January:  In response to repeated requests from activists, the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) updated a section of its Policy on Female Genital Mutilation relating to male circumcision. The revised policy, which highlights the Canadian Paediatric Society’s recommendation that infant male circumcision “should not be routinely performed,” more accurately reflects mainstream medical opinion. Previously, the OHRC policy depicted male circumcision as a harmless procedure with compelling medical benefits. [Read more...]

Also in January, the Medical Post, a weekly tabloid distributed to physicians across Canada, published an article on foreskin anatomy highlighting the work of Dr. John R. Taylor. [Read more...]

February:  The Association for Genital Integrity applied for public funding to launch a court challenge aimed at banning the circumcision of baby boys. The proposed case relies on the equality provisions of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms to contest section 268 of the Criminal Code, which protects girls from medically unnecessary genital surgery. The Association’s objective is not to eliminate this protection, but to secure equal protection for boys. [Read more...]

[Funding application: full text]

The proposed court challenge generated a flood of media attention around the world. As of October, 2004, reports of the Association’s initiative were still available on Web sites in China, India, Portugal, and the United States, as well as Canada.

March:  The Court Challenges Program of Canada (CCP) turned down the Association’s application for funding. In a letter dated March 30, 2001, Melina Buckley, Acting Executive Director of the CCP, said the application “does not reveal a test case which offers the opportunity to advance a substantive equality argument.” The CCP said further that the Association did not show to the satisfaction of the Equality Rights Panel that the Criminal Code does not already apply to infant male circumcision if circumstances warrant. [Read more...]

Decisions of the Court Challenges Program can be appealed, but the second decision is final. Appeals are not subject to a time limit. The Association for Genital Integrity plans to file an appeal when it believes the time is ripe.

September:  The Medical Post published an article describing the Association’s program and featuring an interview with Dr. Arif Bhimji, one of the Association’s spokespersons. [Read more...]

October:  A balanced and objective article on foreskin restoration appeared in HealthWatch, a quarterly publication distributed free of charge to patrons of Shoppers Drug Mart, Canada’s largest retail drugstore chain. [Read more...]

November:  The Manitoba Medical Association (MMA) advised physicians to “direct bill” parents for newborn circumcision, notwithstanding the fact that the procedure is still officially covered by public health insurance in the province of Manitoba. Citing the Health Services Insurance Act, the MMA told doctors that any medical service which is not medically necessary, including circumcision, is uninsured. The MMA’s advice highlights the disagreement between the medical profession and the Manitoba government over the issue of public funding for routine infant circumcision.

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