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Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 60

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
April 28, 2022 10:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 60 - Apr/28/22
Mr. Eric Duncan (Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, CPC)
  • Apr/28/22 2:13:10 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, finally, after years of delay, Canada is one step closer today to the long-standing and discriminatory blood ban being lifted in this country. It has been a long time coming. The pain, the stigma and the frustration that many gay, bi and trans men have felt in this country for too many years has not been fair. While today's news is welcome news, it did not need to take this long. I have been proud to stand in the House calling on the government to show some urgency in actually ending this. We are still at least five months away from this change taking effect; this, after knowing the recommendation was coming over a year ago. There is still leadership that can be shown to have this easy and simple and safe change be made sooner. Discrimination such as this should not take this long to resolve. We will keep up the battle, but today I want to thank the many voices that pressured the government to finally act, the All Blood is Equal campaign, and particularly men who have felt this stigma first-hand, me included. After years of advocacy, change is finally coming. Long-standing discrimination is finally ending when it comes to the blood ban.
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Context: House Hansard - 60 - Apr/28/22
Ms. Arielle Kayabaga (London West, Lib.)
  • Apr/28/22 3:04:34 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, LGBTQ+ rights are human rights, and we know that there is still more work to be done. For years, LGBTQ+ communities have been calling for a non-discriminatory blood donation system. Today, Health Canada approved the request from Canadian Blood Services. Could the Minister of Health tell us more about this historic announcement and the impact it will have on these communities?
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Context: House Hansard - 60 - Apr/28/22
Hon. Jean-Yves Duclos (Minister of Health, Lib.)
  • Apr/28/22 3:05:06 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from London West for her excellent work in support of the LGBTQ+ community. Today is a great day for anti-discrimination, justice and equity. Canadians have been waiting for this day for many years. Health Canada has approved Canadian Blood Services' request to eliminate the deferral period for men who have sex with men and to replace this policy with a single universal questionnaire that is non-discriminatory and is not based on gender identity or sexual orientation. This is a significant achievement and I thank everyone whose hard work led to today's announcement.
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Context: House Hansard - 60 - Apr/28/22
Mr. Blake Desjarlais (Edmonton Griesbach, NDP)
  • Apr/28/22 3:11:57 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the government is finally acting to change its discriminatory blood ban against men who have sex with other men, gay men and transwomen. This is a crucial step in increasing the blood supply at a time of ongoing shortages, and it is a step toward ending a policy that reinforced homophobia and transphobia, but New Democrats share the concerns of activists that the government could still be leaving people out. Will the government commit to working with the 2SLGBTQI community to end the arbitrary exclusions still contained in the new policy?
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