Tories publish then delete announcement about new support for gender-affirming care

The Manitoba NDP is questioning the province's commitment to gender-affirming care after the Progressive Conservative government deleted any mention of a $1.2-million funding pledge from its website.

On Tuesday, the government held a news conference at The Forks where it announced new supports for the LGBTQ community, including the creation of a gender-equity office and the decision to give Pride Winnipeg annual funding.

There was no mention at the event of the funding for gender-affirming care announced in a background document that was sent to media and published on the government's website later that morning.

And later that day, the government deleted any reference to this commitment to gender-affirming care from its website.

The province revealed late Thursday a "future update" on the topic is coming from Manitoba's diagnostic and surgical recovery task force.

But the government's initial explanation for the deletion, sent Wednesday to CBC News, said the document was "corrected as it relates to work that has been ongoing since 2009."

The since-deleted document states nearly $490,000 would be given over two years to reduce wait lists for gender-affirming care, including surgeries, and more than $700,000 for the Gender Diversity and Affirming Action for Youth (GDAAY) program, which helps to deliver that care and offer support. 

Funding is new, province confirms

By late Thursday, after follow-up questions, the government acknowledged the funding is new and will be "included in a future update."

Before the province's Thursday evening statement, NDP health critic Uzoma Asagwara raised the deleted document in question period. Rochelle Squires, the government's new gender equity secretariat, stood up to answer but didn't explain the deletion, saying instead that gender-affirming care has existed in Manitoba since 2009 and applauding the other LGBTQ-related announcements the Tories made on Tuesday.

Asagwara said the deletion sends a worrying message. 

"When a government makes that announcement by way of a backgrounder [document] and then deletes it from its own website, denies that it even exists … it sends the message to Manitobans who need gender-affirming health care that their health care is less important than that of other Manitobans."

Asagwara said it's important for the government to be public about the gender-affirming care being offered so that any of the people seeking it — some of whom are "in a place where their mental health might be very compromised" — know what options they have.

"If they're going to make an announcement, if they're going to make investments, awareness and education, informing the public about the services that are available literally helps to save lives," Asagwara said.

According to the background document, the nearly $490,000 in funding going to Klinic Community Health will bolster its care team to support youth and adults, while doubling the amount of clinic services from 2.5 to five days a week.

The document also said the government will start providing more than $700,000 in grant funding to GDAAY, which provides integrated health-care services and support for youth seeking care. The care teams include pediatric experts with experience in developmental pediatrics, adolescent medicine, pediatric endocrinology, and child and adolescent mental health. 

Ashley Smith, director of advocacy at Rainbow Resource Centre, said on Tuesday he's thrilled by the new support. People can wait years for care, and that could worsen as one doctor who provided this care has recently stepped down.