Earlier this month, according to GlobalNews.ca, a committee recommended to the city council that a new bylaw be implemented to prohibit such counselling as a business and forbid the advertising of the counselling with potential penalties that include a year in prison or a $10,000 fine.

“With this, the City of Calgary initiates new regulations to protect Calgarians, regardless of gender and sexual orientation, to continue to be a city that is welcoming for all, committed to supporting equality and human rights,” said the official statement following the passing of the bylaw.

During the day of the debate, proponents of the ban used the Restored Hope Network’s Hope 2019 conference in one of their documentaries to promote the ban. The Restored Hope Network is a U.S. based Christian ministry serving those with unwanted same-sex attraction and gender confusion.

Anne Paulk, who heads RHN, told The Christian Post Wednesday that the term “conversion therapy” is consistently used to obfuscate the issue and that the measure is “unfair” to those who are seeking help.

“It is not loving to ban belief and compassionate care for those who have unwanted same-sex attraction or unwanted gender dysphoria. Those who seek support should be able to find it. And yet, banning belief and compassionate care is exactly what recently happened in Calgary, Canada,” Paulk said.

Paulk continued by affirming that she has encountered comments from those who say the new bylaw will not impact anyone’s ability to speak with their pastor on these matters. But that is only as long as the pastor tows the new government-approved line on sexual ethics, she maintained.

Source: christianpost.com