Close the CAMH Gender Identity Clinic

Transsexual Road Map Notes, USA
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Close the CAMH Gender Identity Clinic

As part of the upcoming Trans DSM-V rally/protest in San Francisco May
18
, we want to make it clear what trans people think about the policies
and procedures at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH).
Formerly known as the Clarke Institute
and part of the
complex that emerged from the Provincial Lunatic Asylum, CAMH is home
to Kenneth Zucker
, the chief advocate of reparative therapy on gender-variant youth,
and Ray Blanchard, the chief advocate of “autogynephilia”
who claims a trans
woman is merely “a man without a penis.” These two “experts” are
poised to write the diagnoses which will affect all trans people for
the next 15 to 20 years.

Close the CAMH Gender Identity Clinic


We had over 200 people join in the first 24 hours. Let’s keep the
momentum! Invite your friends to join and spread the word to raise
awareness!

This is talk, not advice. See Terms of Use for details.

Posted by Andrea James on 04/28 at 10:24 AM

©1996-2007 Transsexual Road Map. All rights reserved.

http://www.tsroadmap.com/notes/index.php/site/comments/close_the_camh_gender_identity_clinic/

Alberta will have trouble with its sex-change policy

From: Stephanie Stevens
Guelph Mercury, Canada
Alberta will have trouble with its sex-change policy
April 28, 2009
Janet Keeping

The government of Alberta recently announced that public funding for
sex reassignment surgery will be eliminated to save about $ 700,000 of
a roughly $13-billion annual health care budget.

Concern about the size of provincial expenditures on health is
legitimate, but removing funding for sex reassignment surgery is not.
Why? Because it is always wrong to single out a much persecuted
minority -- in this case, transsexuals -- for a deprivation unique to
them.

The delisting is almost assuredly contrary to Alberta's human rights
legislation, the Human Rights, Citizenship and Multiculturalism Act,
and thus illegal. Trying to justify the delisting, Alberta's Minister
of Health and Wellness Ron Liepert noted that only about 20 people
will be adversely impacted.

This is irrelevant. It is precisely to counter the tendency of
majorities to make decisions that oppress minorities, such as
transsexuals, that we have human rights laws in the first place.

Complaints have already been filed with the Alberta Human Rights
Commission. A similar complaint was filed in Ontario when funding for
sex reassignment surgery was eliminated there. The Ontario government
lost that complaint and had to reinstate funding for the surgery.

Alberta Finance Minister Iris Evans has been quoted as saying "she was
not aware of the Ontario human rights case." Lindsay Blackett,
minister responsible for the Alberta Human Rights Commission, has
admitted that the Ontario experience was not mentioned when the
decision to eliminate sex reassignment surgery funding was taken. It
would seem impossible, but sadly is not: the Alberta government
delisted the surgery without knowing the move is almost assuredly
contrary to its own human rights law.

And does the Alberta government not see the parallels with the Delwyn
Vriend case? Vriend lost his job and filed a complaint with the
Alberta Human Rights Commission alleging he was dismissed because he
is gay. The commission refused the complaint, noting that the wording
of Alberta's human rights law does not include "sexual orientation" as
an illegal ground of discrimination. Alberta courts agreed, but the
Supreme Court of Canada did not. In 1998 it ruled that, given the
constitutional guarantee of equality in the Charter of Rights and
Freedoms, gays could not be excluded from the protections offered to
other groups by anti-discrimination legislation. Even though Alberta
law does not state that "sexual orientation" is an illegal basis of
discrimination, it is.

The same will be true of "gender identity." Even though these words
are not mentioned in Alberta's human rights statute, gender identity
discrimination will be declared illegal by the courts, and the
reasoning will be exactly parallel to that in the Vriend case.

So the delisting of sex reassignment surgery will be reversed. If
sooner, money will be saved. If later, after the courts have forced
reversal, much money will have been wasted -- as was the case when the
Alberta government fought the Vriend case all the way to the Supreme
Court.

As other commentators have noted, the sex reassignment surgery funding
case is one "the government cannot possibly win."

In any event, the amount of money saved by delisting the surgery is
trivial given the enormity of the health care budget -- $700,000 of
$13 billion. This works out to 19 cents annually per Albertan.

Some commentators suggest that even the $700,000 saving would never be
realized. Transsexuals denied sex reassignment surgery -- a procedure
deemed necessary by the medical profession -- will almost assuredly
require other medical services, such as additional psychiatric care.

So, this funding cut is not about saving money. If it's really true
that health care expenditures need to be trimmed, ways could be found
to reduce costs equitably, for example, by funding only partially some
services which are now funded fully.

Or contrary to all logic and ethics, the Alberta government could do
as it plans and deprive a small number of Albertans of surgery they
desperately need and, in the result, probably save nothing.

Janet Keeping Is President of the Sheldon Chumir Foundation for Ethics
in Leadership. Troy Media Corporation

© Copyright 2008 Metroland Media Group Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://news.guelphmercury.com/Opinions/article/473584

Transgendered represent a cross-section of society

The Edmonton Journal April 16, 2009

I am disappointed by the government's decision to delist sex reassignment surgery (SRS). The delisting was done without any prior discussion with professionals to determine the impact it would have.

I am virtually the only psychiatrist in Alberta who has an interest in this area. A few years ago, there was a gender clinic in Calgary, but it closed.

I have been seeing transgendered individuals since the late 1970s, with the first individual being funded to have SRS in Brussels, Belgium in 1984. I have always felt very good that Alberta provided funding for the surgery, even during the major health-care cuts in the 1990s. I believed that the government actually felt concern and compassion for this marginalized group.

Between 2001 and 2008, I have seen about 250 transgendered individuals at the gender clinic that I run. Not all who are assessed are appropriate for or want SRS. However, about 60 per cent do go through the required process and many wish to have SRS. Others, usually for social reasons, are happy just to be on appropriate hormones.

Of the group who wish to have SRS, about two-thirds are male to female and one-third female to male.

They represent a cross-section of our society. Transgendered individuals come from every socioeconomic class. The majority are employed or going to school; 60 per cent have a college diploma, trade school certificate or a university education. I have seen transgendered individuals who are physicians, teachers, nurses, engineers, lawyers, professors, mechanics, electricians, carpenters and so on.

Many are successful business people, some are retired and an increasing number are still students. I also see, with increasing frequency, children as young as seven, being brought in for assessment by concerned and very supportive parents.

I have conducted a number of satisfaction surveys after SRS on the individuals that I see and all patients are happy with the results of their surgery and have no regrets, which accords with larger international follow-up surveys.

Transgenderism (gender identity disorder) is a condition that is listed in the American Psychiatric Association Diagnostic and Statistical Manual and recognized by the Canadian Psychiatric Association.

Transgenderism is a biological state due to hormonal events that occur during intrauterine development. There is scientific agreement on this.

It is not a choice. Gender, including transgenderism, is established at birth although does not express itself until the age of four or five or later.

Awareness of a gender-body incongruency can occur at a very early age and becomes stronger with time. Depending on the family environment, the condition can be expressed or hidden because of parental disapproval. If this occurs, it can lead to considerable angst and even depression in adolescence. A hidden gender identity in an adolescent can lead to dropping out of school, sexual promiscuity, alcohol and drug abuse, depression, and suicide . The cost to the health-care system for such events can be considerable and far more than the $700,000 that was previously allocated for SRS, to say nothing of the ruined lives of young people.

Many provinces deal with SRS on a case-by-case basis. Ontario delisted SRS a few years ago, only to relist it recently after losing a class action discrimination suit. Likewise, British Columbia delisted SRS a few years ago only to relist it after public pressure.

Speaking about seniors, Health Minister Ron Liepert said, "We want to ensure that we look after the most vulnerable in society."

However, transgendered individuals are also a very vulnerable and group in our society. What has happened to our compassion for them? Also, what message is being given to transgendered youth and adolescents? They need support and to be secure in the knowledge that help is available for them when they need it and that they will not be treated as second-class citizens.

Lorne Warneke, clinical professor, psychiatry, University of Alberta, and director, Gender Clinic for Alberta
© Copyright (c) The Edmonton Journal

Transsexualism isn't a lifestyle choice

The Edmonton Journal April 16, 2009

No one asks to be born with a heart defect, but the government provides coverage to defray medical costs of repair. No one asks to be disabled with erosive arthritis that requires joint replacement surgery, which is also covered by the government. Why should the government pay for such procedures? Because it makes business sense.

Every working citizen pays taxes, so it makes sense to have a healthy work force. The longer a person lives, the more they work and the more taxes they pay. Keeping people employable is a patriotic investment in the country's future.

I have not met anyone who chose to be born with a heart defect, or chose to have disabling erosive arthritis. I have met such people who have become actively employed taxpayers after appropriate procedures and rehabilitation, which were mostly covered by government health plans.

I have not met anyone who chose to be born with transsexualism, gender identity disorder, gender variant development, Harry Benjamin Syndrome, or other designations all referring to the phenomenon of acute and chronic distress stemming from persistent cognitive dissonance of having to display a gender which is incongruent with a person's self-identity. Such people might become productive taxpayers for a while, but many do not achieve their full potential over their lifetime, which might be brief in comparison to the general population.

Social awkwardness and gender presentation which is judged as inappropriate jeopardizes a person's employability. It may provoke a violent reaction leading to physical injury or death. Withdrawal, alienation and depression result in chronic access of medical resources and increasing drug costs, none of which are likely to succeed in rehabilitating a potential tax payer.

