Kingston Mayor Bryan Paterson has seconded a motion asking council to show their support for Bill C-6, a federal bill proposed to criminalize conversion therapy.
It will be tabled next Tuesday at Kingston’s first council meeting of 2021 by Portsmouth Coun. Bridget Doherty.
The motion asks council to denounce conversion therapy, to have Paterson send a letter to the Prime Minister, the Attorney General and the Minister of Diversity and Inclusion and Youth to express support for Bill C-6, and to direct staff to work with local health authorities to bolster supports for those affected by conversion therapy.
Doherty says she was prompted to write the motion after several news stories were released late last year, including a three-part Global News investigative series into Third Day Worship Centre, Paterson’s former church.
Several former members of Third Day accused the church of practicing conversion therapy through exorcism-like ceremonies, fasting and talk therapy.
In two cases, Global News spoke with people who said these practices at the church led to attempted suicides.
When confronted with the allegations put forward in Global News’ previous stories, Third Day’s head pastor Francis Armstrong provided the following statement:
“We know that there are always going to be things that we don’t have the same opinion on: other expressions of faith, lifestyles, political expressions; we are sorry if those differences sounded like the ‘main thing’ to us in the past…We will be intentional in going forward that our message, a reflection of the gospel of Jesus, is centred on the things that we are for, not the things that we are against,” Armstrong continued.
Doherty said she was greatly affected by those stories, so she got to work over the holidays to draft a motion to address conversion therapy locally.
“I became a city councilor to represent everybody in our community, and when we read that people are being harmed in our community, it’s our responsibility to speak and obviously try to do something about it,” Doherty said.
The Portsmouth councillor said she had originally started looking into municipal conversion therapy ban for Kingston, modelled after cities in Alberta. She said after consulting the city’s CAO and its legal team, as well as studying various other municipalities’ actions on conversion therapy, she opted not to propose a ban.
Doherty pointed to the likelihood of Bill C-6 passing, and said that the federal ban would be more effective than a municipal one.
She also noted, unlike Alberta, Ontario has provincial legislation against the practice.
The motion notes that such a bylaw “may face legislative and jurisdictional challenges, and as conversion therapy is often practiced in secret outside of formal business settings, any such municipal prohibition or regulation would be difficult for municipalities to regulate and enforce.”
Doherty said she was advised by the city’s legal team that the federal bill was the best place for conversion therapy bans.
“If Bill C-6 doesn’t pass, I have no problem writing legislation and moving forward,” she said.
For now, Doherty said she wanted to give council the opportunity to have a public discussion about conversion therapy, to help educate residents about what it is and how it harms people, and to give LGBTQ2 citizens assurances that council will not accept the practice in the city.
“I think we can just have a report like that and and the city not respond. We have to respond and say, look, we don’t support that. We are here for you,” she said.
The third clause of her motion directs council to work with local health agencies to develop a “support system that any member of the LGBTQ2S+ community can access.” Doherty asks city staff to present their plan to council for this system by Sept. 30, 2021.
She says she has already been in touch with KFL&A Public Health, AMHS-KFLA and Street Health to consult how this section of the motion might help LGBTQ2 members of the community affected by conversion therapy.
On Thursday, Paterson brought Doherty’s motion, which he has seconded, to The Morning Show on CKWS, reiterating that he does not condone conversion therapy.
“I’m certainly happy to support this motion, and I think it’s an opportunity for council as a whole to to make a statement about how we’re we’re an inclusive community,” Paterson said on Global Kingston’s Morning Show Thursday.
During the interview, Paterson referenced the recent coverage about his faith, and said he wanted to address what he called “misconceptions” about his beliefs.
“I’ve been very clear that I’m fully supportive of the LGBTQ2 community, and I believe that everybody in our community should be valued and respected and supported,” he said.
During the mayor’s time at Third Day Worship Centre, which spanned almost two decades, Paterson was a leader and pastor in the church, along with his wife.
Several people that Global News spoke with said the church often focused its sermons on preaching against the LGBTQ2 community, while the church’s pastor, Francis Armstrong, has been caught on video denigrating homosexuality.
Following the leak of that video, Armstrong released, in part, the following statement:
“I, as senior pastor of Third Day Worship Centre apologize for the hateful tone that came through … that is not a true representation of my character, heart, or the heart of this church.”
When reached for comment in December, Kristopher Wells, Canada Research Chair for the Public Understanding of Sexual and Gender Minority Youth, pushed Paterson and Kingston’s council to enact a bylaw to ban the practice in the city.
In December, when originally asked if he would support such a bylaw, Paterson noted that he does not condone conversion therapy in any form, and said he supported Bill C-6 as well as Ontario’s legislation.
“I believe the province and the federal government have both passed laws and have the proper jurisdiction to bring about legislation that is effective and enforceable. As a municipal representative, I give my voice and support to those bills,” he says.
On Thursday, Wells called the motion and Paterson’s support of it “empty words and promises that really have no substantive impact on what’s happening in the city of Kingston.”
“If the mayor and council wanted real action against conversion therapy and to put an end to the practices that are happening in their community, they would pass a strong and comprehensive bylaw that could come into effect immediately,” Wells said.
Wells noted that municipal bylaws, like the one passed in Calgary, fill gaps that the federal bill will miss, including protecting adults from acts of conversion therapy. He also said the criminal process can be drawn out and imperfect, especially when dealing with marginalized communities.
“A bylaw can actually be the most effective tool that’s available,” he said.
City bylaws can also come with hefty fines for local businesses or persons, which Wells called a “significant deterrent.”
He also noted that some other municipalities have passed policies that prevent the use of local government city facilities, funding resources or communications that would support or endorse conversion therapy.
“That’s the kind of statement that actually has some teeth behind it,” Wells said.
Wells said fear of potential legal challenges to such action is “cowardly” and a “red herring.”
“There’s not been one challenge to any piece of legislation banning conversion therapy in Canada, and these pieces of this legislation have been on the books now for several years,” he said.
Wells argued that the motion set to be debated in Kingston Tuesday passes the buck, and is largely symbolic. For real change to occur, Wells said politicians need to move past symbolism and into action.
“If we’re going to get serious about these issues and serious about changing our cultures and creating inclusive communities, that means we actually have to be looking at our practices and we have to be looking at the kinds of structural changes that are needed.”
Paterson did not consent to an interview to respond to Wells’ allegations but offered the following statement:
“There are limits to what we can implement as a municipality in Ontario. The mover of the motion consulted with legal and I would encourage you to reach out to her directly. As I mentioned previously, I believe the province and the federal government have the proper jurisdiction to bring about legislation that is effective and enforceable but I’m grateful for the opportunity to voice my support of the federal bill.”
Comments