In the wake of the Liberals announcing that they were looking at what measures they could take at a federal level to ban “conversion therapy,” the question was put to Andrew Scheer if he opposed it. Scheer responded that while he opposes “forced” conversion therapy, he will wait to see what the government proposes around banning it before if he’ll support it. The Conservatives quickly cried foul that the Global news headline was that “Andrew Scheer will ‘wait and see’ before taking a stance on conversion therapy ban” was just clickbait that didn’t reflect his actual quotes (and Global did update their headline), but not one of them pointed out the fact that Scheer’s own words were, to be frank, weaselly.

Scheer said that he opposed “forced” conversion therapy, and that he’s opposed to “any type of practice that would forcibly attempt to change someone’s sexual orientation against their will or things like that.” And you note the weasel words in there – about only being opposed to “forced” therapy, or to change it “against their will.” The giant implication that not one conservative rushing to defend Scheer is that there are types of “voluntary” conversion therapy that he is okay with, and that is alarming because any kind of so-called “conversion therapy” is torture, whether entered into voluntarily or not – and it ignores that when people enter into it voluntarily, it’s because they have such a degree of self-loathing that they have deluded themselves into believing that they can change their sexual orientation in spite of all evidence to the contrary, and a lot of that self-loathing comes from the sorts of violence, whether physical, mental or spiritual, that has been inflicted upon them. And it does look entirely like Scheer is being too cute by leaving a giant loophole in the window for his religious, social conservative flank to not feel threatened by his position, because it lets them carry on with the mythology that there is such a thing as “voluntary” conversion therapy, and that this is all about their “love the sinner, hate the sin” bullshit that asserts that homosexuality is just a learned behaviour and not an intrinsic characteristic. So no, I don’t think Scheer has been at all unequivocal.

“We will always, of course, stand up for the rights of LGBTQ individuals and protect their rights and we’re opposed to any type of practice that would forcibly attempt to change someone’s sexual orientation against their will or things like that.”

What’s unclear? https://t.co/RwQxbr8PzA

— Brock W. Harrison (@BrockWHarrison) July 10, 2019

Meanwhile, Scheer’s apologists will demand to know why the government refused to act on a “conversion therapy” ban when presented with a petition about it in March, but again, this is an issue where there is a great deal of nuance that should be applied. The government response was that these practices tend to fall under healthcare or be practiced by health professionals, which makes it provincial jurisdiction, and that while there can be some applications of the Criminal Code with some practices, it required coordination with the provinces to address, which they have been doing. What the Liberals announced this week was that they were seeing if there were any other measures they could take federally, which might involve the Criminal Code. Again, it’s an issue where it’s hard for them to take a particular line, so they’re trying to see what it is possible to do – that’s not a refusal, it’s an acknowledgement that it’s a complicated issue.

Good reads:

• Justin Trudeau named Quebec Court of Appeal Justice Nicholas Kasirer to the Supreme Court of Canada to replace Justice Gascon this fall.
• At the Council of the Federation meeting, the premiers demanded the federal government do something about Trump’s Buy America Act. (Good luck with that).
• Doug Ford and Patty Hajdu spent much of the day sniping at one another over the announced job losses at Bombardier’s plant in Thunder Bay.
• The government announced $8.3 million in support for the beef industry in the midst of the trade tensions with China.
• The government unveiled new Official Languages Act regulations to better ensure access at Service Canada outlets, as well as RCMP detachments.
• While the government promised a “rapid reaction force” of 200 peacekeepers two years ago, it has yet to be made available to the UN,
• Surprising nobody, the self-reported cannabis pricing data from StatsCan shows that illegal pot is getting cheaper while legal cannabis is more expensive.
• Ottawa city council voted down a measure to block the Château Laurier addition, but will hold some kind of reconsideration debate today.
• The Ethics Commissioner found that Liberal MP Anita Vandenbeld broke the ethics rules when she campaigned as an MP for her husband’s municipal election bid.
• Former Ontario Liberal health minister Helena Jaczek is going to seek the nomination for Markham–Stouffville to run against Jane Philpott.
• Andrew Scheer says that John McCallum’s comments to Chinese media this week were inviting Chinese interference in the election. (As though they needed one).
• An independent analysis of the Conservatives’ climate “plan” shows that it would have no chance of meeting the Paris targets.
• During a speech in India, Stephen Harper condemned Sikh separatists, which raises questions about the motives of Modi’s Hindu-nationalist government.
• Jason Kenney made a show of unilaterally eliminating a number of Alberta’s regulatory barriers (but still won’t join the national securities regulator).
• Kevin Carmichael parses yesterday’s Bank of Canada interest rate decision, and what they’re signalling about the Canadian economy.
• Aaron Wherry pokes into the tensions within the premiers who are rejecting the federal carbon price, and yet not exactly offering a vision of their own.
• John Geddes looks at the recent renovations and additions in the buildings near the Château Laurier to note why there is so much sensitivity to the proposed addition.
• Andrew Coyne is quite rightly alarmed by the implications of John McCallum’s statements in the Chinese press.

Odds and ends:

Here’s the tale of Colonel Roger Scott, who was awarded the Order of Military Merit this week, but was nearly kicked out of the Forces for being gay.

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