The greatest economic loss comes from violent death or suicide. Dead people do not pay taxes. It is not in the government's interest to lose the talent, gifts, skill sets, and abilities of a citizen who can potentially become a productive worker who pays taxes over a long lifetime.

It makes business sense for the government to pay for GRS, just as there is justification for paying for correction of cardiac defects, or joint replacement surgeries.

In summary, here are the following reasons:

- There is a return on the investment over a long time through income taxes paid by the fully employed individual;

- There is a benefit to the government in reducing expenditures in chronic care, AISH, drug plans, psychiatric services, emergency room costs, ambulance costs, police services, and alcohol and drug rehabilitation services. Costs related to investigations of murder or suicide can be avoided;

- There is a benefit to the government, the community and the country through the services provided by the taxpayer who makes full use of their individual talents, gifts, and skill sets as they pursue a career with long employment;

- The government only meets the minimal moral requirement by providing care limited to endless chronic support, which is not only a Band-Aid solution to a life threatening phenomenon, but also increases costs as it achieves little in worthwhile outcome. The moral requirement of the government is to see to the welfare of its citizens and to the welfare of the state.

Dr. Karen Hofmann, Edmonton
© Copyright (c) The Edmonton Journal

Latest update Wednesday April 15th

Latest update Wednesday April 15th

1. There will be a rally at the Health Minister's office on Friday April 17th at 1:30 p.m. (5555 Strathcona Hill SW Calgary). This is being put on by Friends of Medicare, and in support of a number of health issues.

We need to stand in solidarity with them if possible, as we all have mutual concerns. For example, one of the discussed cuts centers around suicide prevention programs for youth, which affects that part of our population as well.

This is important. If we wish people to support our health issues, we should also be willing to care about theirs and stand in solidarity. For any who can attend, please do.

__________________________

________

2. Because of the low and inaccurate number of GRS patients listed in question period on April 14, 2009, we need to perform a census to clear up the confusion about Alberta's TS population. This is all you have to do.

Contact Jamie Beach at jamiebeach.1@gmail.com with the following information.
1) Full name
2) Email Address
3) Status in GRS stage. (Considering transition, on hormone replacement therapy (HRT), or awaiting surgery (you should already be well into HRT by this point))

You must be a resident of Alberta. Please pass this request to anyone you know that may be in or considering the GRS program through emails. All information must be collected by April 18, 2009. Please note, we do not need information from you if you have completed your transition (post op). Thank you for helping.

__________________________________

3. Alberta Health and Wellness has a hotline concerned citizens can call to get more information, give comments, concerns, etc about the new budget.

The operators are there to hear your views and relay your comments to the Minister.

I encourage you to call, be respectful, and to register your complaint to GRS funding cuts, and the reasons why you are concerned.

Call toll-free in Alberta, dial 310-0000 followed by the 10-digit phone number 780-638-2844.

This is another powerful way for this amazing network to become involved and ensure the voices from the trans communities and their allies are heard!

__________________________________

4. Ongoing

Sarah has an online petition started at http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/re-list-sex-reassignment-surgery-funding-in-alberta

Be sure to stop by and add your name.
__________________________________

5. We have a letter appeal out to all Albertans. Please visit http://dentedbluemercedes.wordpress.com/2009/04/11/to-our-allies-two-ways-to-help/ and copy the "19 Cents" article following the intro and forward it to anyone in the Province that you think might listen.
__________________________________

6. Tell Me A Story

This will be a longer-term project, originating in Alberta. It will also be something that can perhaps translate on a national or international scale. Trans folk from around the world can participate if they like, and we will also be able to share the file with other communities if they want to raise funding to print and distribute it elsewhere.

I'm hoping to compile a hand-out booklet, professionally-printed, colour cover and B/W interior, telling our stories in individual testimonials. I'll be funding it by donations, which will determine how many pages and how many copies can be produced. I can do the layout and design and nuts and bolts of it at no cost -- that's what I do in my day job, after all.

The purpose is to tell our stories to the general public, how transition and GRS have transformed our lives for the better, how the pre-transition grief and anxiety hampered our lives and why we've had to make our choices. I find that giving a realistic face to who we are helps us tremendously. I believe in full inclusion in the trans community, but because of the current need to focus on GRS and full transition, the focus will be on the issue of gender identity solely -- on people who need transition, people in transition, and people who have completed their transition and moved on (and will be sectioned in that way, so that readers can see the progression).

Spouses and / or parents who have seen a partner / child through transition or part of transition and would like to talk about the change they've seen, how it's affected family, etc. are also welcome to contribute, because I believe these stories are also an important part of providing a rounded picture.

Participation is voluntary, I can't pay for the content. I also can't promise to use everything sent in, I will have to make editorial decisions based on length, number of pages I can raise funds for, relevance, and more. I may need to edit what is sent in for length, spelling / grammar, appropriateness of language for the audience, and such. As a writer myself, it's my intent to make as few edits as possible, because I understand the importance of keeping the spirit of what is written, so I will make every effort to make these edits with caution and careful consideration.

Contributors can use a pseudonym: keep in mind that using a real name will give the project more veracity and impact, but using a real name can also mean that what you write can come back to you in the future. I respect that, so you have the choice. Photos are also welcome (and great!) but the same caution applies.

For information or to submit a story, contact Mercedes Allen at dentedbluemercedes@gmail.com


--
Take care,
Alberta Transgender Resources: http://www.albertatrans.org/

To Whom It May Concern:

> To Whom It May Concern:
>
> Article 3 of the Canada Health Act states:
> "It is hereby declared that the primary objective of Canadian health care policy is to protect, promote and restore the physical and mental well-being of residents of Canada and to facilitate reasonable access to health services without financial or other barriers."
>
> By removing Sex Reassignment Surgery from the list of medical services covered under the Alberta Health Care Insurance Plan, it sends a message that "other barriers" may not include that of sexual discrimination.
>
> The recent announcement that Sex Reassignment Surgery (SRS) will be "delisted" under the provincial health care insurance plan brings questions of equity and basic human rights to the minds of many. As much of the world, and certainly Canada as a nation moves closer to understanding the need for equality - Alberta continues to regard sexual minorities as marginal, or even "unworthy" of consideration as equals.
>
> The facts are simple; According to the Canadian Psychiatric Association, in agreement with their American counterparts - Gender Identity Disorder is a recognized biological disorder. Much like someone born with Cerebral Palsy or Down Syndrome.
>
> This disorder profoundly effects the lives of thousands of Albertans. Some studies suggest that as many as one out of every five hundred individuals could be afflicted to some degree. Along with the obvious impact this may have on friends and family, there are other implications that (too often) go un-mentioned. 51% of transgendered persons attempt suicide. That fact alone should be reason for the concern of our elected officials. With recent media attention to same sex marriage both in Canada and other countries, the stage has been set for increased understanding of sexual minorities. This (in turn) provides a greater understanding of those who would otherwise remain silent as they suffer the ignorance of those who continue to view gender incongruence as a simple "cosmetic fix" in response to a chosen lifestyle. Transgenderism (Gender Identity Disorder) is NOT a choice. Yet here in Alberta, again we hear of the inequity and obvious lack of education that inevitably may lead to yet another senseless act of discrimination against an entire group of people. A group of people; which already faces the daily humiliation of knowing that they do not fall within the protection of sexual discrimination laws. Yet another way our law and policy makers tend to marginalize those who need our compassion and understanding.
>
> When someone in our province becomes injured or ill, a doctor evaluates the severity and immediacy of the condition. Likely this can mean a 10 minute examination which ends in treatment and/or prescribed medication to accommodate recovery. Regardless of the nature of the illness, once the medical profession deems the treatment "necessary" for the health and well-being of the patient, he/she receives that treatment at little or no cost under the terms of the Alberta Health Care Insurance Plan.
> People born with Gender Identity Disorder must undergo an extensive regime of mental and physical evaluations and scrutiny to determine their condition. They must be willing to demonstrate the NEED for gender reassignment. Once they demonstrate that need, they must further demonstrate that they are mentally fit, and able to deal with everything that is to come. A process which many do NOT complete successfully. The point here, is that while some procedures which 'Alberta Health" funds willingly require little more than a 10 minute meeting with a Doctor they may never have met before, others spend months and years qualifying for and preparing themselves for. To suggest that such a profound change in someone's well being is as trivial as a "cosmetic procedure" is truly without merit.
>
> SRS has been delisted in Alberta, in the shadow of a steep (and necessary) increase in funding for the elderly. This suggests an agenda for setting priorities based on the needs of an aging population, and understandably so. However, while the number of protections increase for those who aren't defined as "different", the understanding and protection provided for others, is taken away. Ironically, even the elderly can suffer Gender Identity Disorder. We, as a society - MUST be prepared to foster equity in our entire population. To single out, and discriminate against any one debilitating birth defect means that we eventually have the capacity to single out, and discriminate against others. To think that one day children born with Down Syndrome might be disenfranchised by those whom they might have actually voted for, is truly disheartening. Like any birth defect - should a cure exist, and the need for that cure be evident - it should be included in our basic rights to health care. If a child born with Cerebral Palsy could be cured we would NOT hesitate to invest in that person's future. So why then would a person born with Gender Identity Disorder be treated any differently? Has any consideration been made for the costs to support someone who cannot afford a readily available cure?
>
> Sex Reassignment Surgery can, and does drastically increase the ongoing health, and well being of many who, one day - will be happy, healthy seniors. It would seem, that the "... financial and other barriers" mentioned in the Canada Health Act could better be served by perhaps recalling why it was written in the first place.
>
> (Mr) Stacy D. Green
> Alberta Resident & President of PFLAG Canada
>
> (Mrs) Lynne Delorme
> Regional Director (Prairie Region): PFLAG Canada

Legislature Report

618 Alberta Hansard April 14, 2009
Delisting of Medical Services

Ms Notley: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The health minister wants to cut gender reassignment surgery and chiropractic care from public health care. He seems to think that he can create a political precedent for delisting by going after people and services that are most vulnerable; for instance, where there is a high level of public misunderstanding, as with gender reassignment surgery. To the minister of health. You’ve already admitted it in the media. Why won’t you admit here today that these cuts are just one more step towards dismantling the public health system and bringing more U.S. private health care to Alberta?

