The Regina Archdiocese said they were not clear with a delegate who spoke at a city council meeting on July 14 regarding a bylaw banning conversion therapy.
At the meeting, Kevin Philip said he was representing the archdiocese at the beginning of his presentation and when a councillor asked him. Philip spoke about the Candian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) statement on Bill C-6, a federal bill regarding conversion therapy.
Presenting to council, Philip reiterated the CCCB statement and said the Catholic Church is opposed to all forms of coercive and manipulative activities as they do not respect the sacred dignity of a human person and the freedoms inherent with that dignity.
Philip told councillors on July 14 his problem with the city’s bylaw is the wording and the definition used for conversion therapy.
Regina’s proposed bylaw defines conversion therapy as “the offering or provision of counselling or behaviour modification techniques,” and “any other purported treatment, service, practice or offering or sale of any goods,” when used for “the purpose of changing a person’s sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression, or for the purpose of repressing or reducing non-heterosexual attraction or non-heterosexual sexual behaviour.”
Philip said the proposed bylaw “labels all sorts of therapy, counselling, talk therapy, and even, dare I say, conversations between parents and children, I wonder, as conversion therapy.”
The proposed bylaw does not include treatments or counselling that “relate to a person’s exploration and development of an integrated personal identity without favouring any particular sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.”
Mayor Sandra Masters told reporters on July 14 that she’s confident individuals will still be able to get the help and support they need.
“Because it’s a business prohibition bylaw, to talk to a pastor, to talk to your parents, to talk to your friends, that’s all completely within the realm of personal choice. That’s not been removed,” Masters said. “It’s about receiving money for the provision of a service which seeks to suppress or convert or anything within that realm as it relates to gender identity, gender expression or sexual orientation.”
In his written statement to council and during his delegation, Philip compared the situation to residential schools and parents having their right to parent taken away from them.
“You do this, after you removed the statue of Sir John A. MacDonald as a sign of respect for our Indigenous communities (who) suffered under the plight of residential schools. Residential schools that told our Indigenous communities that they ought not be the primary educators of their own children, that they do not have a right to instruct their own children … their sacred traditions, beliefs and morality.
Philip told the city council that by their endorsement of Bill C-6, they are “guilty of the very crime (they) accused Sir John A. Macdonald of.”
“This bill, which you seek to endorse, tells all Canadians, that we ought not be the primary educators of our children.
“This bill, which you seek to endorse, puts us all into a type of residential school system by telling us that parents do not have a right to instruct our own children our sacred traditions, beliefs, and morality.”
Speaking with Global News, Philip said he understands how these comments could have been perceived as “tone deaf” given the recent unmarked grave findings at residential school sites.
“Perhaps I should have used a different example but I think the connecting line is strictly this whole thing of mandating parents and educators, community and civic leaders, cultural leaders, (that) communicate (and) educate (and) pray with and heal most of our vulnerable people.”
In a statement to Global News, the archdiocese said Philip is not employed by them but was asked to represent the position of the archdiocese on the bylaw discussion regarding the statement from the CCCB.
“Comments that Kevin Philip made beyond what is contained in the CCCB statement were his own and do not represent the position of the Archdiocese. Archdiocese staff were not clear enough with Kevin Philip on his representative role and are sorry for the ambiguity of that role and the pain and confusion that resulted,” the statement read.
Kristopher Wells, a professor at MacEwan University who serves as the Canada Research Chair in sexual and gender minority issues, has studied conversion therapy and authored a guide for legislative action. He told Global News raising concerns about conversion therapy legislation restricting parental autonomy is a “common tactic” used to limit any legislation or activity that supports LGBTQ2 youth.
“For example, we see common parental objections to gay-straight alliances in schools, to LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum, to even school-based policies that are designed to create safe environments for LGBTQ students. So to see these same arguments be trotted out against conversion therapy legislation is not surprising,” Wells said.
He added that it’s disappointing to hear this argument come up in conversion therapy bylaw discussions.
“It’s disingenuous because there’s nothing within these legislation or within the proposed law, by the City of Regina that deals with private conversations of parents towards their children. We would hope that all parents have open and supportive conversations and behaviours when it comes to their children.
“Unfortunately, we know that is not always the case, and particularly for LGBTQ youth.”
Some delegates, including Philip, also raised concerns at the July 14 meeting that Regina’s proposed bylaw and Bill C-6 would impact an individual’s ability to seek counselling.
This concern was also raised by Ward 10 Coun. Landon Mohl, who was the only councillor to vote against the bylaw during the July 14 meeting.
Wells said this is another common and disingenuous argument filled with misinformation.
“There’s nothing within these proposed bylaws that restricts counselling or any kind of support as long as it’s nonjudgmental (and) it doesn’t start from an anti-LGBTQ premise that there’s something wrong with being LGBTQ or having same-sex attractions that need to be changed,” Wells said.
He added he believes it would be disingenuous to think that counsellors are not providing a neutral and value-free space for their clients.
As for Philip’s delegation specifically, Wells said he found his comments “reprehensible” and the archdiocese needed to apologize.
“Let’s be clear, the Catholic Church is the last organization that should be lecturing anyone on residential schools to make the comparison between this conversion therapy bylaw and residential schools is not only offensive, it’s shameful,” Wells said.
Wells added that the archdiocese needs to apologize to Indigenous communities, including two-spirit people, as well as the LGBTQ2 community for the comments that were made by Philip.
“If the Archdiocese of Regina cannot even send an official representative, well, how serious are they about conversion therapy to begin with? But right now, those comments have done a lot of harm and the Archdiocese of Regina needs to apologize directly,” Wells said.
Council heard from nearly 30 delegates on July 14. Some identified as residents of Regina and others called in from other parts of the country.
Wells said other municipalities have taken a different approach and have only allowed residents to speak at public meetings.
He said he’s also surprised Regina city council allowed further public consultation on the matter.
“Some municipalities quite simply do not have open forums on these kinds of bylaws or policies that impact vulnerable people because they know that the harm that may come forward outweighs any benefit,” Wells said.
“Like, let’s be honest, did any of those comments, those hateful and hurtful comments, sway city council in their decision making? No, all we did was open up a platform and with that platform allow further exposure and a larger audience.”
Wells said the city could have had people write in instead and have those comments summarized in a report presented to council.
The conversion therapy ban bylaw will see a third reading on Wednesday at the 1 p.m. meeting.