Huron-Bruce constituents express anger over MP Ben Lobb's conversion therapy vote
A bill to criminalize the practice of forcefully trying to “turn someone straight” has passed third reading in parliament. But not before 63 Conservative MPs voted against it.
“It’s extremely disappointing, jaw dropping, really,” says Fort Papalia, the founder and president of Kincardine Pride.
Papalia says he knows many Huron-Bruce constituents who are upset that their MP, Huron-Bruce’s Ben Lobb, was one of those 63 members voting against Bill C-6.
It's a bill that moves to ban most activities surrounding conversion therapy, including the advertising of the controversial practice.
“I’m against conversion therapy,” says Lobb. “It’s an abhorrent practice that has no place in Canadian society. But, what we were really looking for was an open and honest conversation that parents could have,” says the Huron-Bruce MP.
Lobb says he supported Bill C-6 on second reading, and would have earlier this week too, if the government had added an amendment better protecting a parents, or mentors, or doctors' ability to have a conversation about conversion therapy.
“Anybody that says Ben Lobb supports conversion therapy is lying to you. Because I don’t. I do not support conversion therapy. I’m against it. But it really comes down to the ability to have the conversation,” says Lobb.
That's semantics says Papalia, and AJ Adams, who is researching what it’s like to grow up and live LGBTQ2+ in rural Ontario.
“Fifty per cent of LGBTQ folks from rural Ontario believe that Conservative views and beliefs are one of the largest barriers for them. So, this just adds to the narrative that Conservatives in small towns are anti-gay, because we know that really isn’t true,” says Adams.
“Here was an opportunity for him(Lobb) to show leadership. Show us why conversion therapy is wrong and why it needs to be outlawed. He didn’t. So, he failed his community, and his constituents,” believes Papalia.
Bill C-6 is now headed to the Senate for debate.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Nine suspects arrested in $24M gold heist at Toronto Pearson International Airport: Peel police
Nine people have been arrested in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year, Peel Regional Police said Wednesday.
MPs summon ArriveCan contractor to the House to be admonished in rare parliamentary display
Enacting an extraordinarily rarely used parliamentary power, MPs have summoned an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons on Wednesday afternoon to be admonished publicly for failing to answer their questions.
'Enormous sum of money': Actor Hugh Grant settles privacy lawsuit against tabloid
British actor Hugh Grant has settled a lawsuit against the publisher of Rupert Murdoch's tabloid newspaper, The Sun, over claims journalists used private investigators to tap his phone and burgle his house, he said on Wednesday.
Gas prices across Ontario expected to climb to levels not seen since 2022, analyst says
Ontario is going to see a big jump at the pumps later this week as gas prices in the province hit levels not seen in nearly two years, according to one industry analyst.
U.K. plan to phase out smoking for good passes first hurdle
The British government's plan for a landmark smoking ban that aims to stop young people from ever smoking cleared its first hurdle in Parliament on Tuesday despite vocal opposition from within Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's Conservative Party.
O.J. Simpson was chilling with a beer on a couch before Easter, lawyer says. 2 weeks later he was dead
O.J. Simpson's last robust discussion with his longtime lawyer was just before Easter, at the country club home Simpson leased southwest of the Las Vegas Strip. About a week later, on April 5, a doctor said Simpson was 'transitioning.'
Some of the winners and losers in the 2024 federal budget
With a variety of fiscal and policy measures announced in the federal budget, winners include small businesses and fintech companies while losers include the tobacco industry and Canadian pension funds.
Father of boy accused of stabbing 2 Australian clerics saw no signs of extremism, Muslim leader says
The father of a boy accused of stabbing two Christian clerics in Australia saw no signs of his son’s extremism, a Muslim community leader said on Wednesday as police began arresting suspected rioters who besieged a Sydney church demanding revenge.
A wobble reveals the most massive stellar black hole in our galaxy
Astronomers have spotted the most massive known stellar black hole in the Milky Way galaxy after detecting an unusual wobble in space.