Mr. Liepert: Well, Mr. Speaker, I remember that before the Easter break the leader of the third party talked about – I believe his quote was “a dishonest budget.” We’ve heard two questions today from these two sitting in the corner, and both of them have been dishonest questions.

Ms Notley: Mr. Speaker, I don’t know what he’s talking about, but
maybe he could raise it sometime. A 2004 government study concluded that doctors should recommend spinal manipulation to their low-back patients as part of their medical care; in short, a medically necessary treatment. The AMA says that gender reassignment surgery is an effective treatment for people who suffer from gender identity disorder; in short, a medically necessary treatment. To the minister: why won’t you protect our public health system instead of coming up with more and more ways to sell it off to your friends in the insurance industry?

Mr. Liepert: Mr. Speaker, if our publicly funded health care system isn’t sustainable in the future, we won’t have one. We’ll have exactly what these two keep talking about, and that is private-sector health care. This government is the one that is preserving our publicly funded health care system, not the status quo.

Ms Notley: Mr. Speaker, this government gives more than $700,000 to their high-paid staff in one year than they give to these people that need this treatment. The fundamental health of many transgendered Albertans hinges on gender reassignment surgery, and by denying that, this government could be complicit in raising their risk of depression and suicide. Delisting the surgery trims a tiny fraction from the health budget but slashes at the very foundation of human rights. To the minister: isn’t it enough that you’re already ripping apart our public health system? Why are you trampling on people’s human rights while you’re at it?

View the question period and the full transcript at the following link at 51 minutes – 16 seconds (51:16)

http://media.assembly.ab.ca/ArchiveVideo/200904141325_Video.asf

Budget panned

Nanton News - Nanton,Alberta,Canada
[4/15/09]
Budget panned € ’¶
Posted By Don McGregor, Edmonton

Iris Evans and Ed Stelmach, Alberta's Finance Minister and Premier
respectively, are looking for $2.2 billion dollars for next year's
budget. I suggest they look on page 216 of this year's budget.

Corporate Income Tax is due to decline by almost exactly the $2.2
billion dollars (from 2007-08 actual) that Evans is searching for.

Will Albertans continue being employed as corporate income declines by
50 per cent, or are the corporations getting a tax break when
Albertans need the money? Personal income taxes are estimated to
increase by $290 million over the same period.

I would rather pay the $700,000 for the transgendered to get their
operations than let Eddie and Iris suck up to the CEOs; at least the
transgendered are trying to change.

It is remarkable how the Conservatives can look Albertans in the eyes
and tell them we have to cut back on our spending or go into deficit.

AIMCO (Alberta Investment Management Corporation) is spending all
their budgeted External Investment Management Fees, including $172
million in performance based fees.

These are the same guys who provide the brain power necessary to lose
$2.5 billion from the (page 22) Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund,
$258 million from the (page 219) Heritage Foundation for Medical
Research Endowment Fund, $147 million from the Heritage Scholarship
fund, $142 million from the (page 222) Heritage Science and
Engineering Research Endowment Fund, and these financial wizards are
still getting a raise next year.

Oh boy, oh boy, I can hardly wait to see how much they lose next year.

Maybe Alberta's Eddie and Iris should consider giving them even bigger bonus.

€ © 2009 Sun Media
http://www.nantonnews.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1522958

Defunding sex-changes is not discrimination

Calgary Herald, Canada
Defunding sex-changes is not discrimination
By Naomi Lakritz, Calgary Herald
April 15, 2009 3:03 AM

Yes, the government's decision to axe funding for sex-change surgery
is discriminatory, but not the way transgender people think it is.

"Discrimination" in this instance refers simply to the act of having
to discriminate by choosing among a number of budget options because
there isn't enough health-care money to go around. It seems more than
a tad paranoid to instantly ascribe the delisting of sex-change
surgery to latent bigotry, when the province has been paying for it
for more than a decade.

In fact, the province continued funding this surgery all those years
while beds were being closed and other services went without. It's
been the same bunch of Tories all along -- the same ones,
incidentally, who are putting sexual orientation into the human-rights
law.

Are we really supposed to believe that while they're doing the right
thing by the law, and after years of paying for the surgery, they're
suddenly and simultaneously hell-bent on persecuting the
transgendered? That's quite a stretch.

I'm no fan of the Tory government, but accusing them of violating
human rights in this case is ridiculous. Choices have to be made at
budget time, and in the grand scheme of priorities, elective surgery
in non-life-or-death situations is a logical target. Let's face it --
no matter how much it is claimed that doctors say a sex-change
operation is medically necessary, the surgical reshaping of one's
physical gender characteristics is not on a par with heart bypasses or
tumour removal. It is akin to cosmetic surgery. And like cosmetic
surgery, it should be paid for out of pocket.

Shall we also say the Tories are bigoted toward chiropractic patients,
since they delisted funding assistance for those folks, too? Maybe
chiropractic patients should file a human rights complaint against the
province, since the Tories apparently hate people who want neck and
back adjustments as much as they hate the transgendered.

This business of filing human rights complaints to force government to
give you taxpayers' money sets a very disquieting precedent.
Government must be free to manage its budget matters as it sees
fit--accountable to the taxpayers whose money it is, not to a human
rights commission. But just hypothetically, you know who should really
be filing a human rights complaint against the province over
health-care spending? No, not the transgendered crowd.

Cancer patients -- that's who.

Last week, Calgary oncologist Dr. Peter Craighead said that wait times
for treatment are bound to get longer because space is so limited at
the Tom Baker Cancer Centre, which has been over-capacity for six
years. The new provincial budget, however, has no money for expansions
or even a whole new centre. Do those clamouring the loudest over this
grievous injustice done to the transgendered feel one bit of
embarrassment for making such a fuss about funding when the survival
of cancer patients is at stake without timely radiation and
chemotherapy?

Shame on these people who are in good health, but who are trying to
force the province to pay up via the human rights commission, when
cancer patients stand to suffer much graver consequences.

The argument that the $700,000 a year spent on sex-change surgery is a
drop in the ocean of the health-care budget, doesn't wash. There's a
principle at stake here -- as long as there's no money in the budget
for life-and-death essentials like more timely cancer care, the
non-essentials must fall by the wayside. That $700,000 needs to be
disbursed into the "essential" category to maximize the good it can
do.

There is no doubt that people who want sex-change operations feel a
very real need to have it done to make their lives complete. But they
also go through years of counselling and preparation for such a
momentous transformation--years in which they could be setting aside
the money and saving up for the surgery.

You want to talk about human rights? How about the right of a
15-year-old boy with leukemia to live to see his dreams of university
and a career materialize? What about the right of a 40-year-old woman
with breast cancer to live to see her young children grow up? Cancer
violates human rights in so many ways every single day. Governments
cannot fund everything, and when the money isn't there for the Tom
Baker Centre, then it shouldn't be spent on a fringe group whose
lives, unlike those of cancer patients, do not hang in the balance.

nlakritz@theherald.canwest.com
€ ¦© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald
http://www.calgaryherald.com/Defunding+changes+discrimination/1498579/story.html

Any way you cut it, health care costs

Edmonton Sun, Canada
Wed, April 15, 2009
Any way you cut it, health care costs
By MINDELLE JACOBS

You can have Cadillac health care. You want lots of doctors, no
waiting lists and coverage for virtually all your medical and
psychological needs? Sure.

But there's a price to pay. I know, you're already pinching pennies
because your nest eggs have been decimated and you're wondering how
you're going to put the kids through college.

Still, if you want unlimited health care, hand over half your
paycheque to the government.

And stop complaining. Did you think you could have low taxes and
broad-based, state-paid services?

Chiropractic procedures are no longer covered in Alberta. And the
province is no longer paying for gender reassignment surgery.

The transsexual community has vowed to take the issue to the Alberta
Human Rights and Citizenship Commission today on the grounds that
sex-change surgery is medically necessary.

Is the province dumping on transsexuals because it figures, probably
correctly, that Albertans won't make much of a fuss over delisting
operations for a tiny minority of people who feel trapped in the wrong
bodies?

Or does sexuality have nothing to do with it and is Health Minister
Ron Liepert simply trying to make difficult decisions on how to fund
health care in the face of a $4.7-billion deficit?

I am not opposed to state coverage of sex-change surgery because it
involves so few people.

As transsexual Michelle Drinkell pointed out on Monday, the $700,000 a
year the province hopes to save by delisting the procedure is a
"teardrop in the ocean" of the $13-billion health budget.

On the other hand, the decision over whether to cover medical services
shouldn't be based on numbers, emotion and complaints to human rights
commissions but on what we consider medically necessary.

