...but on the other hand, I also do not want to see the consequences of the massive disappointment you all too likely will face in a few months, if I don't say something now. Sorry. I think it might be better to let you down gently now... than let you get your hopes up too high -- and be destroyed by the fall later on...

Sigh. I know several pre-op TS's that live in Alberta. Ones that already have their letters... and have been waiting for surgery for years. While "once upon a time", it was possible to transition in Alberta largely at the governments expense... that era has passed.

As I understand it, a former Premier of Alberta ("King Ralph", as he was jokingly known) had a son who was "rumoured" to be an occasional "drag queen" performer in the Calgary area... and "possibly" as a consequence of that, he was, shall we say, just a little more "sympathetic" to TG's -- at least *behind* the scenes, in ways that would not haunt him at the polls -- than most people would guess from his "public" politics. Shrug. Or so I heard -- I stay as very far away from politics and politicians as I can possibly manage.

Whatever. What I do *know*, though, is that after that particular politician was no longer involved... the political climate for that sort of thing changed in Alberta -- and shortly thereafter, they "de-listed" Gender Reassignment Surgery from the list of "funding approved" medical procedures.

Sigh. Something similar happened in the province of Ontario a decade or so back (I forget the exact dates). As was the case in Alberta, there were folks caught in transition who had counted on healthcare paying for their surgery... and they missed the deadline for applications, resulting in no payment. Eventually, if I remember correctly, they took the Ontario government to court about it... and I think won, resulting in reinstatement of that health benefit. [I repeat... I *think* that was the eventual outcome -- I go far out of my way to avoid paying attention to politics these days...]. Whatever. The point is... if I am remembering correctly, it took many years of legal wrangling to get that outcome.

I forget exactly when they de-listed GRS in Alberta -- I think it was something like 3 or 4 years back. No doubt, someone started the ball rolling regarding court challenges, fairly soon afterwards. And I will even go so far as to say that "someday" they may even win those battles... and GRS will be re-instated.

I just have severe doubts that this will happen anytime soon...

Shrug. Alberta is Canada's "Red Neck Central". The province with the highest incidence rate of "gay bashings", and similar mayhem... or at least it was, the last time I bothered to pay attention to that sort of thing. [About a decade back]. Even in Alberta, there are a lot of decent folks -- the nasties are just a very small minority. But... while there is certainly a majority of folks who "vaguely" support the idea of transgendered rights... in a sort of abstract, intellectual way -- so long as it doesn't affect them, personally -- well, there is a difference between being willing to sit back and "permit" something (so long as it takes no effort on their part)... and being willing to pay hard cash out of their own pocketbook for something. Which is how a lot of cisgendered folk regard paying for some "boondoggle" like SRS. Acceptable, so long as the "nutcase" who wants it pays for it themselves... but "not with my tax money!"

Sigh. And yes, I know all the arguments. How it costs *far* less to pay for GRS and make a productive, tax paying citizen out of a TS... rather than leave them intensely gender dysphoric, and likely having to pay for suicide prevention therapy, or at the very least carry the "dead weight" of "non-socially functional" GID patients who are too lost in their misery to really be productive members of society. Et cetera. That sort of reasoning is how GRS managed to get listed the first time around... and it never really changed. Never really lost its financial validity.

What *did* change, resulting in the procedure being de-listed, was the political climate. As always, politicians were looking for something to cut back on, in the health care budget. It simply did not matter (to them) that a single long term psychiatric patient costs more per year to hospitalize than their entire budget for GRS surgeries. It did not matter that cutting that particular budget item made absolutely no financial sense. It did not matter that it was an insignificant expense... a mere drop in the bucket compared to many other health care costs. What mattered was that it was a socially "unpopular" funding item... an item that had only a tiny, not politically significant segment of the population desiring it... and an item that by cutting it, they could be "seen to be doing *something*" about the budget -- without alienating anyone "important", and at the same time appeasing the "moral minority". [Well, I think they call themselves the "moral majority"... but I seriously doubt they even come remotely close to actually being a majority of the population. They do, however, have a fairly well financed political voice... so whatever their numbers, they get paid attention to by politicians...]

Shrug. All of which is to say... if you actually want to have GRS [SRS... GCS... whatever silly acronym de jour in is flavour currently], then I would suggest that you start saving up your pennies to pay for it yourself. It just *might* happen that the government will re-list that procedure... but I suspect it will take a court order before they do. And you might be old and grey before that happens. [Or not. Stranger things have happened, in politics. But having money saved up in the bank to pay for a procedure that the government suddenly pays for is *far* less of a problem than *not* having money in the bank, when they *don't* pay for it. Much better to have some "bonus" money kicking around... than a massive disappointment...]

Shrug. Just my two cents worth, as someone who transitioned in western Canada... and still vaguely knows some of the "behind the scenes" history. Possibly correct... possibly not. As I said, I generally try to avoid paying attention to politics -- so what do I know?