My responses to C-6 referendum questions (InsideOttawaValley.com)
February 12, 2021On Monday February 8, reporter Evelyn Harford published this piece on InsideOttawaValley.com: https://www.insideottawavalley.com/news-story/10322952-mp-scott-reid-s-constituency-referendum-on-conversion-therapy-bill-draws-ire/
She provided me with a list of questions, which I responded to in detail. Here is my email exchange with her (contact details have been omitted):
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From: Reid, Scott – M.P. <scott.reid@parl.gc.ca>
Sent: Friday, February 5, 2021 11:53:41 AM
Subject: Bill C-6 Referendum – media questions
Hi Evelyn,
Below, please find my response to the email you sent to me yesterday. Below, you will see my answers to each of your questions.
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Q: Why did you decide to hold a referendum on Bill C-6?
A: There are two questions implicit in what you ask: Why hold referenda at all, and why on this issue?
- Why hold any referenda at all, ever?
Here’s the answer, from an essay, titled “On Constituency Referenda,” that I posted on my website on March 2, 2020:
I hold Constituency Referenda because I believe that Canada’s citizens, not our politicians, should have the final say in the nation’s most important policy decisions. The voters of Canada are no less thoughtful or reasonable than are our elected officials. Nor are the consciences of the citizens that I represent inferior to my own.
Go here for a link to my website, where you can read the full text of the essay (also attached):
https://scottreid.ca/essay-2-on-constituency-referenda/
- Why hold a referendum on this issue in particular?
The answer is found in Article 7 of the Conservative Party’s Policy Declaration, which was adopted at the time of the party’s foundation fifteen years ago. Article 7 states:
On issues of moral conscience, such as abortion, the definition of marriage, and euthanasia, the Conservative Party acknowledges the diversity of deeply-held personal convictions among individual party members and the right of Members of Parliament to adopt positions in consultation with their constituents and to vote freely.
The issue being dealt with in Bill C-6 would appear to me to fall into the “moral conscience” category. A constituency referendum is the kind of consultation that seems to me to be the best way of determining the views of the people that I represent in the House of Commons.
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Q: What would you say to someone who is angered that you are holding a referendum on an issue (conversion therapy) that the UN’s special rapporteur on torture has said that, in some instances, can “lead to severe and life-long physical and mental pain and suffering and can amount to torture and ill-treatment.”
A: I would say that I am not conducting a referendum on the abstract question of whether Conversion Therapy is good or bad. Rather, I am conducting a referendum on a specific piece of legislation, Bill C-6, that proposes specific penalties for specific offences related to Conversion Therapy, and that may or may not do so in the best way possible.
In the same way, the constituency referendum I held a few months ago on Bill C-7 (the Medical Assistance in Dying Act) was on a specific piece of legislation intended to change the legal framework relating to assisted dying. It was not on the abstract question of whether Medical Assistance in Dying is good or bad. Similarly, when I held a constituency referendum in 2017 on Bill C-45, the Cannabis Act, I wasn’t asking people whether marijuana is good or bad. I was asking whether this particular framework for legalization was something that they would support.
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Q: A person I’ve spoken to has expressed concern that the issue (conversion therapy) wasn’t framed in the best way in the information sent out. They explain that for people unfamiliar with conversion therapy, or who don’t know that much about its well-documented negative consequences, they may not be voting with all the information after reading the information you sent out. The person specifically references the suicide rates for those who have undergone conversion therapy, mentioning that that wasn’t referenced anywhere on the information sent out. Instead, you see both sides of the debate presented as being of equal value – something they point out as being problematic. What would you say to that?
A: A key component of any constituency referendum is the two-page spread in which I present “Arguments For” and “Arguments Against” the bill. In this section, I attempt to include what seem to me to be the most convincing arguments I’ve been able to find for either side. This is always a balancing act, and my selections are simply my own best efforts in this regard
In the case of the C-6 referendum, the “Yes” side is represented by quotes from the Justice Minister, David Lametti, the Diversity and Inclusion Minister, Bardish Chagger, and from two briefs submitted to the Justice Committee that struck me as being particularly thoughtful.
Because I am aware that it is not possible, in this limited space, to give all the relevant arguments—and because nobody should have to take my selections as being the right ones—I also always place links to other sources of information on my website. Go here<https://scottreid.ca/billc-6/> to see this part of my website: http://www.scottreid.ca/billc-6.<http://www.scottreid.ca/billc-6> There’s literally dozens of hours of reading material here, for anyone who wants it, including the government’s public case for the bill, in the government’s own words, and links to advocacy groups on both sides.