That's the wider public policy discussion Albertans need to have.

Experts will tell you it can be incredibly psychologically damaging
for transsexuals who can't afford sex-change surgery.

BAD TEETH

But there are lots of people with bad teeth who grow up to be
depressed, timid, emotionally beaten-down individuals because they
can't afford dental work.

Others have facial disfigurations that cause them no end of teasing,
embarrassment and loss of self-confidence, yet the government won't
cover certain operations.

And what about diabetic supplies, optical services and prescription drugs?

Perhaps there should be a whole parade of Albertans marching to the
human rights commission.

Then again, is the human rights commission the right body to determine
what should be covered under the medicare umbrella?

It is properly the function of government to make these arduous decisions.

The trouble is, no one knows Liepert's plan.

It's highly unlikely, however, that he's intent on imposing "an
American two-tier-style health system," as the fearmongering Friends
of Medicare squawked yesterday.

Even the Alberta Tories realize that Canadians want to preserve our
universal access system, even as we experiment with reforms.

Because of rising health-care spending, Alberta could be facing "a
more strained fiscal future," warns a new University of Calgary report
on the sustainability of the province's medicare system.

Alberta can either control expenditures (angry patients), raise taxes
(angry voters) or create a health endowment fund to pay for future
medicare costs (expensive), the report says.

Pick your poison, folks.

MINDY.JACOBS@SUNMEDIA.CA
Copyright € ¦© 2009, Canoe Inc. All rights reserved.
http://www.edmontonsun.com/Comment/2009/04/15/9116231-sun.html

Province retreats on sex changes

Edmonton Sun, Canada
Wed, April 15, 2009
Province retreats on sex changes

By KERRY DIOTTE, LEGISLATURE BUREAU CHIEF

The province is bending a bit on cancelling gender-bender surgery.

Alberta Health Minister Ron Liepert said yesterday the province won't
snip sex-change operations out of this year's budget to save $700,000
as previously announced.

Liepert announced that in question period as more than two dozen
transsexuals and their supporters watched from the public gallery.

The minister told the House 26 Albertans are now "in the program" and
their surgery will be covered.

A further 20 people who hadn't been scheduled for surgery but were on
a waiting list for funding will now also be paid for, but the
procedure won't be funded next fiscal year, he indicated.

Health ministry spokesman John Tuckwell says that means the government
will have to come up with extra cash in the soon-to-be-passed 2009-10
budget to pay for the sex-change operations that can cost between
$18,000 and $70,000 and are performed in Montreal.

Opposition MLAs accused the government of trying to save money by
picking on a small minority group that's been told by physicians their
surgery is medically necessary. But Liepert said his ministry had to
make tough choices.

TOUGH DECISIONS

"This was not based on medical decisions," said Liepert. "This was
based on a number of programs we had to make ... There were some very
tough decisions that had to be made, everything from cancelling some
programs around youth suicide prevention to programs around certain
surgeries."

Edmonton Centre Liberal MLA Laurie Blakeman argued the province will
likely waste more cash than it will save by chopping the sex-change
procedure from next year's budget because government lawyers will have
to defend human rights challenges.
Click here to find out more!

Transsexuals have vowed to file numerous complaints as early as today
to the Alberta Human Rights and Citizenship Commission.

HUMAN RIGHTS

A human rights challenge in Ontario saw that province forced to
reinstate coverage of sex-change operations.

Edmonton-Strathcona NDP MLA Rachel Notley says Alberta will come off
as looking like rednecks nationally because it cancelled funding for
sex changes to save a small amount of money. That's exactly the
opposite of a recent rebranding program that boasts that Alberta is
open and tolerant, she said.

"This is an attack on the most vulnerable," Notley told Sun Media.
Because of the government's decision, "we will continue to look like a
backward group of folks to the rest of the country ... That's not how
Albertans are."

Premier Ed Stelmach said it was "fair and reasonable," that Liepert
extend the sex-change operation program for one year.

Axcella Zelensky said she already had her publicly funded operation in
January but was at the legislature to fight to see others continue to
have access to publicly funded sex changes.

"I was actually planning in the next little while to send a thank-you
card to the government, but I'm not sure whether I can anymore," she
told Sun Media.

Surgeries are a necessity, she said. "We never chose to be born into
the wrong body."

KERRY.DIOTTE@SUNMEDIA.CA
Copyright € ¦© 2009, Canoe Inc. All rights reserved
http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Alberta/2009/04/15/9116406-sun.html

Liepert expands sex-change coverage eligibility

Calgary Herald - AB, Canada
Liepert expands sex-change coverage eligibility
By Trish Audette, edmontonjournal.com

April 14, 2009



EDMONTON € ’· Health Minister Ron Liepert said Tuesday nearly twice as
many people will be eligible for government-funded gender reassignment
surgeries before the province stops paying for the service to save
money.

Last week, when the government announced cutting the program would
save roughly $700,000 a year, Liepert said the 26 people already on
the list to get the surgery would still be funded. On Tuesday, he
added roughly 20 people who have already begun paying for their own
hormonal medication in preparation for gender reassignment.

€ ’³It would not be right for us to now say, € ’±Well, you€ ’²ve spent all this
money, we€ ’²re now going to change the rules,€ ’² € ’´ Liepert said. € ’³It seems
to me to be unfair to have someone believe that a certain surgery was
going to take place, dug into their pockets for hormonal drugs that
were prescribed by the medical community, and somehow we don€ ’²t follow
through on it.€ ’´

The minister said he made the decision to expand the list of people
being funded based on media reports over the weekend that highlighted
the concerns of people on waiting lists who cannot afford procedures
that run as high as $80,000. With about three dozen people who support
the transgendered community or are waiting for gender reassignment
surgeries watching from the gallery, Liepert side-stepped questions of
human rights during Tuesday afternoon€ ’²s question period at the
legislature.

Last May, a 10-year battle to reinstate public funding for gender
reassignment surgeries came to a close in Ontario, when that
province€ ’²s human rights commission found the decision to cut the
program discriminatory. Liepert and Premier Ed Stelmach emphasized
cutting funding for sex change surgeries comes down to a line-by-line
analysis of the budget.

€ ’³We€ ’²re just saying the taxpayers will be no longer funding this
particular surgery,€ ’´ Stelmach said. € ’³If you€ ’²re speculating on the fact
that some people may challenge the government decision under (the)
Alberta Human Rights Commission, then we€ ’²ll see what happens.€ ’´

Members of the transgendered community are expected to file human
rights complaints in Calgary and Edmonton today. Edmonton-Centre
Liberal MLA Laurie Blakeman said the province has set itself up for
the kind of long-haul legal wrangling Ontario experienced.

€ ’³It was a very long battle and a very, very expensive battle, and one
that I would hope this government would be smart enough not to get
involved in,€ ’´ she said. € ’³And they just walked right into it.€ ’´

Edmonton-Strathcona NDP MLA Rachel Notley suggested the government
€ ’³back up, calm down, (and) do the right thing.€ ’´

€ ’³This is a black eye for this government if they actively try to stop
these folks from getting the services they need.€ ’´

The Journal learned Monday Alberta€ ’²s handling of the issue has even
drawn the attention of daytime talk show host Oprah Winfrey.
Jamie-Lynn Garvin, a 47-year-old who has been living as a woman for
the last two years while waiting for her gender reassignment
operation, has become the face of the debate in the last week. She
told her story to media outlets and spoke to her MLA, St. Albert
Conservative Ken Allred, who now has questions about the plan to
delist funding. On Tuesday, Allred asked Liepert whether he was aware
the surgeries are funded by other provinces.

€ ’³We could get into a long debate about what is funded in other
provinces and what is funded in Alberta,€ ’´ Liepert answered.

Garvin said the news Liepert would be expanding funding to those still
on the waiting list was € ’³fantastic€ ’´ € ’· if it pans out.

€ ’³I€ ’²m not 18 years old. I€ ’²ve been around the block more than once, and
I€ ’²ve heard a lot of things come out of politicians€ ’² mouths,€ ’´ she said.
€ ’³It€ ’²s a $40,000 announcement for me, if it€ ’²s true. (But) there€ ’²s a lot
of things that can happen between what he just said and when it comes
down to what Alberta Health finally tell us.€ ’´

taudette@thejournal.canwest.com
© Copyright (c) The Edmonton Journal
http://www.calgaryherald.com/Cutting+change+coverage+necessary+says+Alberta+health+minister/1495792/story.html

Alberta government facing human rights complaint over sex change funding

Prince George Citizen, Canada
Alberta government facing human rights complaint over sex change funding
Written by Jim Macdonald, THE CANADIAN PRESS
Tuesday, 14 April 2009

EDMONTON - A battle in Alberta over funding for sex change operations
took a new twist Tuesday with a surprise announcement that the
province will fund 48 of the surgeries before cutting off government
funding.

Health Minister Ron Liepert caught about a dozen transsexual
protesters off guard when he announced that he didn't think it was
fair to strand people who had been preparing for years to have a sex
change.

So 28 people who are in varying stages of the sex change procedure
will get funding to finish their surgeries, while 20 others who have
been paying for hormone treatments in advance of the surgery will also
get government funding, said Liepert.

"It would not be right for us to say, 'Well, you spent all this money,
but we're now going to change the rules,"' the minister later told
reporters.

Jamie-Lynn Garvin, 47, who has been involved in the sex change process
for more than three years, was shocked by the minister's announcement.

