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In a 9 -2 vote, Saskatoon city councillors voted Monday, April 27, to draft a bylaw to ban conversion therapy as a business in the city.
City solicitor Cindy Yelland told council they would be following the lead of several other municipalities in Canada.
“There is wording in our legislation that allows us to prohibit certain kinds of businesses.”
She noted, however, the move is largely symbolic. According to an administrative report, enforcement would be challenging given that conversion therapy may not always operate as a business given that those services aren’t advertised publicly.
Conversion therapy is defined as a practice, treatment or service designed to change a person’s sexual orientation to heterosexual or gender identity to cisgender, or to repress or reduce non-heterosexual attraction or sexual behavior.
Councillor Randy Donauer, one of two councillors, along with Troy Davies, to vote against the motion, said he believed council was overstepping its bounds.
“When we went through debates in the past, we were told very clearly by solicitors that city council can not prohibit something through regulation that is actually a legal, allowable activity. And I understand this is probably not going to be legal in the future and I don’t have any problems with that. My only concern is that municipal council was never meant to deal with these types of issues.”
Donauer cited examples of the city regulating cannabis consumption or sales, when it was a legal activity, or regulating the provision of counselling, healthcare or religious services.
“Whether we think they’re right or not, we’ve never delved into any of those areas, and that’s why the provincial and federal governments have those jurisdictions under the constitution.
“The part that concerns me most,” he continued,”is that we’re kind of acting on a letter from a church, asking us to ban this. And I thought we learned long ago not to ban stuff because a church asked us to.”
Yelland said people’s rights are of utmost consideration.
“The Canadian Charter of Rights (and Freedoms) is always a consideration in these circumstances.”
The federal government has for now, tabled legislation (Bill C-8) to make conversion therapy, profiting from it, and using it on minors illegal.
The city has now been directed to write to other governments expressing its support for Bill C-8 and to engage stakeholders.
