Newfoundland Government Trans SRS Health Funding Policy 2012

Here is a scanned letter that I received from Newfoundland's Medical Care Plan (MCP) in 2009. MCP is the provincial government's health insurance program. The letter outlines what is covered, what is not, and the terms and conditions for which they will be covered. This is based on the MCP regulation policy document, which was last updated in 1996.  As of July 17, 2012, this information is still current.

In 2009, I launched a Human Rights Complaint on the following issues:

1 - refusing a recommendation from a Newfoundland doctor and requiring CAMH involvement for transsexual surgery funding was an unnecessary obstacle, given current global standards.

2 - refusing to cover all articles on page two, for transsexual patients, regardless of CAMH, was also discriminatory

3 - refusing to cover procedures by Dr Brassard was an inefficient policy, given that no public clinics in Canada exist, and the process for obtaining international approval, was an obstacle.

in 2012, the Human Rights Commission dismissed my complaint without sending it to a Board of Inquiry. It's worthy of note that Gender Identity and Gender Expression are not explicitly listed in the Human Rights Act.

Essentially, their argument is that I was not treated any differently than anyone else asking for transsexual services. The potentially contentious issues I raised are medical issues and apparently not Human Rights issues.

Human Rights experts have advised me that had the Commission had a stronger mandate, and/or had the Act had more teeth, this could have gone to an inquiry.

Bottom line, I will not be reimbursed for the $20K that I spent to travel to Montreal to have the vaginoplasty performed by Dr. Brassard. 

News of my complaint dismissal was generally met with indifference by many so-called LGBT advocacy organizations, and was not deemed newsworthy by mainstream provincial media.

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