"It's a $40,000 announcement for me," said Garvin. "But I've heard a
lot of things come out of politicians' mouths and I don't know if this
is true or not."

But Liepert's motives were being interpreted in a very different light
by a group preparing to file a human rights complaint Wednesday in
hopes of blocking the decision in the recent Alberta budget to end
funding for sex changes.

Jordenne Prescott said the Ontario government's 1998 decision to
eliminate funding for sex changes was overturned by the province's
human rights commission.

They were hoping to use this as a precedent in the Alberta human
rights case. But a key factor in the Ontario ruling was the fact that
people who had been preparing for a sex change were left stranded.

Liepert has now "grandfathered" most Albertans waiting for sex change
procedures, so those behind the Alberta human rights complaint may no
longer be able to use the Ontario ruling as a precedent.

"Essentially, it was a very smart move on his part," said Prescott,
who is among those waiting for a sex change. "It does not gut the
complaint entirely, though."

Kristopher Wells, a researcher with the Institute for Sexual
Minorities Studies and Services at the University of Alberta, said the
complaint will now argue that Alberta's funding cut is simply
discriminatory.

"People in the community may also seek a civil injunction against the
government until the courts rule whether this was a discriminatory
action or not," said Wells.

There has also been talk in Alberta's transgendered community of a
class-action lawsuit claiming damages for the lost government funding,
he said.

Liepert explained that he decided to approve additional sex-change
funding after hearing media reports about the impact the cut would
have on people who have spent years preparing for the procedure.

"That decision seemed to be the right one to make and I made it today," he said.

But the minister could not say how much these additional surgeries
would cost, but the price of a sex change usually ranges from $17,000
to $70,000.

http://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/20090414186735/wire/national-news/alberta-government-facing-human-rights-complaint-over-sex-change-funding.html

Gender clinic closure fears

Melbourne Community Voice, Australia
Gender clinic closure fears
Written by Rachel Cook
Wednesday, 15 April 2009 13:28

Concerns have been raised over the restructuring of Melbourne€ ’²s Monash
Gender Dysphoria Clinic.

The clinic, which provides treatment for people undergoing gender
reassignment, is reviewing their current structure and resourcing
services.

However, reports that the centre will no longer be able to provide
service or treatment have been denied.

A spokeswoman from Southern Health, an affiliation of Monash Gender
Dysphoria Clinic, said in a statement to MCV: € ’³A growing client list
and recent leadership change present a valuable opportunity to review
structure and resourcing to ensure the clinic is best placed to meet
future community needs in this field.

€ ’³Clinic services will temporarily be on hold for a short time as
clinic staff are involved in completing the review.€ ’´

The spokeswoman said all individual providers and clients are being
consulted and provided with alternative support.

€ ’³There will be absolute minimal disruption to care expected. We remain
committed to its [the clinic€ ’²s] future in delivering sensitive, high
quality gender assessment services.

The clinic would € ’³return to full operation from June 2009,€ ’´ she anticipated.

The Gender Dysphoria Clinic at Southern Health is the only unit of its
kind in Australia.

Spokesperson for TransGender Victoria, Sally Goldner (pictured), said
the Gender Dysphoria Clinic plays a vital role for people who are
transitioning or considering transitioning.

€ ’³Even if people aren€ ’²t aiming for surgery it€ ’²s still important to have
that consultation. [The Gender Dysphoria Clinic] can be the first
point of call to get information,€ ’´ Goldner said.

€ ’³The clinic is life saving. Without it those at the most extreme
levels of gender dysphoria are at risk of suicide.€ ’´

Copyright € © 2008 Evolution Publishing
http://mcv.e-p.net.au/news/gender-clinic-closure-fears-5252.html

Activists rally for human rights

Melbourne Community Voice, Australia
Activists rally for human rights
GLBTI rights activists have attended a national human rights gathering
in Melbourne.
Written by Rachel Cook
Wednesday, 15 April 2009 13:11

The National Human Rights Consultations, part of a national program to
assess human rights in Australia, held their Melbourne meetings on
Tuesday.

The Consultation Committee is chaired by Father Frank Brennan, a
Jesuit priest and lawyer, and includes former Australian Federal
Police Commissioner Mick Palmer, journalist Mary Kotskidis and
indigenous lawyer Tammy Williams.

The committee met with representatives from the queer community.

Corey Irlam, spokesperson for the Australian Coalition of Equality,
told MCV the consultation provided an opportunity to cement gay and
lesbian rights in any proposed Australian Human Rights Act.

€ ’³It€ ’²s important for people to attend and address the rights they want
to protect: the right to a family, to marriage, to be free from
discrimination, the right to privacy. These are some of the rights
that can be raised at this consultation.€ ’´

Stephen Jones, co-convenor of the Victorian Gay and Rights Lobby
(VGLRL) echoed the importance of the meeting.

€ ’³The consultation gives our community the opportunity to raise the
issue of discrimination and vilification and demand of government
avenues and legislation and other ways to give us protection.€ ’´

Jones said the VGLRL is seeking input from the community to use in its
written submission to the committee.

€ ’³We are looking at joint submissions and are working with ALSO for a
more comprehensive submission that represents the broader community.
We will also be consulting with the NSW lobby so it is the community
coming together to fight these issues,€ ’´ Jones said.

Transgender activist Sally Goldner said while the government had
addressed equality for same-sex couples, transgender people were still
being overlooked.

€ ’³We have made some progress, but it€ ’²s only in relation to same-sex
couples. The recognition of sexual orientation and gender identity
still doesn€ ’²t exist on a federal level. A charter and specific
anti-discrimination laws are needed.

Goldner said a human rights charter € ’³keeps transgender people under
people€ ’²s noses and reminds them that we exist€ ’´.

Gay activist Jamie Gardiner said a human rights charter is needed to
ensure that all people are protected in this country.

€ ’³It€ ’²s important for everyone, a human rights charter protects all
people, but especially for traditionally discriminated against
groups,€ ’´ Gardiner said.

€ ’³What we need federally is a human rights framework like the Victorian
Charter, but one that could be better.

€ ’³The particular issues that concern our community are the full
implement of the right to equality. A charter is not a substitute to
handle anti-discrimination legislation; it provides a framework to
treat everyone with respect and dignity, to provide everyone with
freedom and rights.€ ’´

Gardiner said human rights were about respect.

Copyright € © 2008 Evolution Publishing
http://mcv.e-p.net.au/news/activists-rally-for-human-rights-5251.html

Cutting sex-change coverage necessary, says Alberta health minister

Edmonton Journal, Canada
Cutting sex-change coverage necessary, says Alberta health minister
By Trish Audette, edmontonjournal.com
April 14, 2009 3:04 PM

EDMONTON — Health Minister Ron Liepert wondered Tuesday whether
Alberta needs an expert panel to determine what is medically necessary
as his government continues to make "tough decisions" about what
should be covered by the province.

During Tuesday's question period, about three dozen people who support
the province's transgendered community — or who themselves are waiting
for gender reassignment surgery— sat in the legislature's public
gallery and listened to Liepert explain that the medical procedure is
not the only service being cut.

He confirmed the 26 Albertans currently in line to undergo gender
reassignment will have their surgeries covered by the province, and 20
more people on the verge of being approved will also be covered.

Beyond that, however, Liepert stuck to the province's plan to cut
$700,000 from health care spending by ending the coverage of gender
reassignment surgeries.

"Unless we get a handle on expenditures, we won't have a publicly
funded health care system," he said.

The transgendered community was blindsided by the province's decision
to cut the program last week. For individuals, the costs of gender
reassignment surgery can amount to as much as $80,000.

Liepert has said the decision was not political, but a matter of a
line-by-line analysis of spending.

The other major cut to public health care spending was $53 million,
saved by cutting funding to chiropractic services.

"Our interest, of course, is to be here as peaceful witnesses to this
issue," said Jan Lukas Buterman, who was among the people who met on
the legislature's front steps before question period.

On Wednesday, members of the transgendered community are expected to
file human rights complaints in Calgary and Edmonton.

taudette@thejournal.canwest.com
© Copyright (c) The Edmonton Journal
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/Health/Cutting+change+coverage+necessary+Liepert/1495792/story.html

lberta government facing human rights complaint over sex change funding

The Canadian Press, Canada
[4/14/09]

Alberta government facing human rights complaint over sex change funding
EDMONTON — The Alberta government is facing a challenge over its
decision to stop paying for sex-change operations.

Several members of the transsexual community plan to file a complaint
Wednesday with the province's human rights commission. The government
announced in last week's budget that it would no longer pay for sex
changes, but now Health Minister Ron Liepert says roughly four dozen
of the operations will still be covered.

He told the legislature funding will be given to 26 people who were
already approved for the surgery, plus another 20 who were waiting for
approval.

Several sex-change candidates said outside the assembly that the
operation is unaffordable without government help.

The opposition parties say a similar funding cut in Ontario was
overturned by the province's human rights commission.

Copyright © 2009 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved
©2009 Google
http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5g0r1mWfPwdfKamgp_GsVyKDWHQpQ

Angry Letter Part Deux

Angry Letter Part Deux
Today at 12:15pm
Dear Mr. Stelmach,

I am writing you again to solicit a response to the email I sent you last week. While I appreciate that you are a busy man and that you may have limited time available to respond to such inquiries, I feel that my earlier communication included a number of valid questions that merit a reponse. My questions to you are:

1. Are the increased health care costs that will result from delisting gender reassignment surgery lesser in value than the $700,000 per year saved?

