As Premier Alison Redford becomes the first premier to attend Edmonton's Pride parade, the provincial government has announced a reversal of a three-year-old decision to cut funding for gender re-assignment surgery.
Funding for the surgery, allowing people to transition from one gender to another, was cut in the 2009 provincial budget.
Then St. Albert MLA Ken Allred spoke out against his own caucus for the decision after meeting with a constituent, Jamie Lynn Garvin, who was transitioning to a woman at the time.
Allred said he spoke out because he felt the decision was unfair to people like Garvin who were in the middle of the process.
“She was in the middle of the process when they cut the funding and so it sort of left her hanging.”
Allred said the cost to the government was minimal, in the grand scheme of the health care budget.
“It is peanuts in the total scheme of things, so it is not a big issue from a monetary perspective, it is really the philosophical debate.”
Allred said he doesn't have an opinion on the philosophical debate of whether this is something the province should cover, but welcomed the provincial announcement.
He said it is further proof Redford intends a different approach.
“She has been very clear that she is going to do things differently and she is certainly showing that she is going to do things differently.”
Re-instating the funding will come at a cost of about $1 million, enough for about 25 patients to receive treatment, says health minister Fred Horne.
“It does not affect a lot of people, but those that it does affect, it affects profoundly.”
The funding cut came while Horne was in the government caucus and Redford was in cabinet.
“I am not going to comment on the decision of previous government, but I can tell you we have a new premier, a new government and we have made a commitment to make decisions that reflect the values of Albertans.”
Wildrose leader Danielle Smith disputed Horne's assertion that it was in line with Albertan's values, suggesting in a statement that people in the province had bigger issues with the health care system.
“If the government is going to pay for additional health care, it should consider things like dentistry, insulin pumps and hearing aids for seniors first. While we respect the freedom of individuals to seek this procedure, it is clear there are more pressing priorities and needs for Albertans that must be put first.”
Horne said it was a matter of equality.
“The surgery is to treat a clinical disease and so it is health care and we believe this is an issue of fairness and equity.”
Redford is scheduled to become the first Alberta premier to attend the Edmonton pride parade this weekend and this decision is being greeted warmly.
“For this to be one of the first major policy decisions of the Redford government certainly shows that the government is committed to protecting human rights,” said Kris Wells, a doctoral researcher at the University of Alberta's Institute for Sexual Minority Studies and Services.
Wells said the prior cancellation was a blow to a lot of people going through a transition.
“It had a devastating impact on many individuals, from severe depression to suicide ideation, to individuals who just left the province.”
He said the cuts rallied the community to action, leading to human rights complaints and it is good to see that going forward equality will be respected without the need for legal threats.
“That is another important step on the road to equality in this province.”
