Justice Minister David Lametti called conversion therapy 'horrific' and 'torture' and said police need to understand it is a crime.
The Institute of Biblical Counselling International, which has operations in British Columbia, Ontario and Manitoba, including within several First Nations communities, offers what it calls a biblically based counselling program.
Geoff Clarke, the chair of the institute’s board, confirmed the course is still taught and the syllabus is genuine, but said it does not teach conversion therapy and sexual orientation is not its focus. “We could have any reference book and a person can read that, and then draw their own understanding or conclusion from that,” he said.
“It’s not something that is part of our position, because we’re not working with that,” he said. “That’s not in our agenda.” He said the ban shows there is political will to eradicate the practice. But people need to be willing to report it, investigate it and prosecute it. “That takes more time. I appreciate that takes more time. It takes more time for police not only to understand, but also to investigate.”“Survivors have to go to the police in order to get things investigated, and for lots of very valid reasons, people often don’t feel that you can trust the police and are fearful that the police are going to retraumatize them.”
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