Nunavut won’t budge on sex reassignment surgery funding: Ma

Vanida Plamondon, a transgendered woman from Kugluktuk, faces homelessness in Edmonton after being denied medical treatment by the Government of Nunavut. She has filed complaints with the Department of Health and Social Services and the Nunavut Human Rights Tribunal. (FILE PHOTO)

The Government of Nunavut said it’s standing firm on its stance not to pay for sex reassignment surgery.

During a May 16 briefing with reporters in Iqaluit, Peter Ma, Nunavut’s deputy minister of health and social services, said that particular surgery is something the territorial government doesn’t pay for.

Other jurisdictions in Canada don’t cover that surgery either, he said.

“The department is very clear, we do not fund sex reassignment surgeries,” Ma said. “And I think if you check with other jurisdictions, I would say probably a third of jurisdictions do not fund [it].”

That comment comes in response to Vanida Plamondon’s account about how the GN cut funding as she was undergoing the process of a sex change.

Plamondon, originally from the western Nunavut community of Kugluktuk, then filed a human rights complaint against the GN, asking for $275,000 in compensation, to cover treatment and for emotional pain and suffering.

Ma did say that if there were more Nunavummiut found to be in situations similar to Plamondon’s, sex reassignment surgery would be something his department would look into.

“She’s the first and only individual that I am aware of that has ever sought that funding from the department. It’s the only one that I am aware of,” Ma said.

“I think if there’s more requests than it’s certainly something the department would have to think about and consider at that point in time. At this point it’s a little premature to say that.”

Plamondon said that just because her situation is rare, it’s still not fair that her need to become a woman is taken away.

“If they feel that they are able to cut off any procedure just because its rarely needed, then they even have cause to cut off life threatening procedures that happen one in a hundred thousand people,” she said.

Some people, however, don’t think sex reassignment surgery — which involves changing a penis into a vagina, or a vagina into a penis — should be funded and have let Plamondon know about it, too.

“I’ve received hate mail,” said Plamondon of the response she received since her story was told May 14 on Nunatsiaqonline.ca. “They called me dumb and a bitch and I shouldn’t be wasting the governments money and I deserve to be homeless,” she said.

There has been both a backlash and support on the comments to the article posted on Nunatsiaqonline.ca, but some people have also criticized Plamondon’s family, saying they haven’t been supportive enough — something she strongly opposes.

“I’m not going to put my family in hardship, because the resources are lacking in Nunavut, and that’s one of the reasons I stayed [in Edmonton].

“Back in Nunavut I would have just made it hard for myself and everyone I love, which to me is just not fair,” she said.

Plamondon is still looking for a shelter after spending a night at a friend’s house, but she said she’s fairly confident she will find one. She’s also sent an inquiry about working for an organization that helps women get into trades in Edmonton.

“I have confidence that someone will eventually give me a chance. You can’t go forever and not find someone to give you a chance,” she said.

There hasn’t been a response from them yet though, and the human rights tribunal in Nunavut has yet to get back to her — but amid all the bad news, she’s still remaining positive, and hopes her story will help others in similar circumstances.

“I just hope so, because if they’re living a life where they’re hiding who they are, I just hope that they come out and be who they are.”