April 17, 2009
PSAC urges Alberta to reverse its decision on gender surgery
Public access to medically necessary health care is a human right
The Public Service Alliance of Canada denounces the Alberta government for de-listing sex re-assignment surgery (SRS) from its provincial health plan and urges Health Minister Ron Liepert to reinstate funding immediately.
On Wednesday, transsexual people in Calgary and Edmonton simultaneously filed a series of human rights complaints against the Government of Alberta. They maintain that the Alberta government is discriminating against transsexual people by cutting off public funding for a medically necessary procedure.
In recent media interviews, Minister Liepert stated that the decision to de-fund SRS was purely a financial one. But the move would only save the province $700,000 out of a total yearly budget of $13 billion. This works out to a cost of 19 cents per resident Alberta – clearly a drop in the bucket.
“I have trouble believing that this decision was a purely financial one,” said John Gordon, National President of PSAC, a union representing 166,000 members. “Public access to health care is a human right. Trans people shouldn't have to pay out-of-pocket for medically necessary surgeries.”
In 1998, the Ontario government made the same move as Alberta – de-listing SRS from provincial health insurance and triggering a series of human rights complaints. After 10 years of lobbying and mobilization by Ontario's trans community, the province finally restored funding for SRS in May 2008.
“Why would Alberta repeat the same mistake?” asked Robyn Benson, PSAC's Regional Executive Vice-President for the Prairies. “Trans people deserve access to comprehensive, compassionate and publicly-funded health care – just as all citizens do. The Alberta government should reverse its decision immediately.”
PSAC is committed to defending trans human rights – at the bargaining table and in the community. The union has had success negotiating anti-discrimination clauses in collective agreements that protect workers from harassment based on gender identity and expression. It is also committed to ensuring that transsexual and transgender people are treated fairly by employers and governments. This includes the right to publicly access medically-necessary procedures such as SRS.
Date Modified : 2010/01/29
