Ontario to resume funding for sex-change operations

[DonnaT]

http://www.canada.com/topics/bodyandhea ... 2a62abf0bc

TORONTO - Ontario Health Minister George Smitherman said yesterday the province plans to reinstate funding for sex-change surgery nearly a decade after the Conservatives stopped covering the procedure.

Mr. Smitherman said eight to 10 people would likely qualify for the surgery each year after undergoing "rigorous" psychological evaluation at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.

"It is the government's intention to move forward with the provision of services on about the same level as they were [when they were] cancelled some number of years ago," Mr. Smitherman said, noting the details of the leaked announcement have yet to be finalized.

The Conservative government's cancellation of coverage for gender-reassignment surgery in 1998 prompted a complaint to the Ontario Human Rights Commission after several people were left without coverage midway through the process.

The commission ruled the government's actions discriminatory and the McGuinty government was later compelled to cover the costs of the procedures.

Mr. Smitherman said gender-identity disorder is a serious medical condition and, although it affects only a small group of people, it is "appropriate" to reinstate coverage.

He said the decision to stop coverage was based on a "narrow understanding" of the needs of transgendered people.

"A population which has needs that are quite difficult to understand were subjected to a lot of politics," he said.

"I think we should be careful not to use what is $200,000 on a $40.2-billion budget as an excuse to try and create a them-and-us conversation," Mr. Smitherman said.

NDP critic Cheri DiNovo said it was time the government fulfilled a promise it made years ago. "This will save lives," Ms. DiNovo said. "It's the end of a long journey and it's a joyous day."

A Conservative party spokesperson said there would be no comment until a formal government announcement.

Mr. Smitherman said the procedures likely will be done at a private clinic in Montreal where most sexual-reassignment surgery is performed in Canada.

Alberta, B. C., Manitoba and Saskatchewan all cover costs to have the surgery, usually at Montreal's Centre Metropolitain de Chirurgie Plastique.

Newfoundland and Labrador cover the costs with supporting medical documentation while Quebec does not cover the procedure.