2. Is the government prepared to weather the possible legal costs that could be associated with delisting this service? (and again, is this potential cost less than the $700,000 per year saved?)

3. Has the government considered how this decision will affect the rate of depression and suicide among the transgendered community?

4. What was considered in the decision-making process with regard to cutting this particular service?


I have attached my previous email below should you require any further clarification regarding the questions I'm posing, or in the unlikely event that you did not receive it.

Sincerely,

Chris

Cutting sex-change coverage necessary, says Alberta health minister

Edmonton Journal, Canada
Cutting sex-change coverage necessary, says Alberta health minister
By Trish Audette, edmontonjournal.com
April 14, 2009 3:04 PM

EDMONTON — Health Minister Ron Liepert wondered Tuesday whether
Alberta needs an expert panel to determine what is medically necessary
as his government continues to make "tough decisions" about what
should be covered by the province.

During Tuesday's question period, about three dozen people who support
the province's transgendered community — or who themselves are waiting
for gender reassignment surgery— sat in the legislature's public
gallery and listened to Liepert explain that the medical procedure is
not the only service being cut.

He confirmed the 26 Albertans currently in line to undergo gender
reassignment will have their surgeries covered by the province, and 20
more people on the verge of being approved will also be covered.

Beyond that, however, Liepert stuck to the province's plan to cut
$700,000 from health care spending by ending the coverage of gender
reassignment surgeries.

"Unless we get a handle on expenditures, we won't have a publicly
funded health care system," he said.

The transgendered community was blindsided by the province's decision
to cut the program last week. For individuals, the costs of gender
reassignment surgery can amount to as much as $80,000.

Liepert has said the decision was not political, but a matter of a
line-by-line analysis of spending.

The other major cut to public health care spending was $53 million,
saved by cutting funding to chiropractic services.

"Our interest, of course, is to be here as peaceful witnesses to this
issue," said Jan Lukas Buterman, who was among the people who met on
the legislature's front steps before question period.

On Wednesday, members of the transgendered community are expected to
file human rights complaints in Calgary and Edmonton.

taudette@thejournal.canwest.com
© Copyright (c) The Edmonton Journal
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/Health/Cutting+change+coverage+necessary+Liepert/1495792/story.html

Alberta government facing human rights complaint over sex change funding

The Canadian Press, Canada
[4/14/09]
Alberta government facing human rights complaint over sex change funding

EDMONTON — The Alberta government is facing a challenge over its
decision to stop paying for sex-change operations.

Several members of the transsexual community plan to file a complaint
Wednesday with the province's human rights commission. The government
announced in last week's budget that it would no longer pay for sex
changes, but now Health Minister Ron Liepert says roughly four dozen
of the operations will still be covered.

He told the legislature funding will be given to 26 people who were
already approved for the surgery, plus another 20 who were waiting for
approval.

Several sex-change candidates said outside the assembly that the
operation is unaffordable without government help.

The opposition parties say a similar funding cut in Ontario was
overturned by the province's human rights commission.

Copyright © 2009 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved
©2009 Google
http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5g0r1mWfPwdfKamgp_GsVyKDWHQpQ

Transsexuals to battle over operation delisting

Edmonton Sun, Canada
Tue, April 14, 2009
Transsexuals to battle over operation delisting
By KERRY DIOTTE, LEGISLATURE BUREAU CHIEF

Alberta transsexuals are stepping up their fight for government-paid
sex-change operations.

Members of the community will be at the Alberta legislature today for
question period. Tomorrow, they'll march to Alberta Human Rights and
Citizenship Commission offices in Edmonton and Calgary to file
numerous complaints because the government is delisting sex-change
operations, also known as gender reassignment surgery.

Officials announced in last week's budget the province will save
$700,000 annually by no longer paying for the operations.

"It's devastating to live in a gender you can't associate with," said
campaign co-ordinator Michelle Drinkell, who was born a man and says
she's been approved by the government to have a sex change but isn't
sure if it will now be covered.

Drinkell is taking hormones, paying for hair-removal laser treatment
and working with a voice coach in her process of trying to become a
full-fledged woman - all of which has cost her "thousands of dollars."

"The $700,000 is a very small amount compared to the total value of
the $13-billion health-care budget," she said.

Continuing to fund the operations "works out to 19 cents per Albertan
per year. It's nothing more than a teardrop in the ocean."

Transsexuals and supporters are planning to show up at the legislature
about 12:30 p.m, then take in question period when the three official
parties square off about 1:45 p.m.

They plan to file official complaints tomorrow at 10 a.m. at the
Calgary and Edmonton offices of the human rights commission arguing
sex-change operations are medically necessary.

Drinkell says they're buoyed by results from Ontario where a human
rights challenge forced the government to re-list the operations.

Drinkell plans to have a sex change done even if she has to pay for it
herself. She said she's been taking hormones for about two and a half
years and now lives as a woman.

Delisting the operation will have profound psychiatric effects on
people who've been diagnosed as needing a sex change, she says.

The suicide rate among transsexuals is already about triple the rate
of the non-transsexual Canadian population, she said.

Edmonton transsexual Cynthia Paish, 36, said her life and the lives of
others are in limbo because of the funding cancellation. Her sex
change surgery to become a woman was scheduled for August 24 but has
now been cancelled, she said.

Paish worked 12 years as a car audio installer but is now studying
esthetics. She's not 100% sure her operation will still be covered but
tries to be optimistic.

"It makes me really mad," said Paish, who is paying $100 a month for
hormone therapy on her own and plans to show up at the legislature.
"They're basically playing with people's lives. You really are trapped
in the wrong body."

Health ministry spokesman John Tuckwell said delisting sex-change
operations was a way to save the province money.

"The minister has acknowledged he's had to make some tough decisions
and this is one of them," said Tuckwell.

"He needed to find some additional funds to support some initiatives
for seniors' continuing care and $41 million was put into that
strategy," he said.

KERRY.DIOTTE@SUNMEDIA.CA
Copyright © 2009, Canoe Inc. All rights reserved.
http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Alberta/2009/04/14/9104791-sun.html

Alberta Finance Minister: "I Didn't Know We Covered That"

Bilerico, USA
Alberta Finance Minister: "I Didn't Know We Covered That"

Filed by: Mercedes Allen
April 13, 2009 3:00 PM

When Finance Minister Iris Evans discussed the Province's decision to
delist Gender Reassignment Surgery

(GRS) on the day after the budget was handed down, she said, "I didn't
even know we covered that." Reportedly, there was a look of hate in
her eyes as she said it (I didn't see the report, but have heard this
from many in the trans community who did), offset by that bright
bubblegum pink power suit of hers.

Health Minister Ron Liepert has said that we were not targeted for
"moral" (as defined by conservative Christians) reasons. And yet in a
budget where spending was increased, and where the ministries
reportedly went through everything line-by-line with the notable
casualties in health funding being essentially chiropractic and GRS
coverage, even our detractors see through that statement. Also notable
was the fact that the cut was made without consulting with the
Province's lead GID specialist, in order to be aware of any negative
ramifications, learn of any concerns there might be about how it
affects our community -- he'd been left completely unaware of what was
to come.

The Conservatives later said that the combined total cut from
chiropractic and GRS coverage was being used to provide a facility
and/or services for seniors, a disadvantaged portion of our society
(that they also chose to cut drug benefits for). Now, I'm not the kind
of person who likes to argue who is most marginalized, and certainly
support programs for seniors (and strongly oppose their drug cuts),
but to make it sound like we're a privileged and affluent subset of
society that doesn't need medical care support is absurd.

Alberta has gone down this road before, when it chose to try to thwart
Delwin Vriend's case against the King's College, in the early 1990s.
This led to a 6-year action against the Province that went to the
Supreme Court of Canada, resulted in overwhelming embarrassment and
expense, and led to the ruling that established Human Rights
protections across the nation on the basis of sexual orientation.
Other provinces have also gone down this road specifically regarding
GRS: British Columbia had delisted it and later restored it due to
pressure, and last year Ontario too restored it on the heels of a
Human Rights ruling and in the face of more to come. In classic
fashion, the Conservatives are now saying they were unaware of the
Ontario history. Of course, we can never assume anything, but it
doesn't take a lot of effort to see that Albertans are being taken
down another bad path.

I have faith in Alberta. The people, that is -- not so much the
government. Albertans are business-minded and fiscally conservative,
which is why they've overwhelmingly voted in Conservative
representatives for decades. But many, especially in the larger
population centres, are socially progressive as well. I like to call
them the "closet moderates." Afraid of being tagged "liberal,"
"socialist" and all of that, they have tended to be pretty silent,
allowing the "redneck Little Texas" image to persist. But in the face
of a really bad choice like this, I hope, that they may spread the
word a little, and tell their MLAs that they really don't want this
fight. I'm an Albertan and a taxpayer as well, and I really don't want
this fight either -- but with something that is a medical necessity
and a matter of life and death for some, I can't not fight, either.

That is something that Albertans (and most of North American society)
don't understand, yet. GRS is not a cosmetic procedure. We don't wake
up one day and decide that it would be cool to alienate our family,
lose our spouses and children, get fired from our jobs, all so that we
can be thought of as strange by society. We do it because there is a
serious and present need, one which often requires GRS for closure.
The information is there for them if they'd like to develop a better
understanding of the real story. I hope enough are willing to listen.

