(Ottawa) Senators had not yet reached an agreement on Thursday on the way forward for the passage of Bill C-4 on the ban on “conversion therapy”, the day after a rare moment of death. unanimity in the House of Commons.
On Wednesday, Conservative MPs caused a surprise by proposing to speed up the passage of C-4. Their motion, which proposed to skip all stages of the Commons and send the bill immediately to the Senate, passed unanimously, eliciting cheers and applause from both sides of the House.
The Minister of Justice, David Lametti, had then hoped that the Senate in turn adopts the bill as soon as possible.
On Thursday, the leaders of the various Senate groups were studying two options: the study of C-4 in Committee of the Whole next week, or the study in Senate committee with the objective of tabling a report as soon as possible. In both cases, witnesses could be called to testify.
The idea would not be to “stamp” the bill, but to examine it diligently before the break from work for the holidays, two sources told The Canadian Press.
Minister Lametti said he asked Senator René Cormier, sponsor of Bill C-4 in the Senate, as well as Senator Marc Gold, government representative in the Upper House, to “conduct these discussions in a sensitive manner, in order to do not re-traumatize survivors of conversion therapy ”.
“This is something we saw in the House the last time, and I am very grateful (that it did not happen) this time,” he said after the unanimous vote in the Commons.
At Senator Gold’s office on Thursday evening, it was reported that discussions are still continuing on the timetable for the passage of this bill. Since the Senate does not sit on Friday or Monday, second reading of C-4 is expected to begin in the Senate on Tuesday, at the earliest.
C-4 prohibits “conversion therapy”, widely discredited as harmful practices, aimed at trying to change an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity.
This is the third time the Liberal government has introduced this bill. The previous two times, he died on the order paper by proroguing a session, then calling an election. And each time, the Conservatives had tried to slow down the process with obstruction tactics.
The version adopted by the Commons with the support of all is more severe than the previous ones, since it prohibits these therapies to adults, as to children, whether there is consent or not.