“Counsels” is a word that's been part of the criminal law for decades, if not centuries. There is a definition of “counsels” in section 22 of the Criminal Code that applies throughout the code, so it's also not a word that is limited to being used in the context of section 241. It applies in a variety of other places.
It's been interpreted by the Supreme Court to essentially mean “actively inducing a person with the knowledge that the thing you're inducing them to do might happen”. In law there's no possible way that the word “counsel” in this provision can be interpreted to mean therapeutic counselling. If the word is changed, there is a danger that it would need to be reinterpreted. It would be Parliament indicating that it means something different from “counsel” as “counsel” appears in other provisions of the Criminal Code.
The other thing I would note is “abet” in subsection 241(1) is interpreted to mean “encourages”. So this amendment would create some uncertainty over how “abet” should be interpreted if “encourages” is also added. The final point I would make about this amendment is that “persuades”—unlike counselling, which is how a person tries to convince someone else to do something—“persuade” might be limited to the circumstances where they succeed in getting that other person to do the thing they said.
So it doesn't say “attempts to persuade”, it just says “persuade”. Persuasion might have to be successful for persuasion to be made. So there are some criminal law implications for this one.