In the meantime, people are not being silent. On Tuesday, as the
Provincial government sits down to debate the budget, a number of
people will be attending in silent but visible protest. There will
also be information to hand out about who we are and why GRS is a
medical necessity. On Wednesday, several of us in both Edmonton and
Calgary will be filing Human Rights complaints en masse.

There has long been this feeling that in doing advocacy work for
transsexuals was a risky business -- that if word went out about the
fact that the Province paid for GRS, the public outrage would have it
taken away in a second. Any attempt to organize needed to be sabotaged
or shouted down at all costs. The advocates were the enemy.
Consequently, when the delisting occurred last week (only a week after
controversy bubbled up regarding the Province's refusal to consider
trans inclusion in changes being made to the Human Rights Commission),
it caught us in a state of being satellite activists, working
independently, sometimes against each other, sometimes afraid that our
fights to achieve might in the end cost more than it was worth. People
walked on eggshells.

That is changing. Stay tuned.

Crossposted to The Bilerico Project and available to Pam's House Blend

Filed under: Health issues | International | Transgender & Intersex

Tags: alberto | canada | grs | health care | medical coverage |
surgery | transgender | transsexual

http://www.bilerico.com/2009/04/alberta_finance_minister_i_didnt_know_we.php

Oprah’s interest piqued by Alta.’s sex-change funding decision

Edmonton Journal, Canada
Oprah’s interest piqued by Alta.’s sex-change funding decision
By Jodie Sinnema, Edmonton Journal

April 13, 2009

EDMONTON — The Alberta government’s decision to stop funding
sex-change surgery has attracted the attention of the Oprah Winfrey
Show.

Edmonton resident Sarah King, who’s hoping to get the surgery next
year in Montreal, said she was contacted through e-mail by the popular
U.S. talk show when it got word Alberta was cutting funding.

A message from Harpo Studios in Chicago said the show wasn’t doing a
story now, but would contact her for an interview if it does a segment
on transsexuals in the future.

Kris Wells, a researcher at the Institute for Sexual Minority Studies
and Services at the University of Alberta, said if Oprah tells her
audience about the funding cuts, Alberta’s $25-million attempt to
boost its oilsands-tainted image would be a waste.

“Oprah would undo the reputation of Alberta,” Wells said. “Alberta is
going to look like one of the most fundamental jurisdictions in the
world.”

Meanwhile, transgender Albertans are ramping up efforts to reverse the
government’s decision to stop paying for the surgery.

More than 30 people are expected to crowd question period at the
provincial legislature in Edmonton on Tuesday, with some planning to
file human-rights complaints en masse Wednesday morning.

“It’s important to show people that we are far different from the
assumptions that are made quite often,” said Mercedes Allen, a
Calgarian who was scheduled to have a sex-change operation in August,
before Alberta Health and Wellness stopped paying for the procedures,
which cost $18,000 to $70,000, as part of its 2009 budget.

“People expect us to be fringe and rabble and such, and that’s not the
case. Many of us are professional people, and I think the public needs
to see that.”

To that end, Allen said, the group won’t be holding signs or chanting
on the legislature steps. Instead, they are crowding question period
to show politicians the surgery is not cosmetic, but a medical
necessity for those who believe they were born in the wrong body and
are the wrong sex.

Allen said she hopes an official human-rights complaint won’t be
necessary if the government reinstates funding.

“We would rather not see the human-rights issues go ahead, because
then it becomes an expensive legal issue, and a lot of us have seen
that happen with the Delwin Vriend case,” Allen said, referring to the
landmark gay-rights case that ended up in the Supreme Court.

“I’m an Alberta and a taxpayer, too. I would rather not go down that route.”

But Allen said she will file a complaint, if necessary. A similar
human-rights complaint in Ontario forced the government to reinstate
funding for the surgery, 10 years after the province delisted it.

“There stands to be a lot of people who stand to lose a lot
financially with the delisting,” said King, who’s meeting with lawyers
to discuss filing a class-action lawsuit against the Alberta
government. Even if the government decides to change its budget
decision, King said she still wants to file an injunction preventing
the government from ever delisting the service again.

Wells said some people think the government delisted the surgery as a
way to test the ground for further delisting — and has been surprised
by the negative, vocal response.

“A lot of people are speculating that this is part of the government’s
Machiavellian plan to throw this particular issue out there as a
smokescreen, one they knew would be controversial and will detract
attention from other cuts,” Wells said.

“There are some who believe this is just one tactic by the current
government to start a wholesale initiative for delisting health-care
services. Now, when it’s targeting one vulnerable community and the
other communities don’t speak out, which will be next?”

Laurie Blakeman, the Liberal representative for Edmonton Centre, said
she thinks the government’s decision to cut the program funding was
based on ideology, and not on the need to tighten belts.

“They just don’t like and support this community, so they’re just
going to punish them,” said Blakeman.

“It is bigger than the transgender community. If there is any one
thing that can make a difference, it’s that kind of effort from the
community to pressure the government, because it does seem to be the
one thing they respond to: that real push back from the public on a
given issue.”

Edmonton Journal

jsinnema@thejournal.canwest.com

© Copyright (c) The Edmonton Journal
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/Oprah+interest+piqued+Alta+change+funding+decision/1492407/story.html

Tory MLA questions delisting of sex changes

Tory MLA questions delisting of sex changes

St. Albert's Allred plans to introduce transgendered constituent to legislature today
By Jodie Sinnema and Ben Gelinas, The Edmonton JournalApril 14, 2009 6:32 AMBe the first to post a comment



Members of Alberta's transgendered community who gather in the legislature gallery today to protest funding cuts may receive some encouragement from an unexpected source -- a Tory backbencher.

St. Albert MLA Ken Allred said he plans to introduce a transgendered constituent in the house today and has his own questions about why his government has cut funding for gender reassignment surgery.

The health-care costs the province might incur may outweigh the $700,000 the government hopes to save annually, said Allred, who wants to see a cost-benefit analysis.

Jamie-Lynn Garvin, who was on the waiting list for gender reassignment surgery, said she was encouraged after meeting with Allred to discuss the issue.

"He can see the medical need for it now," said Garvin, whom Allred plans to introduce in the legislature today. "He didn't understand who we are."

Allred admits he didn't know much about transgender issues before he spoke with Garvin. "I guess I didn't have much of an opinion before I spoke with her. She has certainly broadened my perspective.

"I don't know the total reasons why they have cut it. It sounds economic. I guess I have a few concerns that by saving a few dollars in one place, we might be causing more spending in another.

"These people go through a lot of psychological and medical problems as a result of their trauma."

Garvin was a boy in Allred's scout troop back in the 1970s.

"I guess, according to her, that we always told our scouts not to be afraid of anything and stand up to a challenge," Allred said. "To bring the problem out into the open, she's a very courageous woman."

More than 30 people are expected to attend question period today to push the government to reverse the funding cut. About 10 people plan to file human rights complaints en masse Wednesday morning, and some are exploring the possibility of a class-action lawsuit.

"It's important to show people that we are far different from the assumptions that are made quite often," said Mercedes Allen, a Calgarian who was scheduled to have a sex-change operation in August before Alberta Health and Wellness stopped paying for the $18,000 to $70,000 procedures as part of its 2009 budget. "People expect us to be fringe and rabble and such, and that's not the case. Many of us are professional people and I think the public needs to see that."

Allen said the group heading to the legislature wants to show government that the surgery is not cosmetic but a medical necessity for those who believe they were born in the wrong body and gender.

"One thing that is positive is seeing how many people are stepping up to the plate and speaking and putting on a good face to the community," said Allen, 40. She hopes launching a human rights complaint won't be necessary if the government reinstates $700,000 in annual funding.

"We would rather not see the human rights issues go ahead, because then it becomes an expensive legal issue and a lot of us have seen that happen with the Delwin Vriend case," Allen said, referring to the landmark gay rights case that ended with a Supreme Court decision stating Alberta wasn't protecting gays from discrimination. "I'm an Albertan and a taxpayer, too. I would rather not go down that route."

A similar human rights complaint in Ontario forced the government to reinstate funding for the surgery 10 years after the province delisted it.

Sarah King, who was scheduled to fly to Montreal next January to discuss surgery options, said she was contacted through e-mail by the Oprah Winfrey show when it got word Alberta was cutting funding. A message from Harpo Studios in Chicago said the show wasn't doing a story now, but would contact her for an interview if it does a segment on the issue in the future.

"There stands to be a lot of people who stand to lose a lot financially with the delisting," said King, who is meeting with lawyers to discuss filing a class-action lawsuit against the Alberta government. Even if the government decides to change its budget decision, King said she still wants to file a injunction preventing the government from ever delisting the service again.

Kris Wells, a researcher at the Institute for Sexual Minority Studies and Services at the University of Alberta, said some people think the government delisted the surgery as a way to test the ground for further delisting -- and have been surprised by the negative, vocal response.

"A lot of people are speculating that this is part of the government's Machiavellian plan to throw this particular issue out there as a smokescreen, one they knew would be controversial and will detract attention from other cuts," Wells said. "There are some who believe this is just one tactic by the current government to start a wholesale initiative for delisting health-care services. Now when it's targeting one vulnerable community and the other communities don't speak out, which will be next?"

Laurie Blakeman, Liberal MLA for Edmonton Centre, said she thinks the decision to cut the program funding was based on ideology and not on the need to tighten belts.

"They just don't like and support this community so they're just going to punish them," said Blakeman.