In order to ensure that voters are aware of the availability of this wealth of information, I always draw people’s attention to the fact that it’s on my website by placing a very large reminder directly above the ballot.
Additionally, after reading your question, I took a look through the materials to which I had directly linked. The following linked presentations make references to suicide and suicidal ideation:
* Canadian Paediatric Society;
* Canadian Psychiatric Association;
* Presentation of Dr. Kristopher Wells.
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Q: If the majority of your constituents tell you that they support conversion therapy and want you to not vote in favour or Bill C-6 will you (I know you said you’ll vote for whatever the majority decides)? What is your personal view on conversion therapy? Do you agree with it as a practice?
A: There are two questions here (you ask three questions, but the second and third questions appear to me to be functionally identical).
* Will I vote as the majority dictates, even if I don’t personally support the position that the voters have told me to take? Answer: Yes.
* What is my personal view on conversion therapy? Answer: I oppose it.
* Do I “agree with it as a practice?” Answer: See my response to (b).
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Q: Have there been some people in the riding who have expressed support for conversion therapy and/or have expressed that they would not like you to support Bill C-6?
A:I have received some ballots asking me to vote “No,” and others asking me to vote “Yes.” Out of a desire not to influence the outcome, I make it a practice to never make public the totals so far, before the day on which I cast my own vote in the House of Commons.
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Q: I see that you’ve voted in favour of Bill C-6 in previous votes, why was the referendum sent out now? Did lobbying effort prompt you to seek constituents’ feedback on the issue?
A: I only ever conduct constituency referenda on “third reading” votes. That’s the final vote, after all amendments have been made, committee hearings have occurred, and the bill is being approved in its final form. At the “second reading” vote, before the bill has been subjected to detailed study and possible amendment at committee, I regard myself as free to vote according to my own views as to the policy merit of the bill (as it was at that stage). So I voted “Yes.”
You ask, specifically, whether a lobbying effort prompted me to seek constituents’ feedback on this bill. The answer is no, I was not lobbied.
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- When is the third reading expected? (any update from what the flyer says).
- It will come up for a vote following a final debate in the Commons, which will not take place until the third week of February, at the earliest.
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I hope the foregoing is helpful to you.
Sincerely,
Scott Reid
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From: Harford, Evelyn
Sent: February 4, 2021 10:46 AM
To: Reid, Scott
Subject: Bill C-6 Referendum – media questions
Hi MP Scott Reid,
I’m writing a story about the referendum that was recently mailed out to constituents (I just got mine in the mail yesterday) regarding conversion therapy and Bill C-6.
A number of constituents have expressed anger about the fact that this is a question left for the masses to decide. I know you’ve expressed that you will vote in whatever way the majority directs you.
- Why did you decide to hold a referendum on Bill C-6?
- What would you say to someone who is angered that you are holding a referendum on an issue (conversion therapy) that the UN’s special rapporteur on torture has said that, in some instances, can “lead to severe and life-long physical and mental pain and suffering and can amount to torture and ill-treatment.”
- A person I’ve spoken to has expressed concern that the issue (conversion therapy) wasn’t framed in the best way in the information sent out. They explain that for people unfamiliar with conversion therapy, or who don’t know that much about its well-documented negative consequences, they may not be voting with all the information after reading the information you sent out. The person specifically references the suicide rates for those who have undergone conversion therapy, mentioning that that wasn’t referenced anywhere on the information sent out. Instead, you see both sides of the debate presented as being of equal value – something they point out as being problematic. What would you say to that?
- If the majority of your constituents tell you that they support conversion therapy and want you to not vote in favour or Bill C-6 will you (I know you said you’ll vote for whatever the majority decides)? What is your personal view on conversion therapy? Do you agree with it as a practice?
- Have there been some people in the riding who have expressed support for conversion therapy and/or have expressed that they would not like you to support Bill C-6?
- I see that you’ve voted in favour of Bill C-6 in previous votes, why was the referendum sent out now? Did lobbying effort prompt you to seek constituents’ feedback on the issue?
- When is the third reading expected? (any update from what the flyer says).
I look forward to hearing your responses. My deadline is Friday at the end of the day.
Thanks,
Evelyn
EVELYN HARFORD | Reporter
Smiths Falls Record News
www.insideottawavalley.com | Twitter: @inottvalley
Posted in: News