CONVERSION-THERAPY BAN
St. Albert leads fight to end practice
For the first time, an Alberta city will debate today a ban on conversion therapy, deliberately picking up a hot potato after the United Conservative Party government tried to drop it.
St. Albert city council is looking at imposing a $10,000 fine for anyone advertising therapy to minors that would try to change their sexual orientation or identity. It could also refuse a business licence or development permit to practitioners.
The intent appears to have wide support on council, but some wonder if a city has the proper tools.
“We just want it to stop,” said St. Albert Mayor Cathy Heron on Sunday. “The debate in St. Albert tomorrow will not be about whether or not you support banning these practices; the debate will be about how to best achieve the elimination of conversion therapy.”
The therapy can cause lasting psychological harm and is opposed by the Canadian Psychological Association, the World Health Organization, and Amnesty International.
The United Conservative government disbanded an NDP-appointed working group designed to find a provincial response to the issue in June.
That inaction demands cities step up, said St. Albert Coun. Natalie Joly, who proposed the municipal ban. It’s a statement of values and a show of support for LGBTQ people.
Even if action at the municipal level is difficult to enforce, “it’s still saying, ‘You are who you are and we support that. We don’t want anyone telling you any differently.’ That’s the value in this bylaw,” she said.
Municipal officials and concerned citizens across the country will be watching St. Albert, said Kristopher Wells, a well-known local activist.
In June 2018, Vancouver became the first Canadian city to ban businesses from offering conversion therapy services. St. Albert will be the first city in Alberta to debate it. Edmonton’s debate is scheduled for August and other councils have expressed interest.
It’s about showing leadership, Wells said. On LGBTQ issues, the UCP is out of step with the majority of Albertans, he said. That’s why municipal governments need to step up. “It’s time for cities to rise,” said Wells, who is a MacEwan University associate professor and Canada Research Chair specializing in sexual and gender minority youth and culture.
Conversion therapy is not a recognized health service in Alberta and is not covered by Alberta health care. The practice is happening, but no one knows how many people are affected or how many people are offering it, said Christopher Pappas, rector of the Holy Trinity Anglican Church and former member of the province’s conversion therapy working group.
It may be masked as another type of spiritual or psychological treatment, he said.
“In one case, individuals were told that they were going to go through an eye-movement desensitization and reprocessing — a perfectly acceptable therapy to help people unlock emotional blocks. But it wasn’t,” said Pappas.
A municipal ban in St. Albert might not be able to stop all people who are doing this in the name of religious faith, but it might force the provincial government to act if there are enough municipalities doing it, said Pappas.
“If there’s one business licence revoked, there’s a victory. I applaud the city of St. Albert for wanting to do something,” he said.
The St. Albert debate comes after Premier Jason Kenney’s government passed Bill 8 on Friday. That amends the Education Act, removing the requirement that principals “immediately” grant students permission to form gaystraight alliances in schools.
If given the go-ahead on Monday, St. Albert’s bylaw would still need to be written, debated again at committee, then approved by council.
In its report to city council, St. Albert city administration said the best way to legislate conversion therapy bans is through federal and possibly provincial legislation. It recommended the city engage with other levels of governments with the authority to restrict activities through criminal law or regulate health services. City officials also suggest council consider a resolution that would declare St. Albert’s opposition to conversion therapy services instead of a bylaw.
Those symbolic gestures are important things to do, said Heron, who added that she would like municipalities to have a bigger voice.
“All the emails we’re getting are, ‘We can’t rely on the province, please help us,’” said Heron.