"If there is any one thing that can make a difference, it's that kind of effort from the community to pressure the government, because it does seem to be the one thing they respond to, that real push-back from the public on a given issue."

jsinnema@thejournal.canwest.com
© Copyright (c) The Edmonton Journal

Savings a pittance

Edmonton Journal, Canada
Savings a pittance
The Edmonton Journal
April 13, 2009

In a $36-billion budget, the Alberta government chooses to eliminate
$700,000 for gender reassignment surgeries. By my calculation that's a
whopping 0.00194 per cent of the budget.

Sorry, but to me this looks like a convenient opportunity to disguise
blatant and cruel discrimination as fiscal prudence.

If it wasn't tragic, it would be laughable.

And the saddest thing is that the government will now have to spend
considerably more than they will save in defending this policy before
a human rights tribunal.

It's wrong, mean-spirited and petty, and for what it's worth, against
my religious principles.

Rev. Brian Kiely, Unitarian Church of Edmonton

© Copyright (c) The Edmonton Journal

Alberta's transgendered bring protest on funding to legislature

Edmonton Journal, Canada
Alberta's transgendered bring protest on funding to legislature
By Jodie Sinnema, edmontonjournal.com
April 13, 2009 5:18 PM

EDMONTON — Members of Alberta’s transgendered community are ramping up
efforts to reverse a government decision ending funding for
gender-reassignment surgery.

More than 30 people are expected to crowd question period at the
legislature Tuesday with some planning to file human rights complaints
on mass Wednesday morning.

“It’s important to show people that we are far different from the
assumptions that are made quite often,” said Mercedes Allen, a
Calgarian who was scheduled to have a sex-change operation in August
before Alberta Health and Wellness stopped paying for the $18,000 to
$70,000 procedures as part of budget 2009.

“People expect us to be fringe and rabble and such, and that’s not the
case. Many of us are professional people and I think the public needs
to see that.”

To that end, Allen said the group won’t be holding signs or chanting
on the legislature steps. Instead, they are using civic action to show
government representatives that the surgery is not cosmetic, but a
medical necessity for those who believe they were born in the wrong
body and gender.

“One thing that is positive is seeing how many people are stepping up
to the plate and speaking and putting on a good face to the
community,” Allen said. She hopes launching an official human rights
complaint won’t be necessary if the government reinstates funding.

“We would rather not see the human rights issues go ahead because then
it becomes an expensive legal issue and a lot of us have seen that
happen with the Delwin Vriend case,” Allen said, referring to the
landmark gay rights that ended up in the Supreme Court. “I’m an
Alberta and a taxpayer, too. I would rather not go down that route.”

But Allen said she will if it’s necessary. A similar human rights
complaint in Ontario forced the government to reinstate funding for
the surgery 10 years after the province delisted it.

jsinnema@thejournal.canwest.com
© Copyright (c) The Edmonton Journal

Trapped in a man’s body

The Argus Observer, ON, Canada
Sunday, April 12, 2009 2:11 AM PDT

Trapped in a man’s body
The life and struggles of a transgender woman
By Sean Hart
Argus Observer

ONTARIO -- For 55 years, Emilie Jackson-Edney lived life as a male.

Jackson-Edney held down a construction job and had a wife of 36 years
and two children.

He was devoted to his religion.

But something wasn’t right.

Jackson-Edney was a man but did not feel that was her true identity.

“I knew something was different when I was 5 years old. You can try to
suppress it, but it never goes away,” Jackson-Edney said. “For me, I
tried to be the uber-male. ... It was pretty shocking to a lot of
people when I came out. I was just as male as I could be, but I didn’t
feel that was me.”

Three and a half years ago, Jackson-Edney, now 60, chose to undergo
surgery to become what she always felt she was: a woman.

“Transsexuals, at an early age, believe they have the mind of the
other gender trapped in the body they were given at birth,” she said.
“The current theory now is that every fetus starts out as a female,
and, at the point of conception, the sex is determined, the physical
sex.

“However, the gender-mind, the mind of the fetus, doesn’t start to
develop until around the eighth to 12th week of pregnancy, and, during
that period of time, something happens with the mother. It may be an
emotional episode. It may be chemical. But a male fetus may be bathed
in estrogen, or a female fetus may be bathed in testosterone.”

Delivering a presentation Wednesday at Treasure Valley Community
College’s Diversity Dialogue in Ontario, Jackson-Edney, a co-Convener
of Boise’s Idaho Equality Committee, used the visual aid of a spectrum
with a cardboard cutout of Marilyn Monroe on one side and a “G.I.
Joe-type,” as she referred to it, on the other to illustrate the range
of gender identities, which is different than sexual orientation (to
which sex one is attracted).

“Gender identity is a social construct that divides people in natural
categories. Most people’s gender identity is congruent with their
assigned sex, but many people’s is incongruent,” she said. “
‘Transgender’ just means a person that identifies with another gender.
It’s not a lifestyle like it’s reported to be. It’s just who that
person is. What they do about it is ‘choice.’ They can live in
complete silence, or they can live authentically.”

With an identity quietly hidden in “the deepest, darkest places of
(her) closest,” in the depths of clinical depression and on the verge
of suicide, Jackson-Edney sought clinical help from a psychologist
about six years ago.

“I felt I had two choices. I had a choice to die, or I had a choice to
face my demons and address those and do what I needed to do in order
to survive,” she said, adding she spent more than a year and a half in
therapy, dealing with the depression before the gender issues.

“(The therapist) used to hammer me. She put me through the wringer,
asking ‘Why?’ which is what you have to do, especially if you’re going
to have surgery,” Jackson-Edney said. “One day, I yelled at her and
said, ‘This is who I am.’ ”

Jackson-Edney said, at that point, the therapist was ready to diagnose
her with gender dysphoria, which is currently classified as a mental
illness (though a panel is working to change that), but referred her
to another gender psychologist in Portland, adhering to transgender
standards of care.

“One of the requirements is psychotherapy. You have to be diagnosed by
a professional, usually two, that you are gender-dysphoric,”
Jackson-Edney said. “Once you get a diagnosis, if you choose, then
they will prescribe hormone replacement therapy. For males to females,
it’s testosterone blockers and estrogen, and for females to males,
it’s testosterone, usually shots.”

Jackson-Edney said another requirement is making the transition to
living as the other gender.

“In my last year of employment -- I retired three and a half years ago
-- I transitioned and lived full-time as a woman in the workplace,”
she said. “This friend of mine, this supervisor I worked with, came
into my office and sat down and said, ‘You know, we used to sit and
just talk back and forth. Now, when I talk to you, I don’t even know
where to look.’ I said, ‘Look, why does it have to change?’ ... I’m
not an aberration. I’m not something to be feared. I’m just a person
like everybody else. I have my identity just like everyone else.”

Jackson-Edney conceded, though, when trans people are open about their
identities, they “often pay a horrific price for it,” in terms of un-
or underemployment, severed relationships, religious ostracization,
discrimination and even violence.

“I’d say, for the last 15 years, my marriage was probably one of
convenience. My wife was shocked when I came out to her. I said, ‘My
heart is good. My presentation is just different, and I’m probably a
better person because I don’t have secrets anymore,’ ” Jackson-Edney
said. “I’ve been divorced for four and a half years, but I was married
for 36 years -- one woman, monogamous -- but the marriage didn’t work,
unfortunately.

“I lost my religion, or my religion abandoned me, I guess, but I’m
spiritual. I’m Christian, and I still have faith, faith-based
principles. I believe in God and hell and good and evil, and I believe
in love, unconditional love and acceptance,” she said.

Though Jackson-Edney said she has acquired “a whole new community of
friends,” she admitted much of her former life was gone.

“I lost a lot of people I thought were friends. The condemnation
because I’m different is very hurtful. Because of that, it will incite
other people to discriminate ... No one is born hating gay people or
transgendered people. It’s learned.

“People think sexual orientation or gender identity is a choice. It’s
not a choice. Nobody in their right mind wakes up and says, ‘I’m going
to be gay today, or I’m going to be transgendered, and be a
second-class citizen and be discriminated against and hated and maybe
murdered.’ What I am is an affront to their masculinity, and the way
they react to that is through violence, not that I’m trying to defeat
anyone. I’m just trying to live authentically in my identity.

“Everything that was dear to me, I sacrificed to get where I am.”

Copyright © 2009 Argus Observer - www.argusobserver.com. All rights reserved.
http://www.argusobserver.com/articles/2009/04/13/news/us/doc49e118ef752a7951843874.txt

Transsexuals protest funding cut

Globe and Mail, Canada
ALBERTA WATCH
Transsexuals protest funding cut
Katherine O'Neill, today at 1:37 PM EDT

Alberta's transsexual community is making good on a promise to file
human rights complaints that stem from last week's provincial budget.

This Wednesday, complaints will be filed in Edmonton and Calgary by
transgendered people upset with the Tory government's decision to
delist publicly-funded sex change operations.

The move will save the cash-strapped province about $700,000 a year.

Upset transgendered people are also planning to converge at the
Legislature on Tuesday.

But don't expect the Tories to climb down from this controversial
decision without a fight. "We can't cover everything," Health Minister
Ron Liepert told reporters last week.

Last year, Ontario had to reinstate provincial medical coverage for
the procedure after the Ontario Human Rights Commission ruled the then
Progressive Conservative government's decision in 1998 to delist it
was discriminatory.

© Copyright 2009 CTVglobemedia Publishing Inc. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090413.WBAlbertaWatch20090413133729/WBStory/WBAlbertaWatch