bill C-6” and make it a crime not only to “advertise” but to “promote” any “offer to provide counselling for unwanted same-sex attraction or gender dysphoria,” he noted. 

“This will ensure that any public messages, articles, pamphlets, books, web pages, websites, or YouTube videos espousing a traditional view of sexuality or gender can be ‘seized’ or ‘deleted’,” contended Cooke.

“This will no doubt include portions of the Bible, like 1 Corinthians 6:9-11. It may even prohibit the Bible itself, which is, after all, a Book all about ‘conversion’!” he said, adding that “there are no religious exemptions in Bill C-6.”

The committee further approved an amendment that lowers the “threshold for police to bring charges” for violating the bill, Cooke said.

Bill C-6 initially made it a crime to provide “conversion therapy” to an adult “against the person’s will,” which put the onus on the recipient “to object to the counselling or advice given,” he explained.

“Now the onus is on those offering the counsel or advice to first obtain ‘consent’ from any adult before ever speaking a word!” he said.

That means that we dare not say anything from the traditional perspective on sexuality or gender without fear of being charged for not first obtaining consent,” added Cooke.

Bill C-6 violates the Charter: Campaign Life

In a constitutional legal opinion submitted to the justice committee, Campaign Life argued that Bill C-6 violates the Charter of Rights and Freedoms “because it restricts speech and belief in a manner that is not reasonable in a free and democratic society.”

Prepared by Calgary-based constitutional lawyer Carol Crosson, the 34-page legal opinion was supported by 481 pages of citations from legal authorities.

It argued that Bill C-6 does not have a unconstitutional purpose; does not have a valid public purpose; is impermissibly vague; its effects are contrary to Charter sections 2(a), (b), and 7; its effects are not minimally impairing; the ability to make fundamental choices is limited; and It infringes on the rights of parents and children. 

Bill C-6 adds five new offences to the Criminal Code: causing “a child” to undergo conversion therapy, removing “a child” from Canada to undergo conversion therapy abroad, causing a person to undergo conversion therapy without the person’s consent (as amended), profiting from providing conversion therapy, and advertising, or promoting (as amended) an offer to provide conversion therapy.

The first three offenses are punishable by up to five years in prison, the last two by up to two years in prison.

Bill C-6’s amended definition of “conversion therapy” is: “a practice, treatment or service designed to change a person’s sexual orientation to heterosexual, to change a person’sgender identity or gender expressionto cisgender or to repress or reduce non-heterosexual attraction or sexual behaviour or non-cisgender gender expression.”

“Cisgender” is a term that LGBT activists use to describe people who acknowledge and accept their biological sex.

The original bill added: “For greater certainty, this definition does not include a practice, treatment or service that relates to a person’s gender transition; or to a person’s exploration of their identity or to its development.”

The amended version states: “For greater certainty, this definition does not include a practice, treatment or service that relates to the exploration and development of an integrated personal identity without favouring any particular sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.”

Bill C-6 also inserts “advertisement for conversion therapy” — which it defines as “any material — including a photographic, film, video, audio or other recording, made by any means, a visual representation or any written material” — in Section 164 of the Criminal Code, which deals with the making and dissemination of child pornography, obscene material, voyeuristic recordings, and intimate images.

The bill passed second reading with an overwhelming majority vote of 306 to seven, with the opposing votes all from Conservative Party MPs: Derek Sloan, Jeremy Patzer, Arnold Viersen, Bob Zimmer, Ted Falk, Tom Kmiec, and Damien Kurek.

A number of Tory MPs known as social conservatives voted yes to send the bill to the Justice Committee, including Cathay Wagantall and Nellie Shin, while former Conservative leader Andrew Scheer skipped the vote along with a handful of other Conservative MPs.

With the justice committee approving the bill as amended, it is set for third and final vote after the House returns on January 25, and it will then proceed to the Senate.

Campaign Life is urging all concerned Canadians to ramp up their protests of the bill.

“I would ask you to consider reaching out to your Member of Parliament over Christmas not only to wish him or her the greetings of the season, but also to state your opposition to Bill C-6 (the conversion therapy ban),” Cooke said.

“Bill C-6 is a draconian proposal,” he asserted. 

“Here we see the government controlling and compelling our speech – telling us what to say and how to think!” added Cooke.

“The Trudeau Liberals are claiming there is only one valid viewpoint on sexuality and gender – the radical LGBT lobby’s viewpoint.As for everyone else – we must either shut up or go to jail.”

For contact information for your MP, and to access a tool to help compose a letter to your MP opposing Bill C-6, go here at Campaign Life’s Stop the Ban website. To sign Campaign Life’s petition, go here.