First of all, Mr. Ashcroft, I just want to say thank you. Thank you for your candour, and thank you for your courage in presenting here and elucidating a lot of important thoughts for us to consider.
I want to voice some agreement with some of what I've heard, particularly from Dr. Wells. Even the term “therapy” seems a bit of a misnomer here, because what we're talking about is forcible, imposed treatment on individuals, and that's not therapy at all from my perspective either.
What informs this, particularly when we're talking today, on World AIDS Day—and we've talked about historic discrimination in respect of that issue for the LGBTQ2 community.... What we're talking about here is just the freedom to be who you are and to love whom you want to love. That's what informs everything we're doing.
Mr. Wells, I want to ask you a few questions, and I would ask you to take just 30 to 45 seconds for your responses.
From my perspective, this bill is quite clear in terms of what is an offence. It is an offence under the code pursuant to this bill, if it passes, to force someone to undergo something that they're not consenting to, regardless of age.
Does that provide the clarity that people need, including medical practitioners, Mr. Wells?