Hoskins said he would write to medical regulatory bodies to instruct them to prohibit the practice after New Democrat lawmaker Cheri Di Novo introduced her own bill to ban the practice earlier this month.
‘This is not something this government would ever support or endorse,’ Hoskins said on Thursday, referring to so-called ‘reparative therapies.’
Hoskins will approach the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario and similar bodies regulating psychologists ‘to explore amending the regulations to ban this practice, as it should be banned.’ ‘This isn’t treatment. Our Ontario Human Rights Code is very specific on issues such as this.’ ‘No current medical guidelines anywhere that I’ve found, certainly not in this province, support or endorse this kind of alleged treatment that would aim to change or convert someone away from being LGBT.’
Hoskins encouraged anyone who had been subjected to ‘ex-gay’ therapies to contact his ministry or the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario to report the therapist or physicians involved. However Di Novo said it was laughable that vulnerable LGBT youths would be able to self-report being subjected to ‘ex-gay’ therapies and she still plans to bring her bill forward for debate next Thursday in the hope of creating a legal rather than regulatory ban of the practice.
‘Just imagine you’re a child -you’re going to complain to the College of Physicians and Surgeons if you’re 8 years old or 12 years old?’ she said, according to Toronto’s The Star newspaper. The moves to ban the practice came after a series of investigative reports by The Star which found that the Living Waters ex-gay ministry had been able to register as a charitable organization for tax purposes in Canada - and claims that some therapists had been billing the Ontario Health Insurance Plan for reparative therapy sessions with LGBT clients.
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