Bill C-4, the legislation that bans conversion therapy, is now law.
It happened very quickly. The bill was introduced on November 29, 2021 by the Liberal government. On December 1st, a Conservative MP asked for unanimous consent for the proposed legislation to pass the House of Commons. They got it. On December 7th, a Conservative senator asked for unanimous approval to pass the Senate. They got it. On December 8, the bill received royal assent.
This is a very different outcome than what I anticipated. A majority of Conservative MPs opposed the previous effort to ban conversion therapy months ago, and it was a Conservative Senator that ultimately killed it. Legacy media has continued to be hostile to trans people in the intervening time, with CTV running an episode of their investigative show W5 alleging that transition related care is too accessible and a danger to impressionable cisgender youth, and the National Post running this front page centering the same regret narrative:
Given the inroads made by anti-trans advocates, I fully expected another year of toxic parliamentary debate about trans people, and for that process leading to venues and legacy media throughout Canada to host transphobes. I’m so grateful that we will be spared this extra hostility.
I don’t know what the political calculus was for the Conservatives’ about face. Given the flip by Ontario conservatives the other direction, this development crystallizes for me that support for rights legislation has everything to do with the party leader.
In spite of the good news, I believe the wording of the new legislation opens it up for a constitutional challenge on similar grounds to the Canada (AG) v Bedford case.
Update
The conservatives have ousted their leader, Erin O’Toole, in part because he was responsible for getting the party to support the ban on conversion therapy.