Report to be prepared for Saskatoon's city council on conversion therapy

Saskatoon's city administration will prepare a report for the city's governance and priorities committee to guide council in curbing conversion therapy in the city.

Charlie Klassen spoke to the committee on behalf of the Grosvenor Park United Church and urged the members to do more than simply receive and file the concerns forwarded to the city and instead take action.

Klassen, who has not experienced conversion therapy, said LGBTQ youth are vulnerable and banning the process could be one way to mitigate potential harm against them.

"A ban on conversion therapy has the potential to be life-saving," Klassen said.

Vancouver, Edmonton and Lethbridge are among Canadian cities that have already banned the therapy. In July, the federal government said it was considering banning the practice.

Coun. Darren Hill, who said Klassen was brave for speaking up on the matter, introduced a motion to ask city administration to prepare a report on conversion therapy as soon as possible and set out the possible next steps for the City of Saskatoon to prohibit the practice. It passed unanimously.

"The God I knew loved everybody and loved me for how I was made," Hill said.

Coun. Randy Donauer asked for a clear definition of conversion therapy, as he admitted he knows nothing about it.

Coun. Mairin Loewen proposed a friendly amendment into the motion for the report to address whether the municipal government was the appropriate level of government to ban or make a decision on conversion therapy. The amendment passed.

Conversion therapy is a process motived by religion and promises to change a person's sexual orientation to heterosexual. The therapy has been widely criticized by experts as ineffective and harmful.