The conversion therapy ban and what it means for biblical and Christian counselling
Bill C-4 has had a chilling effect on many churches, private Christian schools, and other Christian organizations.
By John Sikkema
The federal government under Prime Minister Trudeau repeatedly promised to criminally ban “conversion therapy” and finally did so by passing Bill C-4 in December 2021 (in effect as of January 2022).
Even if prosecutions are very rare in the early years, as we expect, Bill C-4 is momentous nonetheless. It prohibits, in some contexts, the teaching of certain beliefs about human sexuality, gender, and related conduct. The bill also introduces several new, ideologically loaded terms and phrases into the Criminal Code.
Bill C-4 has had a chilling effect on many churches, private Christian schools, and other Christian organizations. They fear that they will be prosecuted for preaching or proclaiming a biblical view of sexual morality to their members.
The Acacia Group encourages churches and other Christian organizations to review and update their internal and public policies on counselling. We also encourage organizations that do not already have such policies to develop them.
The Criminal Code now prohibits:
causing any person to undergo “conversion therapy” (see definition below), regardless of whether the person requested it or consents to it;
taking a minor outside the country to receive conversion therapy;
profiting from providing conversion therapy; and
promoting or advertising conversion therapy.
Conversion therapy is defined as follows:
a practice, treatment, or service designed:
to change a person’s sexual orientation to heterosexual,
to change a person’s gender identity to cisgender,
to change a person’s gender expression so that it conforms to the sex assigned to the person at birth,
to repress or reduce non-heterosexual attraction or sexual behaviour, or non-cisgender gender expression.
Bill C-4 also enacted a clarification to the above definition, which states as follows:
For greater certainty, this definition does not include a practice, treatment or service that relates to the exploration or development of an integrated personal identity — such as a practice, treatment or service that relates to a person’s gender transition — and that is not based on an assumption that a particular sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression is to be preferred over another.
Notably, Bill C-4 not only bans efforts to change someone’s “sexual orientation” (which is the more commonly understood meaning of conversion therapy) but also to change someone’s “non-heterosexual sexual behaviour” or “non-cisgender gender expression.” These provisions create an obvious conflict with foundational Christian teaching about the normative implications, for both sexual behaviour and gender expression, of God’s creation of human beings as male and female and of God’s design for marriage.
Bill C-4 criminalizes counselling someone to reduce or abstain from homosexual sexual activity but not to reduce or abstain from heterosexual sexual activity. This seems to ignore the fact that there are good mental and physical health reasons for reducing or abstaining from sexual activity, let alone legitimate moral and religious reasons.
Bill C-4 does not define the terms “practice, treatment, or service,” making it difficult to explain the scope of the ban with precision, but the use of all three terms together suggests that the ban is intended to be broad.
We expect to see the law implemented progressively, possibly expanding its reach gradually over time. Its scope appears to reach beyond the services of regulated health professionals since other parts of the Criminal Code speak of medical practitioners and medical treatment, whereas Bill C-4 does not. However, we note that the terms “practice, treatment, or service,” in typical legal usage, would likely not capture public writing, public speaking, or preaching, or informal private conversations (as opposed to, for example, a conversation between a teacher and a student, or a counsellor and counselee).
Under the Criminal Code, a person can be prosecuted not only for directly committing an offence, but also for:
attempting to commit an offence,
aiding or abetting an offence (e.g. an elder arranging a meeting for a parishioner with a Christian pastor or counsellor),
counselling someone to commit an offence (e.g. a senior pastor encouraging a junior pastor to counsel a member of their congregation in a certain way), or
being an accessory to an offence after the fact (e.g. helping to keep it a secret that somebody provided “conversion therapy”).
A school’s or church’s educational programs or counselling services may be vulnerable. Now is the time for Christian organizations, and especially counselors, churches, and schools, to carefully consider how, both on paper and in practice, to address issues of sexuality and gender.
In general, it will be to your advantage to clearly and winsomely articulate your beliefs on these matters and to prepare policies and procedures to ensure your staff and volunteers handle these matters appropriately. Doing so may not guarantee that you will avoid legal problems – which, of course, is not the ultimate goal – but it will make legal problems less likely. Careful preparation puts you in a stronger position if your organization’s “practice” or “service” becomes a target, whether of law enforcement or hostile media. Thankfully, faithful witness and legal security need not necessarily conflict. In this area, it pays to prepare.
While no policy can completely immunize an organization from liability, a carefully crafted counselling policy should reduce the likelihood of a church crossing the line into what the law considers “conversion therapy,” while permitting it to carry on its biblical mandate of supporting and spiritually shepherding its members. Our policy will ensure that the right policies and protocols are in place, bringing clarity to the staff and leadership team and reducing anxiety when these topics arise.
If you have questions about Bill C-4’s implications for your ministry, or about your church or organization’s counselling policy, please do not hesitate to contact us.
The Acacia Group has already worked with several organizations to update or develop their counselling policies and would be pleased to work with your church or organization.
We are currently offering a brief review of your church or organizational counselling policies, a 20-minute phone consultation, and a concise and customized counselling policy for a low, affordable flat fee.
If you would like more information, please contact Beth at Beth@AcaciaGroup.ca or 613-221-5895.