Two Richmond members of Parliament voted against a bill to restrict conversion therapy.
Conservative MPs Alice Wong and Kenny Chiu voted Tuesday against Bill C-6, which would make forcing someone, including a child, to undergo conversion therapy, or advertising it, illegal.
Conversion therapy seeks to change someone’s sexual orientation to be heterosexual, something the bill’s summary states “causes harm to persons who are subjected to it, particularly children.”
The bill, an amendment to Canada’s Criminal Code, also makes it illegal to send a child abroad for conversion therapy.
However, the bill doesn’t make it illegal for an adult to seek conversion therapy as long as no one is profiting from the service.
Many Conservative MPs including Erin O’Toole, the Conservative leader and leader of the opposition, however, voted in favour of the bill.
O’Toole has publicly stated that conversion therapy is “wrong” and should, in his opinion, be banned.
The vote on the third reading of Bill C-6 in Parliament was 263-63 in favour.
The Richmond News has reached out to Wong and Chiu for comment.
